Have you ever looked at your appliances and thought, “I wonder how I can get more out of this?” Well, this post is for you. Are you a homeowner? Do you love to tinker with things, fix things, or troubleshoot strange problems? Well this post is for you too. No matter which group you fall into, there are simple ways you can improve and extend the life of your home appliances.
1. Keep units clean.
Clean your appliances regularly, especially the interior surfaces and door seals that may collect food debris, dirt and soap scum.
If you have self-cleaning ovens, run them regularly to remove built-up grease. Clean the exterior with a damp cloth or sponge; avoid using abrasive cleaners and harsh chemicals, which can damage the surface.
Turn off the gas or electricity at the main circuit breaker when cleaning your oven; otherwise, you may accidentally ignite a flame.
Use an oven cleaner that contains bleach and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. Wear rubber gloves, safety glasses and an apron to prevent skin contact with any chemicals.
Wipe up spills on the stovetop immediately after they occur. If a spill has hardened into a crust, dampen a paper towel with hot water and use it to remove as much of the spill as possible. Scrape up any residue with a razor blade or putty knife.
If food dries on your range hood filter, remove it with warm water and mild detergent before washing in hot soapy water. After drying, replace the filter according to manufacturer directions.
2. Use convection to your advantage
Convection cooking is a big trend in the appliance world right now. It’s a method that uses hot air instead of heat from the sides, so you get more even cooking and less moisture loss. Convection ovens come with pre-set settings for baking and roasting, but you can also use them for general cooking, like browning meats or sautéing vegetables.
There are two types of convection: full and partial. Full convection means that the entire oven cavity is heated by convection — usually a fan at the back — whereas partial convection means only part of the oven cavity heats up this way.
3. Don’t spend money on things you don’t need
There are many people who have smart appliances in their homes. These appliances are connected to the Internet, they can be controlled using Smartphone apps, they make our lives easier and saves us time. You can improve your home by buying additional equipment for it. But do you really need it?
In most cases, no.
There are many functions that are relevant in day-to-day life, while other functions are rarely used. Think about the TV remote control that has 300 functions, but how often do we use them? Most often, all we want is just a few buttons to change the channel or volume. So why do we need 300 of them?
Similarly, buying a new refrigerator may seem like a good idea: it has a large capacity and it is energy-efficient. But if all you need is space for six bottles of beer and some snacks for the kids, then spending $3000 on a new fridge might not be the smartest choice. It could be better to buy a small chest freezer that fits into your kitchen’s corner and costs half as much as the refrigerator. This way you will save money and space at the same time!
4. Use the energy saving features of your dishwasher
While it’s true that running your dishwasher while it’s full of dirty dishes will get you the most water and energy savings , there are still many ways to squeeze more efficiency out of this appliance. The first thing you can do is to run a cleaning cycle on your dishwasher to get rid of any soap residue or other build-up, which will help to clean your dishes better. You can also put small, light items on the top rack, because in many cases these items won’t actually get clean if they’re placed in the bottom basket—something about being crushed by heavy pots and pans makes them not absorb water as well.
To save even more water and energy, use the “air dry” setting for utensils and glasses, which will help extend your drying time by a few hours. And if you’re in a hurry for those dishes to finish, feel free to run the drying cycle with just one or two racks . This will be less efficient since there are fewer dishes in the machine at once, but it’s much better than having an open sink with no dishes in sight!
Do you really want to get more out of your appliances? Call Profixit today, a Winnipeg appliance repair service, and we’ll help get the best out of your appliances.
