The Self-Clean Feature May be the Reason Behind Your Next Service Call

Should I try the oven’s self-clean or use a little elbow grease?

It’s a terrible irony but using the self-clean feature on your range may significantly shorten its life span. Simply put, the electronics in today’s ranges often can’t handle the high temps reached (upwards of 1,000 degrees) during the cleaning cycle and the motherboard burns out or a fuse blows.

Most ranges today utilize hidden bake elements which compound the issue by trapping heat and limiting circulation. Using the self-clean feature does not guarantee mayhem will ensue but it increases the likelihood. It could happen the first time the feature is used, the tenth time, or it may never happen at all. However, that the self-clean feature is leading to more service calls on ranges cannot be denied.

Though consumers are not willing to purchase manual clean ovens, this isn’t exactly a catch 22. For example, you can still clean your self-breaking using LG’s “Easy Clean” feature, which takes advantage of LG’s new oven cavity enamel to help lift drops of cheese or light splatter using water for a 20 minute cycle, which loosens soils before hand-cleaning.

KitchenAid’s “Steam Clean” feature also removes light food spills and saves time and energy compared to a traditional self-clean feature. Similarly, 10 ounces of water is added to the base of the oven for a 20 minute cleaning cycle before it’s advised that a sponge be used to wipe the interior clean.

The “Easy” and steam cleans of the world are effective, but do require a little more of that elbow grease than simply wiping out ash, but it’s not much more. The real trick is not letting food spills build up in the first place. It’s funny – how many of us bought a self-cleaning range and have yet to use that feature anyway? Guilty.  

3 Steps Before Buying a New Refrigerator

Step 1: Knowing your dimensions

    Fridges are not technically a standard size, they do however come in more popular sizes and when you fall within those sizes you will have the most options.  So when measuring your fridge, how and what you measure makes a difference.  Some things to keep in mind:

¨  Try and Measure the Opening not the fridge

¨  Take more than one measurement

o   Measure the width in three places, Top, Bottom and Middle

o   Watch for baseboards of lips on cabinets that may shorten your width.

o   What for plugs and water lines that may change your width at certain points

o   Measure height at three places, floors aren’t always level.

¨  If you can’t measure the opening measure the fridge

o   Measure the cabinet of the fridge along the top to get an accurate width and add 1/8^th of an inch.

o   Measure the space on the left and right of the fridge.

o   Measure the height of the fridge to both the hinges and the cabinet.

o   Then measure the distance to the cabinetry above the fridge on both the left and right side.

¨  If you have cabinetry above the fridge, measure how far it comes out from the wall.

While the above measurements may seem daunting they can help you know what you can fit, so you don’t fall in love with fridge you can’t have.  Before ever shopping for a fridge these are the measurements that I would take to simply know what I can fit and what I can’t

Step 2: Things to watch out for, or things you can change

¨  Walls, if you have a wall to the right or left of a fridge that extends past the fridge; it may impede a door opening in a Side by Side or French door, and may influence the way you have to have a Top or bottom Mount open.

¨  If you are short on height because of cabinetry above the fridge, some may consider moving or adjusting the cabinetry.

¨  Islands in front of the fridge.  (The best Measurement for an Island is from the back wall were the fridge sits to the edge of the island)

Step 3: Counter Depth VS Standard Depth

¨  The difference Between a counter depth is the depth of the casing on the fridge, 24” inches with a counter depth and 28” to a standard Depth

¨  The counter Depth is going to give a more built in look as most counter tops are about 24” deep.