NightOwl

Vacuum Cleaners

November 9, 2006 By NightOwl

vacuum

Here are a few thoughts about vacuum cleaners. I think the basic differences are between the uprights and the canister types. I’ll admit right here that I prefer the canisters. I grew up with the old Hoover Constellation that came out in the 1950’s. The world was getting excited about space travel and that excitement was showing up in people’s homes. The Constellation was advertised to “float on air.” I remember my mother getting her new upright in the ’70s and how heavy it was. So much has changed. If you are interested in vacuums and their history, you can visit www.137.com , which has a cyber museum with a variety of pictures and information.

Uprights seem to be most practical for wall-to-wall carpeting. There are many now that come with attachments, but I find them awkward to use. The wands are stiff and usually too short. Canister vacuums are more versatile. They are perfect for hardwood and other hard flooring as well as carpeted rooms. They are generally lightweight and easy to maneuver which is important in a two story house. Stairs are often carpeted and if you don’t want to buy two vacuums, you’ll be carrying that baby up and down more than you want to think about. Depending on the model, canisters have four or five attachments to use on an arm of adjustable lengths.

eureka When I got married we were given a small Eureka canister called the “Mighty Mite”. It was satisfactory and gave us no trouble until the day, twelve years later, it completely gave out. I shopped around a bit and decided on the Miele White Star. We have had it for about five years now with no trouble at all. I like the variety of heads it comes with to accommodate any flooring or fabric. One of it’s best features is the infinitely adjustable suction that prevents curtains and other light fabric from being sucked up.

We don’t have allergy problems, but I still appreciate the fact that Miele offers a variety of filters for this model, although some come at additional cost. I discovered that the bags are not available at discount stores like Target, they must be purchased at vacuum stores that specialize in Miele products and are a bit pricey. I believe Miele is discontinuing this model soon, but they are sure to be coming out with a similar one. The newer one will likely have more standard features and be a bit more expensive. That just seems to be the way it goes.

I haven’t tried all the brands available out there, but it seems to me that a vacuum is a fairly straightforward machine and that leaves the consumer deciding on a brand or model for it’s ease of use. If anyone has an opinion they’d like to share about performance, service, or their experience with a particular vacuum, we’d love to hear about it.

Shhh ! We’re hunting for a quiet washing machine

September 29, 2006 By NightOwl

Many people will find this hard to believe, but my last washing machine lasted almost twenty years. When it finally needed a new transmission, (who knew washers had transmissions?) I shopped around for the quietest washing machine I could get.

The two features that mattered most to me were capacity and quietness. The Kenmore that we were retiring had served us well, so after some comparison shopping, we bought a top loader from Sears that we were told would be quiet. Boy were they wrong! The machine could be heard throughout my house. Sears was very nice about exchanging it for another model. We chose the newest design Sears has called the Oasis. I thought it sounded like a nice compromise between a top and a front loader. Theses are a few of the facts I learned about washers while I waited for the second machine to arrive.

The agitator (that large corkscrew in the center of the tub) is the source of the noise.

Every manufacturer has it’s own definition of noise insulation. There is one manufacturer, Bosch, that measures the noise of it’s machines (and not just it’s washers) in decibels bosch nexxt washing machine

There is really no way of knowing how loud the machine will be until you use it at home. Some stores will plug in a machine and run it for you, but without laundry and your home environment, anything you hear will still be an approximation..

The Oasis technology was only six months old when I ordered my new washer and there was very little information about how well these new agitatorless toploaders worked. There was certainly nothing about their durability. Maytag had tried a toploading agitatorless machine with dismal results. I started getting nervous about my decision; we were about to spend close to $1000 on an appliance we knew nothing about. I spent more time researching quiet washers.

I had heard that Miele made some quiet machines but that they had smaller capacities, were costly and I could not be assured of a low noise level. My Aunt has a newer Fisher-Paykel, which she likes but both local salespeople and the company customer service representative agreed that the spin cycle sounds like a jet airplane taking off. I learned that Bosch makes what is likely the quietest washer on the market. As I noted earlier, they measure the sound level in decibels and all of the Nexxt models ranged from 54dB to 58dB. Some quick research revealed that 30 decibels is equivalent to a soft whisper, 50 to rainfall and 60 to normal conversation. I was convinced.

Sears was wonderful about everything. I had no problem canceling the Oasis order and they even let me postpone the pick up of the noisy Kenmore until the delivery of my new Bosch.

The Bosch washing machine is QUIET! We can stand directly in front of it and barely hear the swoosh and flop of the clothes. Often we don’t even realize it is running until we notice the movement through the window. (Watching the laundry through the window entertained us all for the first few days.) One of my concerns with a front loading machine was that I wouldn’t be able to add an item once the cycle had started. (There always seems to be a stray sock that tries to escape.) This is not a problem at all. There is a pause button that unlocks the door and the cycle continues. (Sometimes it adds a few minutes to the total cycle time.) The washer uses so little water that my visions of flooding were instantly disproved. Not only that but the capacity is unbelievable and the clothes come out very clean.

As with the first machine I purchased, some things only become apparent once the appliance is set up in the laundry room. This Bosch (and I have since learned this is true in other Bosch owning households) is loud during the spin cycle and rocks itself out of place if the machine is very full. The Bosch repairman changed the feet to ones that are meant for soft floors (I have a laminate floor) and that has helped a bit. I was amazed to find that Bosch plans for the differences in floors and will make this change without charge. The other factor that adds to the noise, which I cannot change, is that my laundry room is not on the ground floor. Most problems with noise seem to come from the instability and reverberation of a second floor location.

So far the Bosch is cleaning beautifully and has fit our needs quite well. It was easy to understand all the cycles and how to use them (Although it chooses the water level and that was different.) It uses only about two tablespoons of high efficiency detergent so the cost per bottle of HE detergent and regular detergent is about equal. The cycles run longer than my old machine, but the extremely fast spin cycle removes so much water that drying time is literally cut in half. (I can dry a load of jeans in about 35 minutes.) Overall, I am very pleased with my new Bosch Nexxt washer and plan to purchase the matching dryer when my twenty year old Kenmore wears out.

Portable Generators – Consumer Product Safety Commission Warning

September 14, 2006 By NightOwl

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2006
Release #06-239
CPSC Media Contact: Scott Wolfson
(301) 504-7051
* Statements from the Commission attached

CPSC Approves NPR Proposing New Warning Label for Portable Generators

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an effort to reduce the rising death toll from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with consumer use of portable generators, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously (2-0) to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR).

The proposed standard would require manufacturers to place a new warning label on portable generators.

The label includes pictograms and statements warning consumers that a generator’s exhaust contains poisonous carbon monoxide and that a generator should NEVER be used inside the home or in partially enclosed areas such as garages.

CPSC has reports of 64 people who died last year from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with portable generators. Many of the deaths occurred after hurricanes and major storms.

Later this year, CPSC staff will be providing the Commission with information on other potential regulatory and non-regulatory options to reduce deaths and injuries caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from generators.

The public has 75 days to comment to the Commission about the NPR. Comments can be submitted to CPSC’s Office of the Secretary at tstevenson@cpsc.gov

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE NANCY A. NORD ACTING CHAIRMAN, U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING FOR PORTABLE GENERATORS

August 15, 2006

Today I am voting to publish for comment a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that would require all portable generators sold to consumers in the United States bear a specific warning label. The purpose of the proposed rule is to better warn consumers about the very real danger of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning posed by the use of a portable generator in or near a home.

The demand by consumers for portable generators has increased in recent years. Portable generators can be extremely useful machines, particularly after the loss of electricity in the wake of a storm or for some other reason. However, as the number of portable generators in use has increased, so too have the number of people who have been killed or sickened by CO poisoning from those generators. The amount of CO emitted >from a portable generator can be up to several hundred times that released by a modern car’s exhaust and can kill consumers in a very short period of time, especially while they sleep, as several recent, tragic incidents have demonstrated.

In addition to the proposed warning label requirement, I anticipate that the Commission will soon receive a staff package outlining other regulatory options the Commission might consider regarding portable generators. I look forward to receiving that package as well as the public’s comments on this NPR, and to continuing to work with all of our stakeholders on this important issue.

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE THOMAS H. MOORE COMMISSIONER, U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION ON THE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING REGARDING LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR PORTABLE GENERATORS

August 15, 2006

In the six year period from 2000 through 2005, CPSC staff is aware of at least 222 deaths related to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning associated with portable generators. Far too many of the deaths associated with the use of portable generators predictably occur following severe weather events that typically cause power outages. Consumers, unknowingly, expose themselves and others to lethal CO gas while using the portable generator as a substitute power source often during times of high stress and anxiety.
…
As mentioned above, our staff is conducting a thorough review of the existing portable generator safety measures. While improvements to warnings are important, warning labels, by themselves, may be insufficient as a sole means of addressing the CO poisoning hazard. From our experience, we know that simple awareness of a possible hazard will not in every instance dissuade a consumer from behavior that leads to exposure to the hazard. Therefore, in the very near future, our staff will be providing to the Commission a briefing package that will contain a comprehensive discussion on additional regulatory and non-regulatory alternatives which could be used to further reduce CO related deaths and injuries associated with the use of portable generators.

To see the full release on CPSC’s Web site, including a picture of the proposed warning label, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06239.html

New Maytag Refrigerator Nightmares – They Just Don’t Make Maytag Men Like They Used To

September 5, 2006 By NightOwl

Remember avocado green appliances? I believe they were popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s . Last fall, my mother decided that this was the year that her almost forty- year- old refrigerator had to go. The green didn’t bother her, and it was working just fine, but she thought that at about forty years, she was pushing her luck that it would continue to work well. She felt should replace it now while she had the ability to shop around and make the best choice without being rushed because she was without a fridge.

So after learning that Amana, which was the brand she had and liked very much is now owned by Maytag and that the Amana models did not come in the larger size she preferred, my mother bought the Maytag model #MTB2195AEW on February 3, 2006. It is traditional in style with the freezer on top and has no accessories such as an icemaker or water dispenser. The refrigerator was delivered with a large dent in the front door and had to be returned for another one. The second one seemed fine and was installed. It has not been seven months yet and she has had five service calls and one more is scheduled for next week. Six service calls in six months!

The first call was for help with the installation of the shelves in the freezer. The instruction manual did not make it clear (and it does seem counterintuitive) that small pieces of plastic must be broken in order to make the shelves fit in the freezer. The serviceman helped with the shelves and ordered a new set of clips to hold the kickplate that was loose because of a broken clip. (It seems it was broken at the time of delivery.) We should have seen what was coming…

Call number two was regarding the freezer icing up. There were icicles in the freezer because the door was out of alignment. The hinges were replaced. Soon after this the bottom shelf in the refrigerator and the crisper began freezing. This brought about service call number three. These visits had all been with the local company that works with the store where the purchase was made. The repairman said he was unable to fix it although he thought the problem might be the thermostat. He referred her to Maytag and left an 800 number for her to call.

My mother called Maytag right away and was told that the soonest appointment would be two and a half weeks later. She waited and was rewarded at this, her fourth service call, by having the damper replaced. Within two days everything was freezing again on the bottom shelf and in the crispers. ( For those who don’t know, crispers are the bottom drawers in the fridge used for storing fruits and vegetables.) She called the Maytag folks again who told her she would need to wait another two and half weeks for service. When the repairman arrived for this fifth call, he looked at the fridge, told her that she should not place canned foods on the bottom shelf and that the crisper is supposed to freeze things. She suggested that she should just return it, to which he replied “You do that.” and he left.

One more call has been placed – to the store where she purchased this malfunctioning Maytag. They want another shot at fixing it. She is waiting yet another week for the service call and we all hope that they don’t send the repairman who referred her to Maytag customer service three calls ago because it seems that Maytag has no intention of offering service to this new ( and possibly former) customer.

This all makes me wonder why the old green fridge, which had almost no problems in it’s nearly forty years, lasted so long. Was the old Amana a better made appliance? Is Maytag, which has been known in the past for it’s high quality, losing its edge? Or does avocado green have a special effect on appliances?

It’s tempting to spend a few dollars at Amazon.com for some paint…

Braun Immersion Blender

July 25, 2006 By NightOwl

One of the handiest tools in my kitchen is my immersion blender, also known as a hand blender. Immersion blenders have been around for about ten years, and do almost everything that a regular blender does. I have one of the older models made by Braun. Braun makes a number of small household appliances. I also have their coffee maker. (But that’s something for another day.)

For those of you not familiar with an immersion blender, imagine a 12 inch plastic cylinder ergonomically designed to fit comfortably in your hand with a twirling blade at the bottom. To mix, blend or puree, all you have to do is literally immerse the blade in your pot, cup or bowl and push the button. The blade must remain fully immersed or you’ll splatter yourself a bit.

One of the things I like is its ease of cleanup. If you’d like a smoothie, all you have to do is put the ingredients in a large cup, give it a whirl or two, run the blade end under hot water for a few moments and it’s clean. Nothing else to wash but your cup, but of course you’d have that anyway. My Braun hand blender came with a plastic cup as an accessory along with a wall mounting bracket so that it can be conveniently stored in a cupboard. The new models come with a variety of accessories and range in price from around $15.00 to over $400.00 by companies such as Waring, KitchenAid, and Conair.

Something that is important to me, as a matter of both safety and convenience, is the ability to blend right in the pot. If you are making hot soup that needs to be pureed, you have three options.
Wait until it cools and then pour it in small batches into your traditional blender, pour the soup in hot and take the chance of scalding yourself, or, with an immersion blender you can just put the blade into the pot and off you go.

A quick tip: When you are pureeing, be sure to keep the base of the blender at an angle to the base of the pot. If the blender is touching the bottom of the pot, the food won’t circulate, and the machine can’t do its job. I had a friend who had problems using her immersion blender and therefore disliked it. When I explained that you need to keep it angled to allow the food to move through the mechanism she called back to say that it worked perfectly. Depending on the depth of what you are blending you should keep the blade about an inch above the bottom of the pot, and you should move the unit through the liquid as if you were gently stirring it.

The appliance is versatile. Not only do I use it for the basics like milk shakes, smoothies and pureeing soup, it is also wonderful for making homemade refried beans and Hummus. Here’s a recipe you can use to try it out:

Sweet Potato Soup

2 teaspoons butter or margarine
½ cup sliced carrots
½ cup sliced celery
1 ½ cups seeded, peeled and chopped tomatoes
(or do what I do and use the 28oz can of diced tomatoes)
6 cups broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable – water will do if necessary)
1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
pepper to taste
Plain yogurt as sour cream as garnish

$Jane Brody\'s Good Food Book/Jane Brody\'s Good Food Gourmet/Boxed Set$
In a large pot, sauté the carrots and celery in the butter or margarine for about 5 minutes. Do not brown them. Add the tomatoes and cook to reduce the liquid a bit. Add the broth and the sweet potatoes, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft.

Remove the pan from the heat and puree the mixture directly in the pot. Add pepper and reheat as needed. (This soup can be served cold also, but we prefer it hot) Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.)

This recipe is from Jane Brody’s Good Food Gourmet.