Handy Tips

Where and what are these? The condenser coils are a spool of tubes about 1/4 inch in diameter. They are usually black in color and are found on the bottom, but sometimes toward the back of the refrigerator. Heat is exchanged from your refrigerator to the environment through these coils. Keeping the coils clean will help your unit run more efficiently and helps avoid unnecessary service calls.

Do not throw a wad of wet clothes from the washer as a wad into the dryer. Split things up, shake them and place them loosely in the drum. Your clothes will dry much faster and more evenly and put less wear and tear and the drum mechanism.

Following is a list of items you should NEVER put in your dishwasher:

Stainless Steel items
Aluminum Items
Pans with Teflon Coatings
Fine China
Any item with wood, bone or other special inlay or handle.
Cast Iron Pans – you really do not want to rust these!
Plastic-ware – if labeled dishwasher safe it can go in the top rack, never add this to the bottom rack as you risk a melted item.

Do not overload your silverware basket and do not mix silver and stainless steel silverware in the same basket. By mixing the two metals you can create spots on your special silver.

We have all forgotten to check a pocket only to find laundered money, coins, rocks, nails, pins, tissues and whatever else in our washers. These items can also get jammed into the machine somewhere and obstruct water flow.

If you have recently switched to a high efficiency washer, you may be using too much detergent. We all get comfortable with using a certain amount of detergent and having to remember to use less often takes a little while to make it part of a new routine.

If you are using up your “old non-high efficient detergent”, use half of what you are used to. High-efficiency washers use about 20-25 gallons of water compared to around 40 gallons for the non-high efficiency washers. If you are using non-high efficiency pods, stop using them and give them to a friend and buy a new box of pods designed for high-efficiency washers!

Turn off exhaust fans in bathrooms or range hoods when no longer needed. They suck warm air out of your home on cold winters days.

In the summer, you might think it’s a good idea to turn them on to suck hot air out of your house? This is also a bad idea, since you will use electricity in a far less efficient manner and ultimately, wear out your fan motors faster.

Clean or replace filters as recommended – often this is once a month but, other high efficiency filters only need replacing once a year.

If dust and other particles block airflow, the efficiency of your furnace will be seriously diminished and could even become dangerous.

A clean filter can drastically reduce the danger and improve your furnaces efficiency. In addition to better airflow, you will also save on your heating bills.