Major Appliances You Can Control with Your Phone

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Smartphones can do some truly incredible things. In addition to enabling us to communicate with people around the world, take pictures and videos, read entire books, and monitor our health, they can also control major appliances in your home—when you’re not even there.

At the grocery store and not sure if you need to buy more milk? You can take a look inside your fridge. Don’t feel like going downstairs to see if the washing machine is still running? Check its progress on your phone.

Read on to find out some of the ways you can control major appliances in your home with your phone.

Oven

What if you could turn on your oven and keep tabs on your baking from afar? There are now apps and programs that allow you to do so. If your oven supports Alexa integration (Amazon’s smart home product), you can control your oven with Alexa. Additionally, GE has a range of Wi-Fi- connected smart appliances and these can now be controlled with Google Assistant, which works the same as it does with Alexa. Samsung also has smart ovens that can be controlled with and Android app.

All of these programs enable you to do things like turn your oven on and off and control cooking time. The Samsung oven can even tell you how much your food weighs and many calories are in your meal!

Refrigerator

Refrigerators are getting cooler (pun intended) all the time; they can do things like dispense sparkling water, cool areas within your fridge at different temperatures, and display calendars, notes, recipes, shopping lists, and even stream television with LCD touch-screens. If that’s not incredible enough, you can now peer into your refrigerator when you’re not home.

Samsung’s Family Hub Refrigerator includes three cameras which can be accessed through a smartphone app at any time. Now, you don’t need to rack your brain to remember if you have enough butter or your raspberries have gone bad—you just grab your phone and see!

Washers and dryers

Your phone can also make doing laundry easier. With the Whirlpool Smart Front Load Washer and Samsung’s Smart Care washers and dryers, consumers can download an app and monitor your laundry’s progress from anywhere. The Whirlpool washer’s app also enables you to set and change cycles from wherever you are and track the amount of energy you’re using. There are also electric LCD touchscreen washers and dryers which can send your smartphone notifications when your laundry is finished.

Controlling your appliances with your phone gives you more flexibility and peace of mind. Check on your washer’s progress, take a look inside your refrigerator, and make sure that you turned off your oven. And if you live in the San Francisco area and your smart appliances are in need of repair, contact the experienced and professional staff at Absolute Appliances Repair.

Home Appliances Tips

/in , , , , , /by

Replacing a refrigerator or oven range can take a bite out of your budget, as can buying a new washer or dryer. To make sure your appliances stand the test of time and continue to perform, follow these home appliances tips:

Keep your fridge and freezer clean

In general, appliances operate best when spick-and-span.

Besides regularly cleaning up leftovers in the fridge, keep condenser coils clean. Do so by using a condenser coil brush.

To clean the freezer, unplug it, remove all food, wipe it down with a baking-soda solution, use water to rinse it, and then dry the freezer with a towel before plugging it back in.

Defrost your freezer

Many freezers today are frost-free. However, if you have a manual defrost freezer, plan to defrost it at least once every year, before frost gets to about a half-inch thick. Use a plastic or wooden scrape — no knives or other sharp instruments — to remove the frost layer.

Scrub your oven and range, too

Clean inside your oven often and never let food debris stick around on burners, even if it requires a bit of elbow grease to remove.

Don’t spray cleaning fluid directly on control panels though, which could cause them to short circuit. Instead, apply a little onto a rag to clean that surface.

Don’t foil your oven

Experts debate whether you should use the self-cleaning feature if your oven comes with one, but they agree you shouldn’t use aluminum foil under the baking element.

Replace filters

Whether it’s a charcoal filter in an oven, a filter in some dishwashers or refrigerators or the one in your furnace, follow manufacturer guidelines to clean and/or replace them as directed.

Don’t use dish soap in the dishwasher

This can hamper the machine’s performance with gunky buildup. Use only dish detergent.

Scrape off plates

Food debris can clog dishwasher pumps. It’s going to stop up the spray arms and, in the case of emptying the water out, it’s possibly going to make the pump … fail prematurely.

Don’t overload your clothes washing machine

Doing so adds strain on the motor, tub bearings and other parts, besides not getting your clothes clean if water and detergent can’t swish between them. You shorten the life of the machine.

Instead, follow the owner manual instructions on how much to load. Hint: If your machine is banging around under the weight of all of your laundry, you’ve gone overboard.

Improve your dryer’s circulation

Often forgotten, the lint screen needs to be cleaned regularly. Failing to do or allowing your dryer vent to become clogged will force your dryer to work overtime (read: retire sooner) and can present a serious fire hazard.

Plan to have your dryer’s exhaust system cleaned annually.

Watch where you apply stain removers

Spraying it on top of washers or dryers can corrode painted or plastic parts.

COUNT ON Absolute Appliance Repair TO SOLVE ANY APPLIANCE ISSUES

/in , , , , /by

We provide San Francisco’s best appliance repair services, quickly and at a fair price. We stay up-to-date with the newest appliance technologies, and our expert service technicians can repair all major brands and models of household appliances.

We guarantee our work.

Absolute Appliances Repair is locally owned and operated.

We specialize in fixing refrigerators and freezers, washers and dryers, stoves, dishwashers, and any other type of electric appliance in your home.

When you depend on an appliance and it stops working, a fast repair is critically important. Using high-tech testing methods, we’ll quickly identify the root of the problem and advise you about the available repair options. That way, you can make the best choices.

Freezer Maintenance Pro Tips

/in , , , /by

Is your freezer is running constantly or isn’t getting cold enough? We can help put your freezer back in shape for the San Francisco summer!

Freezer tips:

  • Using a baking soda/vinegar solution to clean your freezer will help eliminate any unwelcome smells.
  • Storing a box of baking soda in your freezer can be a smell magnet that removes foul odors.
  • Cleaning and inspecting freezer door seals regularly will help your freezer to maintain a proper temperature use electricity efficiently.

Give us a call at (415) 831-1259 for more information or to schedule an appointment. You can also use our online form to start the scheduling process.

The cool physics of ice makers

/in , , , /by

You might think that making ice is a simple business: just throw water into the freezer and it turns to ice. Simple, right? That’s true if you just want to make a single tray of ice, but most of us prefer to have ice available on demand. That’s why we have ice makers, devices that can make ice consistently for the many years that you will own your fridge. That takes a bit more engineering than a simple ice tray. Let’s take a closer look at how the humble ice maker creates the ice to keep your summer drinks cool.

The basic ingredient of ice is, as you might expect, water. But you can’t just throw any old water into an ice maker: good ice needs clean, fresh water. So, the first part of the ice maker is a filter that removes all of the solids (dust and dirt particles) and most of the dissolved chemicals as well. What comes out of this filter is crisp, clean, clear water that will make crisp, clean and clear ice. Assuming that you remember to change the filter, that is…

Now that we have clean water, we can start freezing it. Most ice makers are built around a tray that has semicircular or rectangular depressions in it. A valve above this controls the flow of water, filling the tray with enough water to fill the depressions, forming the shape of the ice cube. Because this tray is inside the freezer, it gets cold, and the water begins to freeze. Nearby is a sensor which is measuring the temperature of the water, waiting for it to reach a certain temperature (usually about -12°C/10°F).

Once it reaches this temperature, the water is solidly frozen and ready to remove. Ice is tricky, though: it sticks tightly to most surfaces, so you can’t just tip it out. Instead, ice makers use heat to loosen the ice. Under the ice tray is a small electric heating element, which is triggered to heat the the tray slightly, creating a very thin layer of water between the ice and the tray. This is not enough to melt most of the ice, but the thin layer of water provides enough lubrication to allow a motorized arm to push the ice out, into the ice holding bucket.

The tray is then filled again, and the cycle continues until the ice bucket is full. On most cheap refrigerators, a wire pokes down into the bucket, and the ice piling up pushes this triggering a switch that stops the ice maker cycle. When you remove some ice, the wire falls down again, disengaging the switch and restarting the ice maker cycle. More expensive refrigerators will use infrared or other sensors that don’t need a wire, but the principle is the same: they detect the level of the ice and disable the ice maker when it reaches a certain level.

Most of you will also be familiar with the curse of the cheap ice maker: you get a big block of ice because the ice cubes have stuck together. On the lower-end models that just dump the ice into a bucket, the ice cubes will stick together over time, eventually forming a solid lump of ice. This is a phenomenon called accretion, where the moisture in the air passing over the ice cubes bumps into the ice, and joins it. It’s the same phenomenon that makes icicles on tree branches on a cold night: moisture in the air freezes and sticks together, forming ice crystals that then pick up more moisture, and so on.

Inside your ice maker, the ice cubes that are in contact will join together as they accrete new ice, forming a solid block. If you have a particularly bad refrigerator (or an old one), the ice cubes may also be melting slightly as the temperature of the freezer compartment rises. This creates a thin layer of liquid water on the surface of the ice cubes, which flows together, only to be refrozen when the freezer.

More expensive fridges deal with this problem by including a stirrer, a metal rod that is turned occasionally inside the ice bucket, separating the ice cubes. This also explains the mysterious noises that you may hear from your expensive fridge in the middle of the night: it isn’t haunted, it is just stirring the ice. These more expensive fridges also separate the freezer and ice maker compartments, limiting the flow of cold air into the ice bucket so there is less moisture in the air to be captured.

So consider this the next time you grab a chunk of ice to chill your soda: the ice that you take for granted is the result of some sophisticated engineering and some basic science.

COMMON REFRIGERATOR OR FREEZER PROBLEMS

/in , , , /by

Ice and frost build-up in the freezer – This usually means that there is a problem in the self-defrost system.

You may have damaged refrigerator or freezer door gaskets. When you open the freezer door, you also let in a blast of warm, often humid air. This moisture usually freezes onto the evaporator coils immediately.

Water is inside at the bottom of the refrigerator – This is usually caused by blocked drainage tubes.

Your refrigerator feels warm or is cycling on and off frequently – Clean the condenser coils located at the bottom of your refrigerator behind the kick plate/grill.

Call Absolute Appliance Repair NOW if you have any problems with your Refrigerator or Freezer!

Phone lines

(415) 831-1259 San Francisco
(415) 388-0690 Marin County
(650) 525-0512 South SF / Daly City / Pacifica

 

 

FREEZER AND REFRIGERATOR TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

/in , , , /by

Refrigerator troubleshooting isn’t a precise science, but there’s a lot that the home user can do to attempt to fix refrigerator or freezer problems. Hopefully, these handy freezer and fridge troubleshooting tips can help you out of a pinch without hiring a professional.

Check for Power First
Power can be the answer to many refrigerator or freezer problems. Check that the refrigerator is securely plugged in, and that the fuse or circuit is fully functional. If your fridge or freezer has power but still has issues, make sure you unplug it or turn off the circuit breaker before doing any refrigerator troubleshooting to avoid electrocution.

Check Cords for Wear
Sometimes refrigerator or freezer cords get damaged during normal use. The cord could get pinched under the machine and short out over time, or an extension cord could go bad. Take extension cords out of the circuit, and examine the fridge or freezer cord for signs of damage. If the cord is pinched or cut, you may need to replace it.

Light Works, but Refrigerator Isn’t Running
First, check the adjustable temperature setting knob inside the refrigerator or freezer. These knobs are typically along the top of the fridge near the light assembly, or along the side of the fridge or freezer. If the temperature is at a low setting, turn it up to make the fridge colder.

If the refrigerator compressor doesn’t kick on, check the fridge for airflow. You should leave at least three inches between the refrigerator and walls, and an inch at the top to provide air flow and prevent overheating. Try unplugging the refrigerator for a couple of hours, and then plugging it back in again. If the compressor turns on, it’s overheating. Try cleaning the condenser coils underneath the fridge as well. Dust that builds up makes it harder for the condenser to work, which can cause overheating.

Refrigerator Works, but Light Doesn’t
Sometimes light bulbs inside a fridge or freezer burn out. Light bulbs are one of the easiest refrigerator parts to replace. Simply take the bulb out, find a matching bulb and install it. If the light still doesn’t work, it’s probably a problem with the door switch. Try manipulating the door switch manually; if you can’t get the light to work, the switch or assembly may be defective.

It’s Not Cold Enough
If your appliance isn’t cold enough, check the temperature selector first. If it’s set low, turn the setting up and see if the fridge or freezer gets cooler. Next, check that there’s proper air flow around the appliance, and that vents are clear. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, the condenser coils may need to be cleaned; fuzzy or clogged condenser coils won’t cool the refrigerator’s interior properly. Check the seals to make sure the door is sealing properly and keeping cold air inside. Defrost the freezer to see if that corrects the problem. If none of these steps work, you may need to consult a professional.