Buying Appliances for Your Home

Ovens - When shopping for an oven, your first decision should be whether you want an electric oven or a gas one. This decision can be made according to your cooking preferences. Also, consider the type of cleaning process it uses. Standard cleaning ovens require you to clean it yourself. Self-cleaning ovens often have programmable cleaning settings that use high temperatures to clean residue from the oven. You can also get continuous cleaning ovens that absorb or burn off splatters, making it even more convenient.

Refrigerators - A rule of thumb when buying a refrigerator is that you need to consider the number of people in your household to determine the capacity you need. For example, a family of two needs at least 8 to 10 cubic feet, then add another cubic foot of space for each family member. Remember that refrigerators with freezers on top are generally more energy-efficient than those with side-freezers.

Dishwashers - When choosing a dishwasher, you should find out how many gallons of water it uses during different cycles. Features that reduce water usage are very important. The new stainless-steel models can improve energy efficiency during drying cycles and allows for higher water temperatures as well.

Ventilation Hoods - The fan will be the most important factor here. Axial fans are inexpensive but not as powerful as centrifugal fans. Try to find hoods that have a tempered glass light lens. These are more durable than the plastic lens, which yellow and crack, and they last longer. You should also consider buying one with a low sone number. Sones measure the noise level created by air-moving appliances, and the lower the sone number, the quieter it is.

Garbage Disposal Systems - When shopping for a garbage disposal, there are several things to consider in order to arrive at the best disposal to fit your needs. You need to take into account the number of meals that are prepared in your kitchen per week, how often you entertain, and the amount of noise it makes, as well as a long product life. You also must know if you are hooked up to a septic system or regular water system.

Air Conditioners - Check the energy tag attached to the unit and consider the energy efficiency. The Energy Efficiency Ratio, or EER, ranges from 8 to 12, so the higher the EER number, the better the efficiency. After this, you also need to consider the space of the room you'll be putting the air conditioner in, as well as your budget. How big is the room? Is it important that the whole room be cooled? Is there variable weather? Do I move from room to room a lot? The answers to these questions will help you find the suitable model for your needs. Try to match the unit's cooling capacity with the size of the room. According to the Department of Energy, air conditioner size should be determined by multiplying the room's square feet by 20.

Water Heaters - Look for hot water heaters that are energy efficient. The EnergyGuide label gives you two important pieces of information when you're comparing different brands and models: estimated energy consumption and estimated yearly operating costs. Using these information, you can compare models and see which ones are better at energy saving. As for tank size, it refers to the number of gallons of water that the water heater can hold. The more gallons you need per hour, the larger the tank must be. Of course there are also tank-less systems which heat water as you need it. They are powered by either gas or electricity and turn off when not being used. However, they cannot be expected to supply you with large amounts of hot water at any given time.

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- Azlan Irda