Description: Major Kitchen Appliances
Refrigerators . . . A plastic ice cube tray still costs about a dollar. I have $4.00 worth in my freezer. Some customers are paying up to $400 and even 500 dollars for auto icemaker and vend repairs.


If you have a Bottom freezer, you will have a time when the drain freezes over and water will leak out the front and onto the floor. One way to stave off the inevitable is to set freezer temperatures a couple degrees 'above' 0o. Bob Tusky invented the Passive Drain Heater long ago. We see very few modern freezers using his simple technique of wrapping a conductor (wire) around the defrost heater and running it into the drain the thaw it with heat during defrost. (It wasn't patented).

Laundry . . . Front load washers tumble their contents into a 2" puddle of water. Use a smaller quantity of soap with so small an amount of water. Do they clean as well as the older top load and agitator models? We think not. Last Fall I put our sheets from camp into our front load washer. I didn't shake out the last one and found it still folded an hour and half later when the load was complete.


Customers tell us the top load washer with the agitator missing doesn't clean too well. I have noticed the center bearing begins to fail in about the 4th year. Not a good buy in our opinion.


The dryers with a glass front (matching the front load washers) have a propensity to begin squealing because the idler bearing seizes up. This is true of every brand as most use the same part.

HVAC . . . April and May are a good time to have the AC unit cleaned and checked for efficient operation. An AC that isn't quite up to par (think low freon) will run more and cost more in electricity as well as reduce the life of the equipment.


In the winter, we notice some outside condensers are covered by the homeowner. I CRINGE when I see a unit fully covered because it traps moisture and causes rapid rust of the unit. It's good to cover the top or possibly ¾ of the unit. It must breathe to stop that rust problem.


R22 Freon as used on older equipment is in short supply and the cost has quadrupled in the past year. Look for more expensive repairs. The most common problems at the beginning of Air Conditioning season are, The 220 circuit breaker in your house is tripped, so the outside unit won't come on (just reset it). Also wires and or the capacitor in the condenser unit need replaced.