Appliances That Can Actually Make Your Life Easier

Now that appliances have become about as energy efficient as they can get, manufacturers are focusing on other areas when developing the latest and greatest bells and whistles. It seems the new trend in appliances is what makes life easier for the consumer. Families want to spend less time worrying about household tasks and upkeep, and instead, spend more time enjoying life. Following are a few new appliance features that just might make your household chores a little easier.

Oven Features and Accessories
An oven feature that is widely ignored is the door. As it has been forever, the majority of the ovens in our kitchens have a door that opens downward. As you know, reaching over the scalding door to pull out a 20-pound turkey can be a bit challenging, but there are other options. French and other side-swing style doors may prove to be safer, more-ergonomic alternatives. Whether one-door or two, these hinged doors open to the side allowing you to reach your dishes with greater ease.

On the oven accessory front, one worth considering is a roast probe. An example is the Bosch Series 8 oven and it’s ‘Roast Perfect’ meat probe. This accessory is inserted into any meat and detects the internal temperature. Once the perfect temperature is reached, the oven will automatically turn off and an alarm tone will ring. Also, a number of manufacturers now enable you to monitor your oven and cooking status from your smartphone or tablet. From the comfort of your home office or favorite reading nook, you can preheat your oven, monitor temperatures, check the timer, and more. These handy features really allow you to go about your business without any dreaded cooking anxiety.          

New Laundry Features
How many times have you wanted to wash your favorite white or delicate item, but were running out of time and really needed to do a full load of dark laundry? Great news!  LG’s new dual washer may be the answer. If you have small children, pets or must-have items, you can wash those items in the compact washer while your full load is running in the integrated larger top washer. If stains are your challenge, perhaps the Samsung model with a built-in sink and ridged washboard is the answer. After prepping clothes by gently rubbing stains with pretreatment against the ridges and allowing them to soak, they drop directly into the washer avoiding the trail of soapy water. Electrolux features a ‘Perfect Balance System’ designed to run smoother and quieter and minimize vibration. This state-of-the-art technology keeps larger loads balanced and helps to minimize the disruption to neighboring rooms, which is particularly helpful for second-floor laundry room installations with napping children!  Whatever the situation, there is sure to be a feature-rich washer that addresses your laundry challenges. 

Refrigerator Cams
How many times have you started pouring a bowl of cereal only to realize you forgot to buy more milk? This nuisance, one we’ve all experienced, may soon be prevented. Later this year, Smarter Appliances will be introducing a refrigerator camera that will let you see an image of what is in your refrigerator directly from your smartphone. Expected to retail at about $100, the Smarter Fridge Cam can be installed in any refrigerator and will snap a shot of the contents every time the door is opened. It then stores the latest image in an app on your smartphone. For the gadget lover, this is a low-cost alternative to the technology just rolled out by Samsung. Samsung’s first-to-market refrigerator features an integrated camera that also snaps pictures of your fridge, but comes with a much higher, first-to-market price tag.    

These smart home appliances and accessories are sure to make your home life easier. Please let us know if you have any questions on these products or other home appliances, or if there is anything else we can do to be of assistance.