Whats to a Sink?

I love sinks. There dont leak and require little service. A few posts ago, I posted about my mothers rusty sink, and thought today would be a good chance to review.

Couple of Points:

Undermounts: The sink is mounted under the solid surface. I like this adaptation. It looks better and its seamless design is easier to clean.

Apron Front: Basically a sink finished in the front.

Gauge: My mothers sink is rusty, beacuse it is an inferior gauge. Gauge refers to the amount of nickel within the sink itself. 18 gauge is considered good, with lower numbers being better. This is the Franke Orca, which is a 18 gauge.

My Favorites:

The Majestic M30 is the largest sink that fits within the standard 30 inch cabinet.

Majestic A: Nice look for under $1000

Tax Free Weekend

Our best month for the last four years has been August, because of the tax free holiday. Now the Tax Weekend becomes the first month of a tax increase...Just because our state government doesn't want to, doesn't mean we can't

So this weekend select GE, Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid, Franke, Bosch, Schonbek Crystal, Hinkley, Rohl, Hansgrohe, Bertazzoni, Marvel, Uline and Blomberg will have full tax rebates of the 6.25%

August 15, 16 and 17

Great Lighting...Part 8

The YaleBlog is probably 70% appliance related. In this sequence, you will see a SubZero integrated refrigerator, Wolf cooktop, Bosch dishwasher, Franke farm sink, Best hood and Bosch dishwasher in an island setting.

Looks great.

Now look at the lighting. As I have posted previously, task lighting can be accomplished with recessed or track. In this slope ceiling application, we used bendable monorail track with cable supports and track heads with custom color accessories.



In an upscale environment, lighting sets the mood.

Dishwashers and Blanco Sinks

Congratulations, you bought a quiet dishwasher. So quiet in fact, it is noiseless.

So when does it shut off?

Electrolux and Bosch has solved this eternal riddle with a LED light when the cycle ends.



As of last week, we are selling the Blanco line of sinks. Blancos specialty is larger single sinks, and onsumers seem to be purchasing these sinks instead of doubles. Bigger pots are perhaps the reason, but larger singles seem to be a better utilization of space (in my opinion). Either way, you can now choose Blanco or Franke.

The Kitchen Sink

Haven't blogged about sinks in a bit. About 15 years ago, the major trend in sinks was under mounting or placing the sink under the counter without a seam. Although sinks still follow cabinet sizes(25,33,38), the new trend is larger single bowls to accommodate the large dishes.

When buying a sink, check the gauge or amount of nickel in the product. This is usually demarcated by a number, 18 is decent and 16 is the best. Finish and undercoating are also important as well as the depth. Franke, Perrin & Rowe, Shaw and KWC are decent brands available at Yale, but so is Blanco and Elkay, which are not.

Have a look at a few:

Dennis Macdonald And Range Hoods

Dennis Macdonald became the sales manager of the store effectively replacing me sometime 1 or 2 years ago. He is actually a great guy, good with staff and customers (which means I will have to fire him in a rage of jealousy)...

Dennis is motivated by the strangest things, refrigerator handles, coffee systems, and now range hoods. He has placed 16 new hoods on display from Miele, Monogram, Zephyr, Faber, Franke and whatever else he has decided to hang today.

The average stove burners are 20-30% more powerful than stoves manufactured 10 years ago. Hoods and ventilation in general need to reflect this change

Which one is best? Have a look...The answer is below



Hoods are based on capture area and CFM(blower speed). The cooking product really determines size of hood...There are some decent ventilation posts on the blog, but for the people who need info now:


How to vent:

Capture area: The deeper the capture, the better

CFM: Motor speed, the higher the CFM(cubic feet per minute or literally how many cubes of area are vented

Size of duct: A bigger motor needs a bigger size duct so the volume of smoke can travel efficiently

Duct run: Shorter is better without turning the duct..If you have more than one bend in the duct, you will have greatly diminished the efficiency

Franke Hoods

There are three great hood lines from Italy: Best, Faber and Zephyr. They actually reside(or used to reside) in the same town of Fabriano. Best was purchased by Broan about 10 years ago, which has not been good for that company. Beautiful design emanates from Italy or Spain and cannot be dictated from our country or so it seems.


Faber was just purchased by Franke. Franke is a Swiss sink and faucet company. Perhaps they have learned this lesson, as these new hoods are really eye catching to say the least....


Have a look:

Ventilation

Shawn is not around until 12, so the plan is to explain ventilation/ducting this morning and show a few new Franke hoods later. Hoods have become important especially with the BTU increases in cooktops. You do not want your house smelling like the last item you cooked.

Venting a hood is certainly preferable than a non vented application, because you now exhaust the heat to the exterior.

The best ways to vent to the outside are: vertical (or straight up) then horizontal or straight back. Venting becomes less effective when you bend it or you vent beyond 10-15 feet

A Few of my Favorite Things

I was walking through the store with a camera. One word about Yale: We rotate displays incredibly frequently. As you look at these photos in November, they may be off display by January.


So lets have a look at the first of 2 posts:




SubZero wine storage: Subzero actually designed this unit wine preservation The unit actually addresses light, humidity, vibration and temperature issues...






Miele Dishwasher: Fantastic repair record, quiet and water efficient






With the separate cutlery tray for added space







Franke KBX series: Ah, the simplest things...How about a different looking sink?







Tech Mo Pendants: They are $300 a piece. Incredibly colorful, these pendants will change the kitchen completely(for the better)










Thermador Freedom: Call me an elitist, but I like integrated products.



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Water Filtration(again)

Saturday, I stopped to fill the car and realized gas is now over $3. I live 2 miles from work so I do not have the raw excitement of visiting a gas station every couple of days. Fast forward to Monday and I am having a salad at Lambert's(a local place) and notice that bottled water is $1.29...for 20 ounces.





Lets calculate this to a gallon. There are 126 ounces to a gallon, so if we multiply just by 6, and we are almost at $8 a gallon. Unlike gas, there are alternatives that are way cheaper. First, I have to point out the new advertising campaign from a bottled water company.."We filter it, filter it and then filter it again"...I love this campaign, because it describes exactly the process of a home water purifying system. Typically water is filtered by carbon, ceramic and resin cartridges:





Lets look at a few:





WaterX Wx500: 5000 gallon filter can be installed under the sink without a separate water tap, and can be siphoned to other appliances. It costs around $400 for 5000 gallons or the equivalent of $40,000 worth of bottled water.









Everpure: Easy snap in filter is the unique to this company. This does need another point of use faucet, but there seems to be a number of really nice looking options for this









Franke Tri Flow: Want a great looking faucet with an incorporated filter? The Franke Tri-flow is a good choice. The downside is the price tag, which is over $800









Franke Dw100: Franke has also just the point of use water filtration. With the faucet, it is only $295 and up









WaterX Whole House filtration: Finally, a product to filter everything from the shower to the bath and all water generating pieces therein. It is great for people with problem water as the filter is customized specifically your type of water such as hard water, well water, etc

New Sinks And Faucets

Appliances are amongst the most important products in your home from a resale perspective. But lets face it: 80% of the buying public is purchasing either stainless steel or integrated(panels) kitchens.



The real intriguing stuff to buy is lighting and plumbing. Lets look at some new products, so your house does not look like your neighbors.



Rohl Faucet reminds me of the retro Chicago faucets that are popular...Except Rohl can actually ship it. The sink is a KBX Franke. It is squared and cleaner than regular undermounts





Manor House faucet by Rohl has a nice traditional style to it





Franke stainless farm sink: Lets just pretend that farm sinks which are popular in traditional kitchens were never actually manufactured in stainless.





99% of undermounts are stainless. Now you can try porcelain





Farm sinks are a boomerang trend. They seem to be popular and then disappear for no conceivable reason. Then again, they do have to be planned in the kitchen much earlier





Nice faucet....You will be the envy of your basic pull out faucet buying neighbors

Water Filtration

So far most of the posts have been dedicated to Energy efficiency, appliances and lighting. Air and water quality have been hot topics as well. So lets try something new

Water puification is a simple and inexpensive product to purchase. Everyone buys bottled water at $1-1.99 per bottle, which essentially is filtered water(although it is unregulated). We throw away our plastic bottles without even thinking. I am guilty as well to a certain degree. You can buy a product that can filter 5,000 gallons for about $400

Lets talk about the companies and the most common technology sold in the country. Water-X, Everpure and Franke are the biggest names in our channel. Their basic filter is three stage with carbon, ceramic and resin filters. These filters serve to draw sediments and impurities to .01 of a micron. These type of filters range from 1.000 to 3,000 gallons and are dispensed through a separate tap or faucet. Water-X does manufacture a filter at 5,000 gallons that filters through a normal kitchen faucet.

Whole house filters have also become more popular simply because it filters all impurities throughout your house. At all levels, water for showers, laundry as well as drinking are filtered. Water plants are available at all sizes and prices. Typically, the company will customize the filter based on your water as different regions have different issues.

If you are planning a new kitchen dedicate at least $400 for a water filter.

The Newest, Latest and Greatest...Ventilation

There were some interesting vents from Zephyr, Viking and Franke(the new owner of Faber)








Zephyr hood....Very nice



The Shade by Zephyr....It is actually customizeable




Franke hood....Yes they are a sink company, but they recently purchased Faber



More Franke....



Even more Franke

The Kitchen Sink

The kitchen sink should not be such a difficult purchase. A good sink is consider such by the gauge or the amount of nickel in the stainless. A lower number is a better sink. 18 is considered good with 16 gauge being commercial grade. The second feature is finish and undercoating. The finish determines luster and undercoating sound insulation. Franke, Blanco and Elkay are considered the best in this realm.

Now which sink? First, sink sizes are based on cabinet sizes. The most popular sink is a single sink that measures 25 wide by 22 deep as a 25 inch cabinet is the most specified with 24 inches deep as the standard.
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Most sinks sold at Yale are undermount. This type of sink disappears in the counter and is easier to clean without any seams.
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With the basics covered, we can buy them extra deep up to 12 inches, in a double with the food disposer on one side. There seem to be endless combinations as long as it fits into the cabinet
PRX 120" src="http://yaleappliance.com/blog_pics/prx120.jpg">