Shallow Depth Refrigeration Part 4

Last week and earlier this week, we covered the three styles of shallow depth refrigeration: Regular, professional and integrated.

But what do the space starved urbanites consider? LG used to manufacture a 24 inch 11 cubic foot bottom freezer, but not in stainless. Look at this stainless bottom freezer from Germany, Blomberg. This is a very good alternative for consumers who actually have no alternatives(other than to demolish their kitchen and start over)

Great replacement piece.

The Joys of Being an American Consumer

As trade becomes more global, we become more dependent on other places(duh). As a consumer, China and Europe should be areas of concern for very different reasons.

The Euro is now 1.5-1 to the American dollar, which means European vacations, Swiss Army knifes and Gucci purses now cost 50% more. In the appliance business, Electrolux, Bosch and Miele have announced price increases. Miele is actually quite significant at 13%

China has the opposite problem. They have overstripped their capacity to produce. Factories have been idle, because of a lack of power. Plan on more lead time for basic commodities.

It should be interesting especially around Christmas....BTW, word of advice: Join our mailing list before next Wednesday.

Geminis and Double Ovens

A 30 inch oven is pretty easy to understand. There is a backguard, burners and storage drawer. Flash back 8 or so years, and the then independent Maytag company built the revolutionary product...The Gemini. Its a fancy name for a simple product. Instead of a storage drawer, Maytag added a second oven. Unfortunately, they also placed the knobs on the surface, so you have less area for the burners

Have a look:



Frigidaire and GE have since redesigned the range with the burner controls on the face. The GE has better features, but Frigidaire at $1289 (less rebates) is the best buy.

The Green Kitchen....Final

Lets return to this new Green Kitchen. First, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about the construction lagging on for 484 days. Actually the duration for us was less than 6 weeks. For review this kitchen is totally sustainable from the bamboo floors and pendants to the marble.

Have a look(again)...This time look at the lighting in particular



Now guess how many watts...I threw in my whole lighting presentation from Innovation 08 for no extra charge. The actual Green Part is only the first few slides



Total wattage is 240 watts....Incandescent equivalent is 1342.

Remember:

Bulb replacement: Incandescent 7 months, fluorescent 7 years, LED 20 years.

Heat output: Incandescent 300 degrees, Fluorescent 100 degrees, LED zero heat.