How to...Light a Kitchen

I saw a woman in the store yesterday, so clearly frustrated with the prospect of lighting her kitchen. Renovation should be fun, but you need to know what you are doing. Lighting a kitchen is much more difficult now. Our parents and grandparents segmented the house to formal living room, kitchen and den. The trend now is to combine two or three of these elements into one great room. This impacts appliance specifications certainly, but more so in lighting design.

To review previous posts, proper lighting encompasses, task, ambient, accent and decorative elements. So lets talk our aforementioned friend off the ledge. Following are basic ideas.

First, for our task element, lets use some recessed lights. We could have used track as well, but recessed seems to be preferred in new construction. We will space them 12-24 inches from the cabinets and 4 to 5 feet apart.



Next lets buy some under counter lighting, which will light the counters(that came off wrong).

Her task light is now complete....



Now I have no idea what the specifications actually are....So lets assume an island in the middle in a larger footprint.

Lets place a semi flush fixture in the middle for ambient (up lighting) that will also serve a decorative function



Then for accent lighting, lets monopoint some 12v track heads at her art....



The decorative/accent pieces are all assumptions, but when starting a lighting plan, specify task first then add the other elements.

If you have a lighting issue, then send me an mailto:steve.sheinkopf@yaleappliance.com

Did I really Say That

Following is an article in todays Boston Globe. There is no question that top mounts(freezer on the top) have declined in popularity in recent years. However, it is still the least expensive option per cubic foot and also the largest refrigerator at 21 cubic foot within a 30 inch space

I do like that my name is spelled correctly and they did use the word ubiquitious, which means to be everywhere. I love that word

The basic white fridge is a dinosaur
February 28, 2007

It's hard to imagine life without a refrigerator. But the modern refrigerator only became a ubiquitous household appliance in the 1950s. Before that, people kept food cool by storing it outside in cold weather, in cellars, or in insulated boxes that were packed with ice.

Today, refrigerators are the biggest category at stores such as Yale Appliance and Lighting, where director of sales and marketing Steven Sheinkopf says these kitchen essentials range in price from $500 or $600 for a standard box to as high as $12,000 for a designer, commercial-style fridge.
The basic white freezer-over-fridge model looks like a dinosaur compared to those with stainless steel finishes or "integrated design" models that match the wood or other exteriors of cabinets; these seem to disappear into the kitchen's decor.
Sheinkopf predicts that sales of stainless steel fridges, that "go with everything," will remain strong for the foreseeable future. New models keep popping up, such as one with side-by-side doors and a freezer underneath, called a French Door. In any case, these innovations will continue to undermine sales of the basic white box. -- LEIGH BELANGER

Buying Service Contracts

Service contracts are extensions to the manufacturers warranty, which can be either parts, labor or both. The most common warranty in the appliance industry is a 5 year, which is actually 4 years plus the manufacturers original 1 year. Think of it as year 2-5 coverage.

There are many people who believe good products should work. I respect that. That thinking would bankrupt the insurance industry, but in theory, good products should operate for longer than 5 years. Statistically, our service department completed 15,000 service calls in warranty, so there are a good fraction of new products for whatever reason need repair.

The pricing structure should be very simple. usually a 5 year warranty will cost $99-199 on basic products and more on expensive products like SubZeros and professional products depending on the store

The question of whether to actually purchase a service contract becomes strangely complicated. You buy a service contract from anywhere. The first question is: Who fixes it? The number 2,3 and 4 volume appliance dealers have limited appliance service technicians in their organizations. On the Internet, it is even worse. How can an Internet store from New Jersey service an appliance in Boston or Boise. Think about it. Yale is one store and completes over 15,000 calls per year. Can you imagine a chain of stores. My point is do not invest the money on service when a company cannot by its very nature can complete the transaction

I do not want to turn this into a service rant. My purpose is to educate, so don't plunk down your hard earned money on a contract that may be worth only as much as the paper and ink

The Most Efficient Dishwashers Available

To be honest, dishwashers are not as compelling as clothes washers in terms of water and electricity savings. As discussed in previous posts, use the air dry and shorter cycles(which do not heat the water as much) for maximum efficiency.

List as follows:

Asko, D3531, 194 KWH and 141% better than the Federal Energy Standard.


Bosch/Thermador, 290 KWH and 61% better than the Federal Energy Standard.


Frigidaire, 309 KWH and 57% better than the Federal Energy Standard.