[diyguy]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Are there any good model/brands of frost-free refrigerator for around 20K?

There are many 250L ones in your budget. I have been using Samsung refrigerators for about 20+ years now. We have two at home and gave away our older Samsung 320L to our maid, mid last year. It was working just fine. I've found that the Samsung store is often cheaper than online. I purchased a 590L last year from the Samsung store and it was 4k or so cheaper than paytm, Amazon and flipkart. Am now in the market for a front load washing machine and again the Samsung store is 6k cheaper than amazon. Apart from the price variance you also get points which can be redeemed against future purchases making the store price more attractive. This may be true for other brands as well.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by diyguy

There are many 250L ones in your budget. I have been using Samsung refrigerators for about 20+ years now. We have two at home and gave away our older Samsung 320L to our maid, mid last year. It was working just fine. I've found that the Samsung store is often cheaper than online. I purchased a 590L last year from the Samsung store and it was 4k or so cheaper than paytm, Amazon and flipkart.

Anything other than Korean brands like LG n Samsung?

[hrman]

Originally Posted by diyguy

There are many 250L ones in your budget. I have been using Samsung refrigerators for about 20+ years now. We have two at home and gave away our older Samsung 320L to our maid, mid last year. It was working just fine. I've found that the Samsung store is often cheaper than online. I purchased a 590L last year from the Samsung store and it was 4k or so cheaper than paytm, Amazon and flipkart. Am now in the market for a front load washing machine and again the Samsung store is 6k cheaper than amazon. Apart from the price variance you also get points which can be redeemed against future purchases making the store price more attractive. This may be true for other brands as well.

Interesting to note. Was this the brick and mortar store?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by hrman

Interesting to note. Was this the brick and mortar store?

Yes it is and just ordered the Samsung flex wash machine, expecting delivery in a day or two. This model isn't available online and is cheaper at the Samsung store. Croma was pricier by about 10%.

[itwasntme]

Gas leakage sensors!

I am urgently looking for a high quality LPG leakage sensor for my kitchen. We had a near catastrophe last week when our maid left one of the hobs slightly on when she left around 1800. My wife came into the kitchen around 2100, smelt the leaking gas and immediately turned off the knob.

Luckily we have a very well ventilated kitchen, else an explosion could have occurred if she had switched on any light or other device!

I urgently want to fit a sensor for the same. Please provide ideas. Online sites have a lot of such devices, but I want something trustworthy and with a recognised mark like ISI or similar.

[diyguy]

I got my bore water tested for hardness and other chemicals and need help interpreting the results and advice on what systems to install, if any. I am considering 3M water softener, sediment filter and scale preventer. Do I really need these?
We do have scaling on taps, bathroom floor whitening, scale on filter of dish washer, washing machine drum breakage and smell in the water. However the water is clear and not colored. Please give me your opinions on what I would need to install. I may have to install a pressure pump as well in one go to improve water flow in our 1st floor bathrooms. This will also help regenerate the resin that is in the softener.
The other options I am considering are a safe kitchen water filter and a RO. All of these are from 3M.

[Aroy]

There seems to be quite a lot of TDS, hence scaling problem.

With this hardness in water even bathing will not be very pleasant as soap will tend to stick to hair. Just keep in mind that the test results are for NOW. Hardness will increase with time, as more water is drawn from the system so the salts get concentrated, especially in summers.

My preffered solution is
1. Have a sedimentation filter in two stages - coarse followed by fine.
2. I prefer whole house RO, as ion exchange is fine, but the TDS remain, just changed chemically. On the other hand RO will get rid of the TDS, so you will have no problems in future.
3. Have a UV system to kill most of the pathogens, that are invariably present in ground water. This is important not only for potable water, but for bathing and washing as pathogens may infect you through bath and utensils.

[aim120]

You will need a Ro for drinking, a whole house Ro is a waste, for every drop of pure water you waste 4 drops down the drain.

On a side note I am from Bangalore and as more people migrate to cities, we won't have sufficient water. If everyone starts installing RO think of the waste, I bet farmers will be even more furious to share water with other states.
So atleast me in my house even though the TDS is only around 200 or so(cauvery river water) I do use a Ro for drinking and I still use all of the waste water either for mopping, washing utensils(hell I even open the lid of a western toilet tank and fill it up). The waste water won't cost more then Rs35 a month for me but still its the moral thing to not waste water.

In my village the TDS in the bore water is around 1000, yet they don't have any physical impurities, the first stage sediment filter looks new even after 2 years or so. On the other hand the cauvery water that I get in the city, the sediment filter starts to turn brown within a day and will have to replace it every 3 to 4 months.

Back when I was a kid, I use to drink water around 1000 tds in my village and nothing happened. But if I drink a unfiltered water in bangalore city water, I immediately fall ill or catch cold.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by aim120

So atleast me in my house even though the TDS is only around 200 or so(cauvery river water) I do use a Ro for drinking and I still use all of the waste water either for mopping, washing utensils(hell I even open the lid of a western toilet tank and fill it up).

Very curios to know why you use RO even for cauvery water (when TDS is also low). I had read that RO purifier (article here) should be used when there is high presence of nitrate else it is not very much required. RO will remove some of the essential minerals from water. You may want to look at that.

[aim120]

Well my immune system is poor, that's why.
Ever since I was born it was one of the below form of water
In the late 80s it was boiled water,in 1990s it was aqua guard UV ,in 2000s it was back to boil and in 2010s it was canned water and from 2013 till now RO.
(only rarely when I used to visit my native that I used to drink unfiltered water for a day or so).

I use RO with tds controlled to about 60 reading, I could use pure UV only but some how I don't feel its enough for such a short exposure of water with UV.

[vsrivatsa]

Folks, Planning to get a Dishwasher in Bangalore. After briefly going through the thread, here is what I have understood in summary:
1. Stay away from IFB
2. Siemens and Bosch are on par
3. LG is also an option
Has anything changed from the above in 2018?

People who went in for LG Dishwasher how is the maintenance cost? [I went for a LG Water Purifier earlier and the AMC guys seems to quote a bomb to change the filters and hence a bit concerned about LG]

Between Siemens Vs Bosch Vs LG what are the pros and cons? Also this would be our first dishwasher - so I have no prior experience on this topic - recommendation on any other key things to keep in mind would be helpful

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

2. Siemens and Bosch are on par

we moved from Samsung to Bosch about 6 months back. The Bosch is bit better designed with thicker plastic spray arms and wider spray holes. My wife says it washes better. The build quality looks better. The Samsung died in 4 years and due to a house shift. The body of the Samsung rusted away very fast as well.
The Siemens and Bosch machines are serviced by the same company. When I asked for the Bosch machine cover, the service center had only Siemens and asked me if I could was OK with that. I decided to wait a month till they got me a Bosch named one. I imagine these two brands may be very similar in all aspects.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Between Siemens Vs Bosch Vs LG what are the pros and cons? Also this would be our first dishwasher - so I have no prior experience on this topic - recommendation on any other key things to keep in mind would be helpful

First Bosch in my house. Packing, quality of arm, build, design are all top notch. Have been using it for more than 2 yrs now and haven't faced a single issue. Wife uses the machine on a daily basis and have no complaints.
This month moved from Finish to Fortune and yet to see a visible result.
Only hiccup, need to clean the utensils in running water and then place it in the dishwasher, but the washed utensils are perfect when compared with hand wash.

PS. Haven't seen a Siemens dishwasher till now in any of the retail shops. When inquired, all we can hear is that both the company are same and hence only Bosch available.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

2. Siemens and Bosch are on par

Originally Posted by dre@ms

First Bosch in my house. Packing, quality of arm, build, design are all top notch. Have been using it for more than 2 yrs now and haven't faced a single issue. Wife uses the machine on a daily basis and have no complaints.
This month moved from Finish to Fortune and yet to see a visible result.
Only hiccup, need to clean the utensils in running water and then place it in the dishwasher, but the washed utensils are perfect when compared with hand wash.

Another Bosch user here. I too haven't faced any issue in the two years that I have been using it.
Finish seems to have disappeared from the market. Not able to get it from amazon or the local supermarket who used to stock it. Tried IFB and mom says it cleans better compared to Finish.
It is not necessary to rinse the utensils before putting them in the washer, rather just scrape off all leftovers. Getting good results with that approach. The placement of the utensils also matter IMO.

[BenjiRoss]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Finish seems to have disappeared from the market. Not able to get it from amazon or the local supermarket who used to stock it. Tried IFB and mom says it cleans better compared to Finish.
It is not necessary to rinse the utensils before putting them in the washer, rather just scrape off all leftovers. Getting good results with that approach. The placement of the utensils also matter IMO.

Finish detergent powder is not available or Amazon or Paytm. The all in one max tabs seem to be available now again. The pack size is reduced from 34 to 30 tablets and overall cost is higher.
I used fortune but have up after getting a few defective tablets that never dissolved or were wet in each pack. Their customer care was nonexistent.
I'm trying Fairy tablets this month and seeing how they work.