Team-BHP - The Home Appliance thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpha1 (Post 5915309)

1) There is a growing trend of side-by-side door fridges: while the side-by-side door offers a convenience (less wide arc to swing the door, hence can fit better), I was appalled to see that there is compartment partitioning running through the center, effectively offering you less than 2 square feet uninterrupted storage area! (this is less than my current 300L fridge!)

2) The slightly misleading storage volume spec: though offering you some idea about the capacity, tells nothing about how it is distributed. I have seen fridges which are really "tall" but narrow footprint, thus wasting the volumetric real estate except for that rare tall vessel; very few fridges that are squat shaped and thus offering more "carpet area" (and hence more storage of usual shaped items)

3) some of them come with bottom freezer, and accordingly ask higher price for this feature; but due to the low placement of the freezer, there is a considerably less freezer storage space available (usually no door trays available on such freezers)

I'm in the same boat and in constant argument with my wife on the 3 points you mentioned :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunilch (Post 5915324)

For 1 and 2, we skipped the side-by-side options altogether. This was also based on the previous experience that my wife had with her relatives - they ended up buying another small 200L capacity refrigerator after facing storage issues in the side-by-side one

My wife's relatives have same issue as you mentioned but still she wants the side by side for the cool looks it provides rl: We already have a LG double door 450 ltrs fridge which is doing the job well and provides better space management than the side by side.. But the heart wants what it wants!

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpha1 (Post 5915309)

I was on lookout for larger capacity fridge, and few observations and hopefully comments/advises from the esteemed forum members:

Space management is better in conventional two door fridges with uninterrupted large space available and partitions that can be customized as per requirement. I think people go for side by side fridge because of modern design, looks and easy accessibility of items at the back of the fridge - this is a major plus point as it is not easy to take out items at the back in a big conventional two door fridge, especially when it is full.

I could not consider side by side door fridge during upgrade as the space provisioned in kitchen for fridge did not have enough length to accommodate them. So I got a big two door conventional fridge which is a tight fit in the space and blocks the kitchen entrance fully when door is open.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatienceWins (Post 5915390)

.... I think people go for side by side fridge because of modern design, looks and easy accessibility of items at the back of the fridge ...

This is unrelated to the above quote, but is about people's preferences, -- so a general query on something I'm puzzled about (I don't know whether it is a topic already discussed, -- if so, please pardon me):

Why is it that most single (and double) door refrigerators in the Indian market open on the left by default (hinges on right) when an overwhelming majority of Indians grow up righthanded?! Wouldn't it be much more convenient for righthanders if doors opened on the right?
.

Quote:

Originally Posted by meerkat (Post 5915477)

Why is it that most single (and double) door refrigerators in the Indian market open on the left by default (hinges on right) when an overwhelming majority of Indians grow up righthanded?! Wouldn't it be much more convenient for righthanders if doors opened on the right?
.

No.

1) Not just Indians, majority of humans are right-handed honestly.

2) With the handles on the right side, hinges on the left - when you try to open the fridge, your right side (the area where the door will open and take space) is free since you have to come to the left of the fridge facing it and not in same direction as the fridge. That is way more convenient than you standing in the area that the door will take up when opening and turning.

3) Once opened, all items in the door are on your right which again is a bit more convenient than the other way.

So think if the fridge as a person with two hand and when you try to open it, think of it as the hand shake between two right handed humans. That works in harmony, isn't it. Except that here the fridge can't shake hands in a diagonal fashion and hence you tend to move to the left of your side when you try to do the handshake :)

BTW, I don't think there was every any mathematics or science applied in this. I guess it was purely based on experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 5915602)

I am skeptical if the square pins can be properly and safely inserted in local Indian sockets using adapters like this.

I have all sorts of stuff using adapters like that. Both ways. I have UK extension leads that I put Indian plugs into. Both kinds of adapter are available. I also have extension leads with international sockets that accommodate UK, USA, European and Indian plugs. However, they only accommodate the smaller, 6-amp Indian plug.

You need to know what amps the frier will draw. It should be stated on the device. British plugs are fused. You could take out the fuse holder and see what the cartridge-fuse rating is.

Here's the cover-all solution: chop off the UK plug and fit an Indian 15-amp plug. Plug it into a 15-amp socket. NB: if the cable is 3-core, then be sure to connect the earth and make sure that the socket is earthed. Just because a device comes with a sealed-on plug (legal requirement for British domestic stuff) doesn't mean that you have to keep, and use it.

I have seen a lot of large capacity refrigerators with my friends and relatives.

The space management is unique to each manufacturer. For example my older 410L ish Whirlpool refrigerator had less usable space compared to my new Samsung 380L. The difference is in deeper shelves of Samsung which allow more pots to be stored.

In my opinion if you do not care about the bells and whistles in the large capacity side by side refrigerators, two refrigerators are a much better option -
. Cost of two 350L refrigerators may be less than one 600L unit.
. Space in two units is generally more.
. You can use one for daily use and the second one for longer term storage (once in two or three days). That keeps your food fresher and the freezer colder.
. Best of all you get a redundancy (though refrigerators fail less they do)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 5915608)

This truncated bit from your reply reaffirms my belief that Thad is more Indian than an Indian :D. What's life without a bit of jugaad!

Thank you :)... but actually it is rather British: absolutely uneconomical to call electricians etc for small jobs, if one can afford it at all. Sure, there are a lot of Brits who would not like to change a plug, and might not be safe doing so, but very, very many of us can, confidently and safely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by meerkat (Post 5915477)

Like all things, we have to do with less choices unfortunately. A relative of mine got their refrigerator from Japan when they relocated. That beautiful machine can be opened both ways, left or right. There's no need to even flick a lever or anything, just open however you want.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpha1 (Post 5915309)

I was on lookout for larger capacity fridge, and few observations and hopefully comments/advises from the esteemed forum members:

1) There is a growing trend of side-by-side door fridges:..

Never liked side by side Yank fridges for this very reason. That partition eats up so much space. Which leads me to this - the usable volume is far less in those fridges especially because of the narrow shelves you end up with. Hence I've always preferred a standard double door fridge freezer, just larger volume ones or French door fridges.

I can understand the visual appeal of the side by side. Mum nearly went for one but managed to convince her to get something like this as she was keen for something visually distinct (I think this was indeed the model we got - been totally fine for the past 5 years). You get the appeal of the almost 'almirah' like double doors for the refrigerator compartment but the wide uninterrupted shelves so that you can whack a pot/pan in whole if you're feeling lazy about decanting into something else. I'll add that the above linked model doesn't really have much else in terms of bells and whistles (which I recognise as avenues for things going wrong what with inexperienced users).

That being said we have a similar size traditional double door for the service kitchen as that was preferred by our cook.

I will also add that many companies now advertise that they have space saving internal walls, basically stating how they maximise the available internal volume - probably in response to the complaints in the past from folks about those units that just had big thick sidewalls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 5915719)

In my opinion if you do not care about the bells and whistles in the large capacity side by side refrigerators, two refrigerators are a much better option

This isn't a bad suggestion. It's essentially what we had for years. A beater fridge so to speak for the service kitchen itself and another in the dining area. Though not sure if it's as efficient in terms of electricity use, it'll be a more flexible set up for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 5915602)

An unopened air frier (make and model unknown) gifted to family members in the UK is proposed to be redirected to us in India. Will it work here?

Like Thad said - doing things like rewiring plugs yourself is totally a DIY job in the UK because of how expensive call outs for any service worker is (electrician/plumber/handyman).

With your UK air fryer, should be able to just swap out for an Indian 3 pin like Thad said. When we moved back to India we had a bunch of our stuff shipped over and mum had all the plugs rewired (think white goods as well). Don't think there were ever any issues. I'm less versed on voltages etc but think UK appliances have similar voltages and amperes to Indian ones (is it American origin appliances that need conversion kits and suchlike)..?

Speaking of which, my mum bought the eponymous Philips air fryer when they launched the thing back in 2011 and I'm pretty sure that came with Euro pins. I think she got an adapter and used it just fine for years.

Just out of curiosity do you know the make and model of the air fryer you might be getting from the UK? Ninja seems to be the default option here.

Yes, India and Britain have the same voltages. Devices from one country will easily work in the other. Singapore also the same. And Singapore is still having a mixture of round and flat-pin plugs.

The round-pin plugs are what Britain used to use. My early childhood (1950s) in UK was all round-pin. In 1967 we moved to a newly-built house, and that was all flat-pin.

The European two-pin plugs seem to be common now heere, but they are a pain, as they don't actually fit our sockets properly. And the <==> shaped ones are particularly horrible!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 5916050)

The round-pin plugs are what Britain used to use. My early childhood (1950s) in UK was all round-pin. In 1967 we moved to a newly-built house, and that was all flat-pin.

Ah! I've always wondered this. When clearing out a bunch of really old equipment from the lab I'd notice them having Indian style rounded pins. Really baffled me. Similar when I was helping clearing out my wife's grandparents shed. An ancient kettle with an Indian style rounded plug. Wonder what caused the change? Imagine how much easier life would be if they'd kept the same design.

Don't get me wrong though, I will die on the hill that one of the vanishingly few truly peerless world leading things the UK has is their plug socket design. Incredible bit of engineering.