Appliance Heroes

10/11/2026

10/09/2026

Pro tip: tie them with a bowtie or slipknot with the ends tucked in!

10/08/2026

Ok, what do you do with the straps lol???

09/22/2026

That's just so mean lol.

But if you use "Pointing and Calling" you can avoid this!

09/05/2026

09/05/2026

Sometimes deals aren't deals.

09/05/2026

This is Part 3 of our multi-part series on a deep dive on the pros and cons of appliances, their types, and features.

Up next: Condenser coils!

These coils are how fridges exhaust the heat absorbed from their interiors.

They require airflow for heat exchange; some have condenser fans to aid this process, and most of all, they must remain clean and free of buildup.

If they become clogged with lint or airflow is restricted, your fridge has to work harder and longer to maintain the temperature inside. It would be like placing a blanket on the exhaust side of your window-mounted A/C.

These are the three basic configurations of condenser coils from worst to best:

1.) Bottom-Mount:

The coils are located at the bottom of the fridge in a flat configuration. The condenser fan at the rear of the fridge draws air over these coils for heat exchange. The problem is that the coils are sandwiched together, which reduces efficiency, and worst of all, this configuration is by far the hardest to clean.

You have to remove the lower kickplate and access the rear. The front of the coils gets clogged, and it's difficult to access the middle of the coils.

Vacuuming isn't very effective and the best way to clean the coils is to use a blower. And yes, this is a messy process.

Pros:

- lowest depth penalty of all configurations

Cons:

- inefficient airflow and therefore heat exchange
- easily clogged with lint and hair
- hardest to clean
- requires a condenser fan

2.) Rear-Bottom Mount:

The coils are located at the lower rear of the fridge behind an access panel. They are either configured into a cylinder or box shape. A condenser fan draws air through the coils.

The coils are configured in an even tighter layout than the bottom-mounted coils, but they are less prone to clogging and much easier to clean because you can access the entire coil.

Note that the access panel, which is sometimes made of cardboard, is necessary because the fridge was designed for a specific direction of airflow. Do not dispose of it.

Pros:

- easier to access and clean
- less prone to buildup

Cons:

- less efficient airflow due to tight configuration
- requires a condenser fan

3.) Rear-Mount:

This configuration was the most common in the past and is now the least common. The coils run the entire length of the rear of the fridge. The coils are spaced wide apart, and the natural convection effect of the warm air rising provides airflow without a condenser fan, which reduces energy consumption.

They almost never become clogged with lint and hair. This is by far the most efficient configuration because these coils exhaust heat so easily. If the first two configurations are trying to dry a towel you've scrunched up into a ball, this configuration is like drying a towel by hanging it up by its two corners.

The compressor doesn't have to work as hard because it takes less time and energy to exhaust the heat. In the first two configurations, the condenser fan does double duty by also cooling the compressor. With this configuration, it's so efficient that the compressor doesn't require active cooling.

The downside also explains why this style fell out of favour; the coils come with a depth penalty when consumers were clamouring for counter-depth fridges.

Pros:

- most efficient configuration in terms of exhausting heat and compressor use
- no condenser fan required
- does not clog up with lint or hair

Cons:

- increases depth of fridge

09/03/2026

This is Part 2 of our multi-part dive into how appliances work and their pros and cons.

Next up: ice makers!

Let's be honest - ice makers are really convenient. We doubt anyone actually enjoys filling and placing the ice tray in the freezer. It spills all over, and filling up partially empty ice trays is annoying because you can't use the entire tray until it's all frozen.

But each ice maker has its own pros and cons.

1.) Freezer-mounted ice maker, no door dispenser:

This is the simplest and most reliable type of ice maker. It's already in the freezer and so doesn't need separate cooling or sealing.

It dumps the ice into a bucket and you manually scoop out the ice into your glass.

There is no feeding mechanism in the door and sealing it against the warmer temperatures of the fridge compartment isn't an issue.

Pros:

- simplest and most reliable design
- easiest type to service
- it's easier to pull out the bucket and dump all the ice into a cooler

Cons:

- less convenient filling

2.) Fridge-mounted ice maker, door dispenser:

These essentially use the same ice maker, except they're now mounted in the fridge section. The problem is that freezer sections are about -17C and fridge sections are 3C.

That means you don't want warmer, above-freezing air entering the ice maker section, as you will get condensation, frost buildup, and leaks.

These ice maker sections are either cooled via a separate evaporator coil (more on this later in another post) or with a duct and a fan that blows the freezing air from the freezer section.

Some of the ice makers are located in the top corner of the fridge section, as pictured here or are mounted in the door, such as in French door fridges.

And then you have the door-mounted dispenser. You must seal off the chute where the ice is dispensed from the outside air for the same reason the ice maker is sealed off from the fridge section.

The wiring and hoses for the display, paddle, buttons, and water dispenser must feed through the hinge of the door, which presents more points of failure. For example, Whirlpool had numerous issues with the wiring being damaged or cut as it passed through the lower hinge of their side-by-side (SXS) fridges. Sometimes there wasn't enough wire left to effect a repair, and the only solution was to replace the entire door.

Pros:

- convenient filling

Cons:

- less reliable
- more points of failure
- sealing issues
- mechanical complexity
- greater cost

3.) Freezer-mounted ice maker, door dispenser:

This is available on side-by-side (SXS) fridges. The freezer section is its own compartment mounted vertically on the left side of the fridge.

There is the same ice maker as the #1 but it dispenses through the door. The advantage over #2 is that the ice maker is in the freezer, which avoids all the issues with mounting it in the fridge section.

It dispenses through the left door with all the same advantages and disadvantages as #2.

Pros:

- more reliable and less complex than configuration #2

Cons:

- still less reliable and more complex than #3

08/30/2026

This is the first in a multi-part series that will explain how appliances work, the pros and cons of each configuration, and the pros and cons of their various features.

First up: Fridges!

First, we need to understand how a fridge works.

Fridges don't work by pumping in cool air; instead, they pump out the heat from within.

One set of coils is called the evaporator coils. They are located within the freezer (FZ) compartment. They become very cold and absorb heat.

The refrigerant passes through the compressor and then reaches the condenser coils. The heat absorbed from the evaporator coils within the freezer compartment is released at the condenser coils. The condenser coils are either located at the back, bottom rear, or bottom of the fridge.

So the evaporator coils absorb heat, the compressor pumps the refrigerant through the sealed system, the condenser coils release this heat outside the fridge, and the refrigerant makes its way back to the evaporator coils, thus forming a closed loop.

Fans on both the evaporator and condenser coils move air through the coils to increase the rate of heat exchange.

Here is the interesting fact: in the vast majority of fridges, the freezer compartment is cooled via the evaporator coils, and then the evaporator fan moves the cold air into the fridge (FF) compartment.

Return air channels then bring warmer air from the fridge compartment back to the freezer compartment, and the process begins again.

That means we have yet another loop!

Now that we've learned how a fridge works, it can help us understand the various fridge configurations!

Fridge configurations are defined by the freezer compartment's location.

There are three basic configurations:

1.) Top-Mount (freezer on top)

2.) Bottom-Mount (freezer on bottom)

3.) Side-by-Side (SXS)

These are the pros and cons of each:

1.) Top-Mount:

Pros:

Since the freezer compartment is on top, cold air naturally sinks down to the fridge compartment because it's denser. Also, warmer air in the fridge compartment naturally rises back up to the freezer compartment.

This makes top-mount fridges more efficient since the fans and ducts aren't fighting gravity.

Cons:

Top-mounts can't have the convenient pull-out drawers that some bottom-mounts offer. It's harder to organize your food since you're dealing with only a shelf.

2.) Bottom-Mount:

Pros:

Many offer convenient pull-out drawers in the freezer compartment, and the fridge section can be offered with the French-door configuration (two doors that open away from each other).

Cons:

The cold air from the freezer compartment has to be forced upwards against gravity, and the warmer air from the fridge compartment also has to be forced downward. This results in a less efficient loop than top-mounts.

3.) Side-by-Side (SXS):

This is when the freezer compartment is on its own on the left side in a vertical configuration, and the fridge compartment is on the right in a similar setup.

The cold air is pushed upward in the freezer compartment and passes through a damper at the top where the two compartments join, works its way down the fridge compartment, passes through a vent at the bottom, and returns to the bottom of the freezer compartment. The airflow is therefore clockwise.

Pros:

Taller spaces make it easier to stack tall items. Tall vertical doors for a French-door-like configuration.

Cons:

Less efficient airflow because it fights gravity; the narrow freezer compartment can make storing and accessing food awkward.

And there you have it!

There are now newer configurations such as 4-door (4 evenly sized compartments with 2 on top and bottom), 5- and 6-door (horizontal pull-out drawers), but we will get into detail with these in the next posts!

Later, we will discuss dual-evaporator coils and even double-sealed system fridges, so stay tuned!

08/20/2026

These Whirlpool washers with this style of control panel are prone to electrical gremlins. These will manifest themselves as the washer not powering on, or randomly turning off or ending the cycle.

We've discovered an ad hoc solution to the not turning on problem which is to enter service mode. This tends to snap the washer out of its "I'm not turning on" mood.

This is how you enter service mode:

1.) Pick any three buttons that are not "Power".

2.) Press the three selected buttons in order, three times in a row. For example, our technician picked "Soil", "Spin", and "Temp". They pressed them in order three times in a row for a total of nine button presses. You have entered service mode when all the indicators on the display light up and you hear the beeps.

3.) Press "Power" to turn off the washer. This will also exit service mode.

4.) Press "Power" again to turn on the washer and you should be able to use it normally.

Note that it might take more than one try to snap the washer back into working normally.

These control panels can also be finicky with button inputs; if a button isn't responding try pressing lighter instead of harder.

This method isn't a permanent fix but given the cost of the control panel (about $350 plus labour and potential unstacking fee) some of our customers have opted to simply live with the problem and use this trick when needed.

Or better yet, avoid these washers and dryers with these control panels altogether.