Pre-holiday Oven Tip

Are you hosting the big meal this year? Better make sure your oven is doing its job. Use an oven thermometer to test the temperature. We suggest testing at 350 degrees for at least a half hour to get an accurate reading. It’s normal for the temperature to fluctuate about 10-15 degrees, but if it extends beyond that range then you’ll want to adjust the temperature.

On ovens that use a dial to set the temperature, you should be able to adjust it yourself. If you have a digital oven, you may need to call an appliance repairman. Let me know if your oven needs adjusting and you live in or near Indianapolis. Vogel offers same-day service – we’ll get you cookin’ in no time!

Dismal Dishwasher

You may not believe this, but my dishwasher is not exactly top-notch. I too get cloudy glasses and smudgy silverware – thank you, Indianapolis city water. Here’s a little trick: once a month or so, soak your silverware in white vinegar, wipe and rinse clean. You can also put a glass upright and fill it with white vinegar before running the dishwasher.

New Self-Clean for Old Ovens

If you have an older oven (15+ years), you may choose an alternative to the self-clean cycle to get a few more years out of your appliance. You see, after years of use the plastics in your oven become very brittle. Heating your oven to the extreme temps of self-clean may cause the plastics, and thus the electronics, to fail.

Instead of relying on self-clean to clean your oven, put a sheet of foil down on the bottom of your oven. It will catch spills and crumbs so your oven won’t get dirty. When you pull out the foil to recycle it, your over will be as clean as new!

Wanted: Appliance Repair in Indianapolis

How do you choose a reliable appliance repair service in Indianapolis? What about other household improvement services? More than one million consumers use Angie’s List to find high quality contractors, service companies and doctors. 1,200 consumers in Broad Ripple, 3,000 consumers in Nora, 1,000 consumers in Geist, and several thousand in other neighborhoods around Indianapolis offer consumer reports on various service providers around town.

Vogel Appliance service is proud to have an A rating on Angie’s List. We’ve received the Super Service Award for 7 years and counting! Angie’s List is a valuable service that can help you find reliable service providers throughout Indianapolis and beyond.

Some Advice That’s Not A Bunch of Garbage

There’s lots of old wives tales about garbage disposals. Broken glass or chemicals can be used to sharpen the blades.  A “bone crusher” can actually crush bones. Don’t wash egg shells down the disposal!

Here are a few tips that are worth not washing down the drain.

• If it seems like your garbage disposal isn’t chewing up your scraps, drop ice cubes (while the water is running) down the drain to sharpen your garbage disposal blades.
• Just dispose of garlic and onion peels or stinky old leftovers? Grind up a couple lemon peels (while the water is running) to freshen up your garbage disposal.
• Dispose of egg shells in your garbage disposal (while the water is running) to help clean out your pipes. Pulverized shells turn into tiny little scrapers that will cut through build up.

Gel vs. Powder

It’s the age-old question – should you use gel or powder soap in your dishwasher? Well, I have all the answers. If you have hard water, you should use powder dishwasher soap. If you have soft water, you may use gel dishwasher soap. Powder dishwasher soap is freeze-dried so it disolves as soon as it hits the water. Gel dishwasher soap does not necessarily dissolve immediately, causing it to swirl around in the water and create build-up inside your dishwasher. Unless you want a visit from your favorite appliance repairman (I wouldn’t blame you if you do) to clean out the gel build-up, it’s safe to stick with powder dishwasher soaps.

The same rule applies to your washing machine, though it’s not quite as important. Happy washing!

Fridge Over Troubled Water

Do you have an old appliance shoved aside in the garage that is beyond my repair skills? Many customers call to ask if I can remove old appliance when I come to repair another. While I don’t offer that service, there are ways to dispose of your appliances without tossing them in the landfill. Here’s a tip from Green Piece Indy:

When your fridge is on the fritz, the last thing you want to worry about is how and where to haul it once it finally goes kaput. From an environmental perspective, repairing an older item is typically preferable to buying new (unless, of course, said item is an energy-sucking beast). Just remember: When you’re ready to replace household appliances, don’t simply discard the old ones. In addition to clogging our landfills, many of these items contain toxic chemicals, such as lead, mercury, and Freon, which can pollute the air, soil, and water supply, not to mention posing serious health hazards.

Instead, we suggest calling Disposal Alternatives Organization, which offers Indianapolis area residents free household appliance removal and recycling. From water heaters to washers and dryers, DAO recycles or, in some cases, refurbishes old appliances, then resells them at low costs in their storefront at 38th Street and I-465. Items may be dropped off at DAO’s eastside or westside locations. Or, simply call to schedule a free removal.

Save yourself the hassle of dragging your old dishwasher out the door. After all, you have better things to do…like figuring out whether the new Energy Star-rated model you’re going to get looks better in black, white, or stainless steel.

More Efficient Freezer

There are lots of little tips and tricks to make your appliances operate more efficiently. Here’s one for your freezer: fill excess space in your freezer with jugs of water. Just use old plastic juice jugs filled with water to take up empty space in your freezer. Once that space is filled with something frozen, then the freezer won’t work as hard to keep the space cold. Then you can use the frozen water jugs in your cooler the next time you go on a picinic or camping.

We’ll Bitz ur Anklz, Repair Dood!

As you may imagine, I see a lot of random interesting things when I’m travelling around Indianapolis repairing appliances. My favorite recent siting was a very appropriately place “Guard Dogs” sign.

How Much Dishwasher Soap?

One of the most common mistakes you can make with your dishwasher is to add too much soap. You know how your dishwasher has two little cups for soap – one open and one that closes? Well, here’s my advice: Fill the closable cup about 1/3 – 1/2 full, let some soap scatter around the cup (it doesn’t actually have to land in the open cup), and close the closable cup. That should be plenty.

When someone calls me saying that their dishes aren’t getting clean in their dishwasher, I always question if they’re using too much soap. That cloudy, “unclean” appearance of glasses is often not because they’re not getting clean. It’s usually because there is a soap residue landing on the glasses because there’s too much soap in the dishwasher. Even worse, excess soap tends to build up in the nooks and crannies of your dishwasher and is dispersed as residue-building vapor during the drying process.

Try cutting what you’re using now in half. If it still gets your dishes clean, cut back a bit more. Just think, not only will you have cleaner dishes, you’ll save what you spend on dishwasher soap too!