Appliance Saver

Do you ever notice a banging sound coming from your washing machine when a load is running' The culprit could be an uneven distribution of clothes inside throwing off the tub's rotation.

Keeping a clean oven can actually save you money. Your oven reflects heat off its interior walls to maximize cooking power. A cleaner oven will heat more efficiently and with fewer cold and hot spots.

Does your oven give off a strong odor during the self-cleaning process' During the self-clean cycle, ovens reach extremely high temperatures (800 to 1,000 degrees), incinerating any grease, food splattering, and drippings, which is the source of that smell.

If you must use an extension cord to power a large appliance in your home, remember to check the connection to the wall and the appliance. A loose plug could spark a fire.

Is your dishwasher not cleaning your dishes as well as it used to' Take a moment to clean out the spray arms in your unit, which over time can become clogged with bits of paper, toothpicks, glass, and other debris.

You know that keeping your refrigerator's condenser coils clean will extend the life of your fridge, but it can help reduce the load on your air conditioner, too. A dirty refrigerator cycles on more frequently, and that means more heat in the kitchen that your air conditioner has to deal with on warm days.

It's important to remember that your gas appliances have a pilot light, which means a flame is always lit. Avoid storing paint, fuel or any other combustible liquids nearby.

An engineer with a sweet tooth helped to invent the first microwave oven. In 1946, a Raytheon Corporation engineer working on microwave technology for Britain's radar system noticed chocolate in his pocket melted when exposed to microwave energy.

Magnetron tubes help power microwaves, but they were originally designed for use in radar equipment during World War II. Their ability to cook food was discovered by accident, though, when a technician noticed that his chocolate candy bar melted after standing too close to a working magnetron tube.

The trick to a long-lasting vacuum cleaner is to replace the dirt bag, if there is one, regularly. Also, keep all filters on your vacuum clean. Airflow is the key to a productive vacuum and dirty filters restrict air flow.

It's recommended that you regularly clean your refrigerator condenser coils, located behind the lower kick panel. To do this, disconnect the refrigerator from the power source and use a condenser brush and your vacuum cleaner to clean the coils.

If your refrigerator is sweating (meaning water is collecting) around the door edges, this could be caused by several issues. You may have leaky door gaskets or a defective case heater.

Before refrigeration, fortunes were made by enterprising entrepreneurs who harvested blocks of ice in northern latitudes and shipped them to warm weather locations in insulated holds. Ice was big business -- and we don't mean the diamond trade.