40 Quick Tips for Choosing Major Home Appliances Around the House

  • Apr 14, 2022

Shopping for home appliances but no time to perform in-depth research? Fret not! Here are 40 snappy tips so that you are confident with your home appliance buying decisions.

Living Room

Designer: Hock Hoon

Air Conditioner

#01. British Thermal Unit (BTU) is a measurement unit that measures how powerful the air conditioner is. 100 sq ft (9.3 sqm) requires 5000 BTU while 200 sq ft (18.6 sqm) needs 7000 BTU to cool down.
#02. An Inverter air conditioner is more energy efficient and can help to achieve up to 30-50% of energy savings.
#03. Only BCA trained air-conditioner installer should perform the air conditioner installation.

Televison

#04. Get a TV with at least 4K resolution and avoid buying a 1080p TV.
#05. The refresh rate Hertz (Hz) is the number of times per second a new image is drawn on the screen. The TV should come with a minimum of 60 Hz or 120 Hz refresh rate: A higher refresh rate will provide a smoother motion experience.
#06. The recommended 4k TV size is 60 inches for the minimal distance of 1.5m,  50 inches for 1.3m, and 40 inches for 1m.

Wifi Router

#07. The minimum wifi router security standard to look for is WPA2 or better (WPA3) which offers reasonably strong encryption.
#08. Look out for the latest wireless protocol (802.11 plus a letter or combination of letters). The wireless protocol or Wi-Fi standard is the measurement of the router’s throughput and range.
#09. Consider using mesh Wi-Fi or extenders to spread Wi-Fi throughout the house for even coverage.

Kitchen

Designer: Resistance

Refrigerator 

#10. Make sure that there is enough clearance for the doors when opened. 
#11. Ask for the refrigerator doors to be hinged on the left or right side, depending on your preference.
#12. A family of 4 will need around 250 to 350 litres of refrigerator capacity.

Electrical Oven

#13. Built-in oven blends in with the kitchen cabinet seamlessly and saves more space, but they are harder to repair or replace. Consider building a closed cabinet for housing the counter-top oven, with an electrical plug since you will be able to switch to different sizes of the oven in the future.
#14. Catalytic or Pyrolytic Ovens are self-cleaning ovens. Catalytic ovens are treated with special chemicals and materials to absorb grease while Pyrolytic ovens use high temperatures to turn food residue into ash so that they are easily wiped away from the surfaces.
#15. Get an oven that comes with a large clear view window. The door should come with three layers of glass as it is cooler to the touch, as compared to two layers of glass. 

Microwave

#16. The ideal microwave capacity for a family of 4 is 20 to 30 litres.
#17. Generally, the higher the wattage, the faster the cooking time.  Minimally, get a 1,000-watt microwave so that it is faster to cook, more efficiently and evenly.
#18. Families with young children should look for microwaves with a child lockout feature.

Cooker Hood

#19. The strength of cooker hoods is the air movement that comes from the appliance and is measured in Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). The stronger it is, the noisier it is. 
#20. For cooking activities that involve strong odours and steam, the cooker hood needs to be at least 350 CFM. 
#21. The coverage area of the cooker hood should be large enough to extend over the corners and edges of the stove.

Cooker Hob

#22. There are 3 main types of hobs – gas, radiant and induction. The radiant cooker hob generates heat by passing electricity through the heating elements while induction cooker hob generates an electromagnetic field by passing an alternating electric current through a copper coil wire.
#23. Gas and induction cooker hobs are more responsive to changes in heat settings and more controllable than radiant hobs. The radiant hobs are better for cooking at lower temperatures, such as a slow simmer. 
#24. Check the cookware's label to see if it is radiant or induction friendly.

Yard

Designer: Liid Studio

Washing Machine

#25. The load capacity of the washing machine is measured in kg, and this can be correlated with the number of members in a family.
#26. A family of 2 needs at least a 6kg wash machine load capacity, while a family of 4 will need at least 8kg and above.
#27. Front-load washing machines are more water-efficient than top load washing machines as they use an average of 40% lesser water. In addition, front load washing machines are gentler for clothes and are more suitable for delicate clothes.

Clothes Dryer

#28. There are generally 2 main types of clothes dryer, vented and condenser. A vented clothes dryer takes damp air produced by the drying process and displaces the moist air produced during the drying process via a hose.  A condenser clothes dryer separates the water from the moist air into a container after the drying process.
#29. Generally, the capacity of your dryer should be similar to the capacity of your washing machine.
#30. Consider dryers with front-mounted filters since they are easier to access.

Bathroom

Designer: The Interior Lab

Water heater

#31. Unlike instant water heaters, the storage water heater takes time to heat up. 
#32. Storage heater takes up a lot of space and is not recommended for small bathrooms.
#33. The instant water heater is more energy-efficient than a storage water heater because it doesn't have to keep unused water hot.

Bedroom

Designer: THIRD PARAGRAPH INTERIOR

Humidifier

#34. Evaporative humidifier uses a fan to generate the cold mist moisture. Ultrasonic humidifiers use a nebuliser to create a cool mist and are quieter than the evaporative humidifier which uses a fan.
#35. For small bedrooms, tabletop humidifiers are more suitable and cheaper. For larger spaces, the console humidifiers are more suitable because they generate lots of moist air and come with larger water tanks.
#36. A humidifier that comes equipped with a humidistat, that shuts off the unit when the target humidity level is reached, is more energy saving.

Balcony

Designer: Noble Interior Design

Ceiling Fan

#37. Use only damp and wet rated outdoor ceiling fan since it will be exposed to weather elements.
#38. Consider using smart ceiling fans since they can be easily controlled from the mobile device in place of a remote controller.
#39. CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) is the measurement of how much air is circulated by a ceiling fan per minute. The CFM required for an outdoor setting is around three to four times the total area. 
#40. DC (Direct Current) ceiling fans are better than AC (Alternating Current) ones since they are more energy saving.

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