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Beat the Clock
Timesaving, easy-to-care-for appliances are always in high demand
February 06, 2006
In an ideal world, we'd all come home to piping hot meals awaiting us on dining room tables set with our fine china and good silver. But in the practical, real worlds we live in, most of us don't even come close to inhabiting this Stepford Wives scene.
To compensate, kitchen and laundry appliance manufacturers are coming out with numerous timesaving appliances from combination microwave/grills to laundry monitoring systems that let you know the status of your load. Although you'll probably never live in a blockbuster movie, you and your clients can live the high life with appliances that save you time, effort and aggravation on a daily basis.
"Time saving" means different things to different people. For some, it means products that do double duty, while for others it means items that tweak little tasks to make them incrementally easier. And for some homeowners, time saving means embracing the latest technology.
Across the board "people want it all—fast, easy-to-use and good-looking appliances. They're not willing to sacrifice one qualification for another," said Sarah Barnard, principal designer of LA-based Sarah Barnard Design.
The most important premise is to remember to take each client's needs into account when selecting appropriate timesaving appliances, the designer recommends.
For homeowners without a second to spare, combination appliances are an option to consider. Sanyo, for instance, recently came out with a microwave/grill that offers both functions in one unit, while Miele makes a combination speed oven that uses microwave and convection baking modes to defrost, cook and crisp foods. GE Profile ovens, which speed cook with thermal, convection and microwave power, also bake, broil, roast, defrost and warm foods.
If simple products and small innovations will make a big difference to homeowners, then check out KitchenAid's PuR Measure water dispensing systems on select side-by-side refrigerators. These models have recessed dispenser paddles which means that cooks can fill up wider items at the fridge with the perfect amount of water (LCD indicator screens display the amount of water being dispensed).
Or, if laundry is an issue, then you might want to investigate LG's remote laundry monitoring system; the system interface, which can be plugged into any electrical outlet, displays the washing/rinsing/spinning cycles and the remaining times and buzzes when a cycle is complete. This simple tool allows harried homeowners to keep an eye on the laundry status while they juggle other tasks around the house.
 Finally, for those wowed by high-tech gadgets and gizmos, TMIO's Connect IO intelligent oven stores the evening meal in its refrigerated cavity and begins to cook when the user activates it either through a cell phone or web browser.
Barnard thinks that most homeowners are curious about these breakthrough products."I think the only factors that will cause homeowners to resist this type of technology (TMIO-like, space-age appliances) are the perceptions that the appliance may be too complicated to use or the fact that all new technology depreciates rather quickly, only to be replaced by the newer, cooler model a short time later," she said.
Barnard is of the opinion that appliances will continue to advance over the coming years, but there's really only one timesaving function that needs improvement: "The only thing that is lacking is improvement to self-cleaning functions. We all know that 'self clean' does not really self clean. Maybe product engineers can work on that next," she said.
Shown (top) is an induction cooktop from Diva de Provence. Shown (bottom) is KitchenAid's PuR Measure water dispensing system featuring an LCD screen indicator that shows the amount of water being dispensed.
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