Holiday Appliance Tips

Here are some tips to help keep your appliances up to par for the Holiday Season!

Oven 

Don’t use self-clean mode at last minute. The high temperatures associated with a self-clean cycle can cause many different failures. If you absolutely need to self-clean your oven now would be a great time, most Appliance repair companies are busier right before the holidays so if something goes wrong you would have plenty of time for repair.

Test Temperature using one way to do this is to follow directions on a basic cake mix to bake a cake. If the cake comes out right then the temperature of your oven is fine. If it is burnt or not cooked all the way you may need to make a service call to have the temperature adjusted.

Bake in batches to conserve energy. It could be helpful to use other appliances such as a crock-pot or pressure cooker in addition to your oven to take some of the strain off of your oven and use less energy.

Refrigerator

Cleaner condenser coils help refrigerators run more efficiently and take some strain off of important functioning parts of your refrigerator.

Make sure that your door seals are not torn or deformed a door seal leaking could cause a refrigerator to run overtime and create more problems.

Disposal

Don’t stuff disposal full of food then turn it on. Let water run at least 10 seconds before putting food in disposal in small bits while water runs. Let water run at least 30 seconds after food has gone through disposal.

Rice, pasta, bones, glass are common things that back up disposals. If your disposal is clogged or stuck, make sure it is unplugged before attempting to unclog it.

Dishwasher

Despite what popular TV ads for dishwashers and dishwasher detergent say you should at least rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Large pieces of food, bones, wrappers from jars, all can clog the pump and cause the dishwasher to not function properly or ruin the pump causing a costly repair.

Check your owners manual to see if your dishwasher has a filter, if it does also look for instructions on how to clean it. Keeping your filter in your dishwasher clean can make a big difference on performance, and will help keep from straining the pump which could lead to costly repairs.

Using the right amount and right type of soap in a dishwasher can also make a big difference. The wrong type of soap could cause a dishwasher to fill with suds or leak. The wrong soap or too much soap could cause a buildup that could clog the spray arms or pump. 

Service Company Values

There are many things that customers look for in the values of the service company that they use. According to the United Servicers Association surveys show that customers highly value expertise, professionalism and promptness. At Ortega's our goal is to meet or exceed our customers expectations in those areas as well as many more.

Time is another value that is important to everyone but many customers do not realize the amount of time spent by a service company to repair their appliance. Most customers only think about the time a technician spends in their home. Our office staff spends time scheduling every service call, communicating with technicians, looking up and ordering parts and doing their best to make sure the technician is prepared to make their best effort to repair the customers appliance on the first trip.

Price is also an important value that we pay attention to. We use a national flat rate guide for our pricing, which is constantly updated to keep our prices as fair as possible for both us and our customers.

Our staff go through training to be able to uphold our professionalism and expertise values. Technicians have technical training on appliances as well as in house training on how to use our mobile computer system efficiently. Our office staff members have training in phone answering and customer service techniques as well as training on using our office computer system efficiently. Our excellent efficiency influences the amount of time we spend on each service call as well as our prices.

At Ortega's we are constantly working to be as efficient as possible making changes to the way we conduct business as necessary. We email out surveys to the majority of our customers, and review every one of them to see what we are doing right or wrong. All comments are used as a learning tool for us to better serve our customers and uphold our reputation for great service.

5 Ways to Clean With Lemon

This blog is from the United Servicers Association Blog.

5 Ways to Clean Your Kitchen with Lemon by Mr. Appliance

When life gives you lemons, clean up your kitchen! That’s right. Go green by cleaning your kitchen with the fresh scent of lemon to give your appliances that sparkle they deserve without squeezing your pocketbook.

Use these simple tips from Mr. Appliance Corp. to freshen up your kitchen:

1. Microwave
Mix together 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice and 2 cups of water in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for one to two minutes. Allow bowl to cool down, then use mixture to wipe down the inside walls of the microwave.

2. Oven
Mix together 2 Tbsp. of liquid dish soap and 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice with 1 quart of warm water. Apply the mixture to the inside of the oven. Return after one hour and scrub with a sponge. Rinse well.

3. Fridge
Slice a lemon and place in small bowl. Sprinkle a dash of table salt and 2 tsp. of baking soda onto lemons. Place uncovered dish in the middle of refrigerator and let sit for three to five days.

4. Dishwasher
Mix 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice with 1 cup of white vinegar. Pour into the bottom of empty dishwasher and allow for one cleaning cycle.

5. Stovetop
In a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice with 2-3 Tbsp. baking soda to form paste. Apply paste to stovetop and wipe away with warm, damp sponge or towel.

Follow these do-it-yourself cleaning tips periodically by adding them to your family calendar. To help prolong the life of your appliances, combine these tips with regular visits from your local appliance repair professional.

Save or Splurge?

When you have to buy a new appliance it can be stressful and overwhelming. We have a few tips for you to help keep it more simple and a link to a full article full of more tips. Here at Ortega's we know that you have a choice to repair or replace your appliance when you call us. One thing to always consider is how much do you like your appliance? If you like your appliance it may be worth it to repair it over buying a new appliance. If the repair cost exceeds 50% of the price of a new appliance we will make sure you know and give you time to make a decision on wether to repair it or purchase a new one.

If you are shopping mostly on price there are many features that are purely aesthetic, and don't affect the way any appliance works but can be costly. Stainless steel on kitchen appliances is popular but costly, and many laundry appliances now come in any color you can think of but for a price. White or black appliances can be quite a bit cheaper.

No matter what appliance you are shopping for there are many options that can be avoided to save money. Basic dryers haven't changed in years, now there are steam dryers, electronic controlled dryers, they will cost you more. If you could really could use any of these features this could be something to splurge on.

For a complete list of tips follow this link to this save or splurge article.

Freezer Odors

If your freezer has a foul odor it could be more of a problem than you think. There are a lot of different things that could cause freezer odor, and there are many ways to get rid of it. Rotten food in your fridge could cause both the fridge and freezer to smell. The ice bucket can be a place for bacteria to build up causing your freezer to smell and ice to taste bad.

How long has it been since you cleaned out your freezer? Completely unloading, defrosting and cleaning your freezer could seem like a huge chore but it can help to get rid of an odor. There are other methods that are suggested for getting rid of an odor. Leaving baking soda in your freezer, wiping it down with vinegar or leaving coffee grounds in your freezer are all supposed to help take out odor. If you no luck with any of these there are commercial cleaners that can help too. For more tips take a look at this article.

Advertising

Is the End Near for Traditional Advertising? The world is ever changing along with the way companies advertise. Consumers are changing the way they look for products and services. How many of you have cell phones? According to Google’s statistics 87% of Americans have mobile phones. With smart phones these days 71% of people will see traditional advertising like a billboard or commercial and immediately look up the company on their phone if they are interested. The ways to advertise in a mobile setting are developing rapidly. Companies advertise through text messages, mobile websites, mobile ads, or even apps. Some people who are just consumers and not involved in businesses or marketing don’t realize what this means for businesses. Advertising has been rapidly changing and it is hard for companies to keep up. 

Here at Ortega’s we are trying to keep up with the advertising changes. We are currently making even more changes to keep on the leading edge of technology, all of our technicians carry smart phones to be able to keep pictures of your machine and model tag on file here at the office. The possibilities with the smart phone are endless right now we will be constantly making changes to the way we do things to be as efficient as possible and keep our customers satisfied. If you have more interest in the way advertising is changing check out this blog on entrepreneur.com!

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Laundry Tips

Have you ever accidentally mixed a red piece of clothing in with your whites or do you have stubborn stains on your clothes? We have found a web page full of tips for doing laundry. There are tips for everything from refreshing yellowing whites, to many different types of stains. To see these and many more tips please follow this link.

We also suggest regularly cleaning your washing machine. Owner’s manuals should have instructions on how often and what to do to clean your specific washing machine. In general running a cycle without clothes using bleach or vinegar instead of laundry detergent should help with odor problems. On front load washers wiping the rubber door seal dry and leaving the door slightly open after you finish your last load of laundry is recommended by all manufactures. For more tips on cleaning your washing machine you can read our previous blog below (Front Load Washer Odor).

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