Revamping Our Kitchen

The Wife launch a major project of renovating our kitchen just to accomodate a dish washer. She misses the Maytag dishwasher we had when we were living in Canada. We have the dishwasher but the current kitchen does not accomodate it. It is a white elephant as long as it is outside. Taking dishes out to wash and then bringing them back into the kitchen for storage is crazy. The workflow is totally wrong.

We are eating out everyday. Dinner was at Ikea tonight. The resturant is just packed. We have to wait for more than an hour before we manage to find a table to seat. Luckily, it is easy to kill time as there are plenty of new and interesting products.

Review Mitsubishi Refrigerator MR-Z65R & MR-E62S

Z65R and E62S are both excellent choices that meet my criteria for a good refrigerator.

Differences and Similarities of Mitsubishi Z65R & E62S

• Both have same height and depth. Z65R is 60 cm wider than E62S. This is only a concern if you have space restriction.

• Both have inverter control compressor allowing us to enjoy lower energy consumption and quieter motor sound. But Z65R ( about 1.08 kwh/l)is about 25l bigger in capacity and hence uses more energy compared to E62S (about 1.02 kwh/l).

• Both have Auto ice maker, Soft freezing, auto shelf , LED sunlight and Anti bacterial deodorizer

• Z65R freezer compartment is excellent with neatly organized transparent drawers and large capacity. E62S freezer is a big deep drawer and a shallow tray. One Deep drawer is easier to clean than a few transparent drawers. However, the transparent drawers in Z65R is a definite plus points. Unlike vegetables, frozen food comes in smaller packets. Putting the packets of frozen food into a smaller drawers found in the Z65R is a lot more neat and organized.

• Z65R vegetable and fruits compartment is at the top left portion of the fridge. There are a few transparent drawers for the vegetables and fruits in this area. (Both display models at the showroom have the same vegetable drawer that doesn't operate smoothly during my visit.) Z65R vegetable compartment is about the only feature (beside the higher energy consumption) I dislike about this model and hope the company can improve on it. On the other hand, E62S vegetable compartment is a large deep drawer. I think this design is more practical for the vegetable compartment as we usually need big space to accommodate the big leafy vegetables. The big drawer can be easily lifted out for cleaning and the drawer operates smoothly.

• Z65R comes in 2 striking colours (blue and white) while the E62S comes in a beige like colour and aluminium colour, more plain looking.

• Z65R control panel is inside the fridge whereas E62S control panel is on the exterior allowing us to adjust the settings without opening the fridge

Overall, Z65R reins supreme in terms of freezer compartment. Other than the freezer compartment, E62S is an all rounder.

Choosing a Refrigerator

The Good to Have features are:

• Small footprint but big interior capacity
• Inverter technology ( to enjoy more energy saving)
• Auto Ice Maker
• Big Vegetable compartment
• Big Frozen Food Compartment (ideally separate compartment for dessert and raw meat)
• At least 1 adjustable shelf
• Temperature sensor for different compartment

Compare Energy Cost of Refrigerator with Freezer and Ice/Water Dispenser

Refrigerator with freezer and ice/water dispenser			Green ticks	Vol (l)	KWH Annual	Energy Cost (S$)
Bosch	KAN58A45		4	487	639	195
Electrolux	ESE6977SC		4	616	664	202
Hitachi	R-M700GPMS		4	568	705	215
LG	GR-P247JHM		4	617	753	229
LG	GR-L208BLK		4	506	613	187
LG	GR-P208BPF		4	506	639	195
Panasonic	NR-B53V1-XSG		4	524	533	162
Samsung	RT72KASE		4	532	664	202
Samsung	RT77KASE, RT77KBPN		4	566	674	205
Samsung	RT63WBMT/WBPN	i	4	492	582	177
Sub-Zero	ICBBI-42SD/S/TH		4	683	694	211
Sub-Zero	ICBBI-42SD/O		4	683	694	211

Apple Computers

It's a pleasure to use apple computers compared to windows. They are much more reliable in performance (the machine doesn't hang often) and very user friendly. The iphoto is an easy way to organize the photos. I even take photos of some of my notes and "file" them in my iphoto album. Data from my iphone can be easily synchronized with imac and macbook. Aesthetically they also look very pleasing in the home. If iphone comes with capability to watch tv programs that would be excellent. At the mean time, we are waiting for Ipad 2 to arrive.