Dave's
Dictionary of
Appliance Terms
The 'E' page
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EER
– energy efficiency ratio; primarily used in air conditioning, stated
simply as btu/watt.
The higher
the number, the more efficient the unit.
Energy
saver switch
– One of the best sales tools ever invented, these appear mainly on
refrigerators and air conditioners. Salesmen love them, because they
appear to be a tool to save tons of money. In the case of refrigerators,
this switch turns a tiny condensate heater on/off. One of the problems
with this switch is the condensation damage that results when the
refrigerator’s owner forgets to turn the switch to the ‘non energy
saver’ position (actually turning the heater on). This allows mildew and
rust to form on door gaskets and cabinet surfaces, which end up costing
more than the approx $3/year the heater costs to operate. In high humidity
environments, this switch should be ignored after you make sure it’s
turned to its ‘off’ position (which turns the heater on. You should
feel warmth between a refrigerator’s doors when set properly.) Even in
climates whose humidity varies greatly between winter and summer, I
recommend this switch be ignored. Unless you’re a highly organized
person and you’re willing to include a note to change this twice/year on
your calendar, this is just one less useless thing to try to remember in
this busy world.
When
they appear on air conditioners, most cycle the fan off when the
thermostat no longer ‘calls for’ cooling. While this does save short
term energy while the unit’s cycled off, it can make for an
uncomfortable room with widely varying temperatures. Again, my advice is:
ignore it.
ERC,
EOC
– ‘Electronic Range Control’ or ‘Electronic Oven Control’; these
two acronyms refer to the same thing. Many modern ranges and ovens use
microprocessors to control oven operation – and some newer ones even
control electric surface units. I had high hopes for these years ago when
they were first introduced. I expected them to provide highly accurate
oven control with very low temperature ‘differential’, but they’ve
been a disappointment in that area. As it turns out, a quality
‘hydraulic’ thermostat can do as well as, or in many cases better
than, electronic control - a surprise. But they’re cheaper to
manufacture than ‘old fashioned’ hydraulics, so I predict you’ll see
the latter become pretty much extinct in the very near future.
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Euro-burner
– Solid cast iron electric range surface units. These have fallen out of
favor in recent years, and we really don’t miss them that much
<grin>. They had the benefit of providing a sealed cooktop surface,
but were somewhat slow to heat up and cool down, and never really got a
strong foothold in the US.
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Evaporator
– The ‘low (pressure) side’, cold portion of a refrigeration system,
usually in the form of a coil, in which the refrigerant is boiled, or
evaporated, from a liquid into a gas, absorbing ‘latent’ heat in the
process, and providing refrigeration.
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Evaporator
fan motor
– drives a small fan that forces air through the evaporator coil, where
the air acts loses heat to the coil surfaces. |
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