Product Advice:

 Chips Ahoy

These days chips are more likely to be found in the appliance than in the oven.

Frigidaire's "Concept of the Future" refrigerator features online shopping and Internet access.

Blame it all on the cheap computer chip. Since its introduction into microwave ovens decades ago, home appliances have become increasingly smarter. Next time you go appliance shopping, don't be surprised if you discover countertops that "talk" to various appliances to start the day's coffee brewing; vacuum cleaners that know exactly what part of the carpet needs cleaning, and refrigerators that can automatically order more milk when you need it. "We are at the doorstep of the technology and information age," says Tony Evans, spokesperson for Frigidaire. And indeed, the company, a unit of global appliance maker AB Electrolux in Sweden, now has a refrigerator with a built-in touch screen and bar code scanner that can keep track of food inventory and go online to order items from the local grocer. But before you get too excited about having a Jetson-like "smart home" where everything gets done at the push of a button, here's a reality check.

The good news is that smart appliances are already in our homes and we may not even know it. While the front of your washing machine or dishwasher may still have the low-tech appearance of knobs, dials, and buttons, hidden in the heart of the machine is a dazzling array of sophisticated electronic parts. For example, on Whirlpool dishwashers, a pots and pans setting automatically tells the dishwasher not to start the cleaning process until the water reaches 100 degrees F while a china setting reduces the temperature to a more moderate level. Most consumers, says Carolyn Verweyst, manager of marketing and communications for the Whirlpool brand of appliances, mistakenly assume that the differences between such cycles and automated cleaning are more related to water pressure than water temperature.

Sometimes the hidden addition of electronic brains is not only for task efficiency, but to also help make a machine more environmentally friendly. Verweyst points to the concept of "frost-free" refrigerators. Initially, refrigerators kept freezers free of ice build-up by running a heater every 12-hours whether or not there was any ice present. In areas where ice build-up is hardly a problem, that can be a tremendous waste of energy. Today's refrigerators have defrost controllers that turn on the heater elements only when specific sensors detect a pre-determined level of ice in the freezer. Such an adaptive control produces a refrigerator that uses only 15 percent of the electrical energy that refrigerators consumed 15 years ago, says Verweyst.

Beauty and brains

Halogen light provides speedy heat in GE's new Advantium speed oven.

Sometimes the hidden addition of electronic brains is not only for task efficiency, but to also help make a machine more environmentally friendly. Verweyst points to the concept of "frost-free" refrigerators. Initially, refrigerators kept freezers free of ice build-up by running a heater every 12-hours whether or not there was any ice present. In areas where ice build-up is hardly a problem, that can be a tremendous waste of energy. Today's refrigerators have defrost controllers that turn on the heater elements only when specific sensors detect a pre-determined level of ice in the freezer. Such an adaptive control produces a refrigerator that uses only 15 percent of the electrical energy that refrigerators consumed 15 years ago, says Verweyst.

Sometimes such so-called "adaptive controls" are needed because of the very design and function of the machine. Evans of Frigidaire points to the company's line of front-loading clothes washers. Instead of an agitator to scrub the clothes clean, this type of washing machine relies on the physical tumbling action of the laundry itself to clean the clothes. Without some form of electronic smarts, however, such a machine would not produce consistently clean clothes. Since each load of laundry has a different weight, an electronically controlled direct-drive motor is needed to give each load just the right spin and "tumble clothes properly," says Evans. "That protects the integrity of the washing."

  Future Shock

So if computer chips can make household appliances smarter, more efficient, more reliable, and necessitate only a rare service calls to replace a less-costly electronic part, what's the down side? The bad news is that truly "brilliant appliances" that can automatically make your breakfast or wash, dry and fold your laundry are still far off.

Part of the reason why such really "intelligent" appliances are not on the market yet is based on technology. While it is technically possible to connect a refrigerator to the Internet, the question often becomes, can it be done reliably and cheaply? "We have technology in our research and development labs that can do all sorts of wonderful things," says Whirlpool's Verweyst. "But it comes with a high price tag and our research shows that consumers are not ready for that."

And it is perhaps consumer reluctance in general that dictates how soon we'll see truly smart appliances in our homes. Do we really need robotic vacuum cleaners that can autonomously sweep the mess off the floor or a refrigerator that keeps messages between family members on videotape rather than the tried-and-true paper, pencil and magnet method? "The first reaction [among consumers] might be, 'That's cool,'" says Frigidaire's Evans based on the reactions at trade shows the company has gotten over its online refrigerator. "But then they ask, 'Why would you do that?'" In other words, it will take a lot of consumer education and marketing for old habits to die."

Still, changes are coming. After carefully showing test subjects how browsing among multiple online stores for a refrigerator may speed their grocery shopping chores, "I was really impressed by the number of people, particularly professional women, who said, 'I would do that.'" And Evans, as well as other lifestyle soothsayers, points out that in time people will gravitate towards really smart appliances. After all, it wasn't that long ago that people questioned the need to have whole meals cooked in a matter of minutes using microwaves. So would it be truly a surprise if some day in the not too distant future our stovetops asked us "Would you like fries with your well-done burger?"

-- Paul Eng

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