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Category: Featured

Think Green & Conserve This Spring!

Green is often synonymous with spring, especially in April. With Earth Day on April 22nd, you may be looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint and leave the world a cleaner place. Here are a few tips on how you can use your appliances to best practice conservation and environmentalism.

First, choose to repair rather than replace:

In 1992, the EPA created the Energy Star program which set minimum standards of energy efficiency for most household appliances. If your appliance has the familiar blue Energy Star label on it, consider repairing it instead of replacing it. Repairing your appliance can extend its life. Discarded appliances can make their way to the landfill (which may contain materials that are harmful to the environment), increasing your carbon footprint on our planet.

If you are looking to upgrade your appliance, consider repairing your old one anyways to give it a second life. You can reuse old appliances in a vacation home or garage, donate it to a charity, or sell it at a flea market or garage sale.

Next, run your dishwasher instead of handwashing dishwasher-safe dinnerware:

Believe it or not, energy-efficient dishwashers are a greener way to get your dishes clean than washing them by hand. Dishwashers typically use less water than handwashing, as its recirculating pump sprays a small amount of water all around your machine. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an Energy Star certified dishwasher can use as little as three gallons per load. Comparably, handwashing dishes in the sink can use up to 27 gallons of water for a full load of dishes. The energy used by your home’s water heater to make hot water for your dishes by hand is greater than the energy used by your dishwasher to heat and pump water throughout.

Lastly, schedule your dryer vent and refrigerator coil cleaning:

Dust and dirt built up on your appliances are causing them to work harder, using more energy to perform their essential functions. When lint and debris clog your dryer vent, it can cause restricted airflow throughout the system, prompting your dryer to use more energy and creating an extreme fire hazard. Additionally, you may need to run more than one cycle to get your clothes fully dry. Dryer vent cleaning can help protect the environment, your home, and your wallet by allowing your dryer to use less energy per cycle.

According to the Consumer Energy Center, the average refrigerator accounts for the most electricity used in your home of any kitchen appliance. Cleaning the coils can reduce the amount of energy that your fridge uses by up to 30 percent.

Schedule both services by calling Westside today!

Why a “Cheaper” Appliance Repair Company May Be Unexpectedly More Expensive.

You do your part as an informed consumer to find the appliance repair company with the best price in town. Why, then, do you find yourself paying more for your completed repair compared to another company that might have given you a higher quote over the phone? Each company has what they call a “trip fee” or “diagnostic fee” which is the charge for the travel, labor and expertise of their technicians to diagnose your appliance’s problem. From there, they will charge a separate cost to repair your appliance.

We’ve found that in Central Iowa, some of our competitors have been charging a lower trip fee (or waiving it altogether if you choose to complete your repair with them) to appear to be the cheaper option. They’ll then charge a premium for the actual repair of the appliance with hidden fees to make up for the cheaper diagnostic fee – often coming in higher than our prices.

How We Price Our Services

We don’t price our services by the hour since we’ve found this pricing structure can be impacted by the experience level of the technician. We don’t price per technician, either, because all of our techs have gone through a rigorous training program and are held to the same high standard of service whether it’s their first service call or their four hundredth. Instead, we utilize the National Flat Rate Appliance Repair Pricing/Blue Book Major Appliance Job Rate Guide to determine the price of a repair. This price guide is developed by industry experts and relies on the complexity of the issue, the need to pull out the appliance, the potential for water damage and a host of other items to determine the cost to repair. It takes into account the complexity, potential liability factors/costs (water damage, scratched floor, etc.) and time to complete the repair in determining the price we charge.  

While our trip fee isn’t the least expensive in town (it costs money to employ and train the best technicians that complete repairs in one visit over 70% of the time), we have a standard, regulated fee for your repair itself. You won’t experience any hidden fees.

High-Quality Technicians, Expert Repair Service

Our pricing is not the cheapest in town, because we don’t want to provide the lowest quality service. We hire only the best service repair technicians, and we compensate them appropriately to retain a high-quality team to meet your repair needs. We offer a full benefits package for our employees, including health and dental insurance. Each of our service technicians is required to pass a nationally recognized background check and drug test annually. We keep our service vans and equipment well-maintained (we don’t leak oil in your driveway).

While you’re calling around looking for the best price, ask what is covered in that cost. Is the technician coming into your home licensed and insured in case of property damage? Has the technician coming into your home passed a background check and been recently drug tested? Is the technician factory certified and trained directly by the manufacturer of your appliances?

Our goal is to ensure your appliance problem is resolved quickly and effectively by a repair technician that is experienced, better trained than our competitors and safe to be in your home. We have been proudly serving the Des Moines metro for over 80 years and want to thank our customers for their continued loyalty! With 19 technicians, including local technicians in Ankeny, Ames, Newton, Osceola and throughout the Des Moines Metro, we’ll get to you faster.

Now servicing RV appliances! Schedule your repair and beat the rush before your summer adventure.

Schedule your repair online or call/text us at 515-276-8899.

The Dirt on Keeping Your Dishwasher at its Best

When you rely on your dishwasher to do a lot of the heavy cleaning in your kitchen, it’s easy to forget that it too can get dirty! Dirty dishwashers not only lead to poor cleaning efficiency (like your dishes still being dirty after a cycle), but it also impacts the lifespan of your appliance, making it work harder to do what it was built to do and causing additional stress and damage to your machine.

Here are three tips to keep your dishwasher performing its best from the appliance repair and maintenance experts at Westside Appliance Repair:

Are you using the right dishwasher detergent?

If you are only using a gel detergent or a powder detergent, your dishwasher may be missing out on the mix of enzymes its needs to kill off all the bacteria from your food. Dishwasher pods provide a pre-measured tablet of a mixture of cleaning solutions to give your dinnerware the best of both worlds. For a well-rounded clean without streaks or lingering residue, specifically Finish Quantum Ultimate Clean and Shine.

There are some environmentally friendly dishwasher pod brands, however while they may be cleaner for the environment, they are not cleaner for your dishes. Overall, today’s detergents are better for the earth than they were in the past due to a 2010 law that eliminated phosphates as an ingredient. However, specific plant-based dishwasher detergent will not give your dishes the overall shine and optimal cleaning power that you’ll find in other detergents.

Are you using a rinse aid?

Spots of hard water stains on your dishes and glassware make it hard to feel like your newly washed dishes are clean. Using a rinse aid will assist in the drying process by reducing the water tension in your dishwasher so that it will sheen off of both your dishes and your dishwasher’s water tank. A rinse aid also helps your dishes dry faster, so you can shorten your dishwasher’s heat cycle to save energy.

Plastic items such as cups may still be damp when it is time to unload the dishwasher. Plastic does not hold the same amount of heat as stoneware or glass to cause the water to evaporate off them.

Do you clean your filters monthly?

To clean your filter, remove the bottom rack of your dishwasher and remove the cylindrical tube that twist-locks in place on the floor of your unit – that is your filter. It is a catch basin for all the larger food particles that are stuck to your dirty dishes. Some dishwashers have self-cleaning filters, or “hard food disposers” which work like a garbage disposal to help the larger food residue wash down the drain. These filters require less maintenance.

Manual filters and build up over time, leaving your dishes dirty with stray bits of food left behind or an unpleasant odor on your dishes or your machine. Luckily, manual filters are very easy to remove and clean. Once you remove the filter from your dishwasher, hand-wash it thoroughly in warm, soapy water, using a sponge or an old toothbrush to remove stubborn pieces of food. Place the filter back in place, locking it to secure.

If you are experiencing other dishwasher issues, don’t hesitate to call the experts at Westside Appliance Repair at 515-276-8899 or schedule your repair online.

Open Dishwasher Rack

Have an Electrolux or Frigidaire Appliance? Here’s an Important Update to Their Warranty Coverage

Is your new Electrolux or Frigidaire appliance on the fritz? Or, maybe you’re looking to take advantage of some New Year’s deals and have your eye on these brands. We’ve recently been made aware of a recent update to their First Year Manufacture Warranty, and we wanted to share a few key changes that could impact the coverage of your repair.

The manufacturer of Electrolux and Frigidaire appliances offers a one-year limited warranty. Effective beginning January 1, 2023, for one calendar year from the original date of purchase, the manufacturer will pay all costs for repairing and replacing any part that’s been proven defective in materials or workmanship. One key change is that the First Year Warranty does NOT cover service calls to correct the installation of your appliance or to instruct you how to use your appliance.

What does this mean? Many times, issues with your appliance can be fixed or prevented with a little appliance education. Each brand and model has its own particular settings and nuances. As appliance repair experts, our job is to educate our customers on proper usage. If, for example, your new dryer has been making a funny sound and not drying completely, and we diagnose that it’s working fine but you’ve been over-stuffing your loads, that service call would not be covered by the manufacturer. Similarly, if your new refrigerator seems overly noisy, so you call us for a quick look-over and we find it’s been installed incorrectly, the First Year Manufacture Warranty would not cover that visit.

We keep an eye out on manufacturer warranty changes to help you stay informed as an educated consumer. Please contact your manufacturer if you have a question about your particular appliance coverage.

Help Your Refrigerator Keep Its Cool in Hot Weather

There’s nothing worse than a warm fridge, especially when it’s nearing 90 degrees outside! Unfortunately, it’s notable that when the weather starts to warm up, refrigerators start to break down. Appliances like refrigerators work hard to regulate and maintain their appropriate temperature, and both the rising temperature and increased usage over the summer makes them work harder and sometimes malfunction.

Here are a few preventative tips to keep your refrigerator working at its best:
  1. Change your water filter every six months (unless otherwise stated on your new filter’s packaging): This is something most fridge owners forget about! If you don’t change them often enough, they’ll cut down on the cleanliness of your water and may even stop your water flow to your ice maker and water dispenser. It’ll make your water and ice taste better as well.
    2.  
  2. Clean your refrigerator’s condenser coils every six months: Is your refrigerator still running, but not getting as cool as it used to? It might be time to clean the condenser coils. The condenser is often located underneath your fridge, but it could also be on the back or top of your unit depending on the model. This area of your fridge often attracts dust and pet hair which can cause reduced energy efficiency, poor cooling temperatures and premature refrigerator failure. It’s important to note that not all refrigerators have condenser coils in a location that can be cleaned by the consumer. Request a condenser coil cleaning during your next repair service, dryer vent cleaning or gas fireplace cleaning!
    3.  
  3. Keep your trip to the fridge at a minimum: Refrigerators work hard to maintain their internal temperature and remove moisture that is naturally presented in the air inside of the unit (especially during more humid times of the year). A little condensation in your fridge is normal; you’ll find that your glass shelves and food packages may fog up or collect condensation when the doors are frequently opened in the midst of summer humidity. But, it may be a sign of a larger problem with your refrigerator. Decide on your snack before opening the fridge door and get all of your ingredients out all at once.
  

If your refrigerator is currently not working as it should, give the experts at Westside Appliance Repair a call at 515-276-8899 (or schedule your repair online). Be sure to provide us with your appliance’s make, model and serial number – this helps us to diagnose potential problems over the phone and come prepared with the parts we need to fix your specific refrigerator during our initial service call.   We always try our hardest to be as efficient as possible so we can repair your appliances in one service trip. During this global pandemic, we’ve made this goal a priority. Limiting the number of trips per repair not only saves you time and money with an additional service trip, but it also limits our technicians to possible COVID-19 exposure by going to fewer homes each day while still keeping up with the increased demand.

Trust Experts that are Factory Certified

Did you know that Westside Appliance Repair is Iowa’s only Whirlpool Factory Certified Care Center? Our technicians are trained and certified by Whirlpool Corporation to provide specialized care for Whirlpool, JennAir, KitchenAid and Maytag appliances.

What does Factory Certified mean for us?

There are a lot of factors that go into being a Whirlpool Corporation Factory Certified Care Center. A key component is training. Our technicians have to complete an online certification called the “Basic Technician Competency Model”.  This includes 44 online tests that measure their knowledge in several categories such as…

  • Basic electrical knowledge
  • Laundry product diagnostic troubleshooting
  • Dishwasher diagnostic troubleshooting 
  • Cooking diagnostic troubleshooting
  • Refrigeration diagnostic troubleshooting
  • Customer service and behavioral skills

What does Factory Certified mean for you?

Besides providing valuable service, our technicians are also able to answer any questions customers may have about their Whirlpool, JennAir, KitchenAid or Maytag appliances. Because of our training, we have a better understanding of the machine as a whole and the specifics of each brand. Appliances are more like computers these days and less like machines. Each brand has its own technology, and factory-trained technicians can solve issues faster.

Continuing Education

With not only Whirlpool Corporate brands, but with all the brands we service, our technicians also attend multiple factory trainings each year with training on new products and any training items that the manufacturers feel to be beneficial to us.

In addition to these trainings there are many optional training videos available for technicians to use to improve their skills and even assist them with any particular appliance repair issues they are actively resolving.

Learn more about all the brands we service and schedule your repair online!

October is Fire Prevention Month! Prevent one of the Leading Causes of House Fires with Dryer Vent Cleaning.

Did you know – in less than 30 seconds, a small flame can turn into a major fire? In a typical home fire, residents may have as little as one to two minutes to escape safely from the time the smoke alarm sounds. October is Fire Prevention Month. Take some time this month to plan and practice escape routes around your home to help your family make the most of the time they have, giving everyone enough time to get out.

Clogged dryer vents are one of the leading causes of house fires in the U.S.! Fires occur when flammable lint builds up in the dryer or in the dryer vent. Lint can block the flow of air, cause excessive heat build-up, and result in a fire in some dryers.

Here are a few tips to help prevent fires caused by your clothes dryer:

  • Always clean the lint screen before and after drying each load of clothes. If clothing is still damp at the end of a drying cycle or drying requires longer times than normal, this may be a sign of a blockage in the lint screen or dryer vent.
  • Call the professionals to clean your dryer vent annually! Another sign that your dryer vent is clogged is that exhaust air is not escaping through the outside dryer vent while the dryer is operating.
  • Clean behind the dryer where lint can build up. Our Westside dryer vent technicians will clean the interior of the dryer, as well as your dryer vent to minimize the amount of lint accumulation. Keep the area around the dryer clean and free of clutter.

To book your dryer vent cleaning, call Westside today at 515-276-8899!

Why Fall is the Best Time to Prep Your Home & Appliances for Winter

Remember that -20 degree weather we experienced in 2018, and the record snowfall we experienced last year? While we may be enjoying the perfect beginning-of-fall weather right now, it’s never too early to prep your home and appliances for the freezing temperatures soon to come.

Do you have an appliance that is on the fritz? Your appliances have been working hard all summer to keep their temperatures regulated despite the heat. If one of your appliances is starting to show signs of wear or malfunction, now is the time to get it looked at, before it’s working extra hard once again to maintain it’s necessary temperature once the weather gets chilly.

Here are a few other reasons why fall is the best time to prep your home and appliances for winter:

October is Fire Prevention Month

Schedule your dryer vent cleaning and gas fireplace maintenance while its importance is on the top of your mind. October is Fire Prevention Month, observed to raise awareness about fire safety and help ensure your home and family are prepared in the event of an emergency. The National Fire Protection Association named the second week in October Fire Prevention Week in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire. Today, the month of October is used as a reminder to improve your home’s safety to help prevent a disaster from happening to you.

Westside can help improve the safety of your home by:

Save Money on Your Heating Bill in these Transitional Months

There’s nothing better than being able to turn off your air conditioning and opening your windows to let the crisp autumn breeze cool your home before needing to turn on your furnace. Keep your home warm during these transitional seasons by installing a blower on your gas fireplace. Enjoy the coziness of a fire, and turn on your furnace fan to distribute the heat throughout your whole house. You’ll also thank us for having this once the weather reaches negative temperatures and your home is still toasty warm!

Take Advantage of our Fireplace/Dryer Vent Maintenance Program

Sign up for our annual fireplace/dryer vent maintenance program, and book your service for the Fall, as well as for next Spring, today! You’ll save more money booking these services together than booking them each apart. You’ll keep your fireplace working and looking its best throughout the year, and won’t have to remember to call us again in the spring for your annual dryer vent cleaning.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to prep your home and appliances for the upcoming cold weather. Contact us today for your appliance repair and maintenance today!

Why the Wait?

The appliance repair industry has not been immune to the impacts that COVID-19 has had on our economy. While we have the most technicians in town, just like many other local businesses we are working through the pain points of high demand and limited staff. As we experience higher than normal lead times, we wanted to share where the root of the problem is coming from, and what you can do to help the process go faster.

Service Calls Are on the Rise

As many of our customers are working from home, learning from home, and entertaining at home their appliances are getting more use than normal. Therefore, we’ve seen an increase in appliances breaking down compared to previous years. And, with low inventory on new appliances available, those who may have chosen to replace their appliance are instead deciding to repair them.

Parts Shortages Lead to Delays

There is currently a global shortage of appliance repair parts, so once we come to your home and diagnose the issue, we may not have the parts needed to complete your repair. We’re at the mercy of the manufacturers to be able to get us the factory-quality parts you need to keep your newly fixed appliance working for years to come. Because of this, we may need to schedule a second trip to complete our repair once the part is available and in-hands.

One way you can help speed up the repair process is to provide us with your appliance’s make, model, and serial number, as well as a detailed description of the issue, including any error codes your appliance is displaying. Based on this information, we identify a few potential problems BEFORE we come to your home, based on our 80 years of experience repairing appliances, and try to bring the parts needed with us to complete your repair. By getting as much information as possible from you during the scheduling process, we can get your replacement part order in sooner!

Westside is Hiring!

To help meet the growing demand, we are looking for experienced appliance repair technicians to join our team! We are offering a $2,500 sign-on bonus to experienced techs and can assist with relocation expenses. Through our specialized compensation program, technicians have the opportunity to make $75,000-$110,000 or more a year!

We know you’re trusting us to come into your home, so we run background checks and drug tests on all of our employees. Customer service is a priority at Westside, so we look for individuals that are professional, comfortable communicating with customers, and fit in with our culture! If you know someone who would be a great fit, send them our way!

Go With the Pros!

It’s a story we hear all the time… A customer tried a cheaper or faster service company rather than choosing Westside Appliance Repair and wound up needing to use our services after that for the same repair. A common scenario is that a smaller company, usually one or two-man operation, will charge $10 to $15 less for their trip/diagnosis fee to attract business. The trouble is, that small one or two-man appliance repair operation doesn’t have the parts in stock, or they don’t have enough technicians to handle their workload. 

You may find that they are VERY focused on collecting the trip/diagnosis fee, but after that first trip they become unresponsive or very slow to react for a second or third visit to finish the repair. The story usually unfolds in a few ways:

“The company came and fixed my appliance, but it is still not working and now they won’t return my phone call…”

“The company came out and said I need a part that I will need to pre-pay for, but I haven’t heard from them in weeks…”

Or our favorite:

“The company came out and told me I need to call Westside to do that repair, then they still collected the trip/diagnosis fee…”

Smaller companies often pass the harder jobs to the more qualified and professional Westside team! That is why they can accommodate initial service trip faster (since they don’t actually do the repairs). These are real examples that have happened in the past few weeks. Faster and cheaper is not always better. You’ll find that you get what you pay for.

The moral of the story is that going with a larger, professional company for your repair is better in the long run! Save your time and money by calling the most trusted appliance repair company with 80 years in business – Westside Appliance Repair! With the largest supply of parts in stock and the most highly-trained technicians in Central Iowa, we will take great care of your appliances, guaranteed!

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