You’ve invited your friends, family, and neighbors to your house for a holiday gathering. You’ve decorated, picked up the groceries, and selected your menu. Everything has been planned and prepared, down to the color of the napkins coordinating with your tablecloth. Even with such careful planning, there is still one variable that could sour your next holiday meal: your kitchen appliances.
"We connect like the holidays depend on us- because they do”
Will your oven keep and hold temperature to perfectly cook your turkey? Will the fan circulate the heated air properly to cook the casserole evenly? Will the refrigerator reach and maintain a proper temperature to store foods safely?
There are many components, both large and small, that must work harmoniously to safely operate your kitchen appliances. They must also be able to withstand temperature extremes and constant exposure to moisture, dust, and electricity. TE Connectivity (TE) not only designs sensors and connectors for major home appliances that meet strict customer and industry standards, but also manufactures many appliance components with flame retardant resins to help ensure your appliances are both reliable and safe.
As technology advanced and home design evolved, so too did the requirements for the appliances we now rely on for everyday use. As electricity emerged as a favored power source, the connectors, wiring, wire harnesses, and components within appliances became more critical to consistent and safe operation.
Each new feature and element that has been added is carefully designed and engineered for optimal efficiency and safety. Take, for instance, the trend of convection cooking: these ovens rely on the circulation of heated air moving around your food to cook faster than traditional ovens. The fans require additional motors to push the air in an extreme temperature environment and the components, such as magnet wire terminals like TE’s AMPLIVAR products, which help ensure the brushless motors powering the fans work reliably and safely. Failure of these components could mean the difference of your oven functioning as intended for a perfect dinner or burnt food that leaves your visitors hungry.
Your refrigerator is another appliance that requires careful engineering and components that meet IEC-based UL Standards for Safety for Explosive Atmospheres. Consider this - the refrigerator in your home, that you have likely opened and closed several times today, contains a refrigerant material that flows in a sealed environment, next to combustible dust that accumulates, and ignitable fibers with electrical currents running throughout the appliance. Every part must be able to withstand extreme temperatures and the demands of constant use to keep your home and family safe and your food stored at a proper temperature.
EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS. ESPECIALLY DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
TE Connectivity has partnered with nearly every major global appliance OEM to design and engineer safer, more sustainable major home appliances. Our incredible team holds many active and pending patents for technology that has evolved as fast as the demands of consumers. We continue to listen to our customer’s needs and find new and innovative ways to bring solutions to their greatest design challenges. From continually testing the safety of products using flame retardant materials in our labs to the relentless quality testing we do at our manufacturing sites around the world, we make sure your appliances connect like the holidays depend on us—because they do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marion Karbacher is the senior vice president and general manager for TE’s Appliances business unit. In this role, she is responsible for the leadership, strategic direction, and growth of the business unit, which broadly serves the major and small home appliances industry and many adjacent industries with solutions for mechanical and electronic connectors and components.
