issue: December 2008 APPLIANCE Magazine Europe Report IFA 2008 Berlin	Share  Printable format  Email this Article  Search
Paul Roggema, Europe correspondent  European OEMs used their new stage to debut energy-saving innovations.

IFA Berlin’s first edition of Home Appliances @ IFA was widely regarded as a success. Trade visitors liked the combination of brown goods (consumer electronics, which are the staple of IFA) and white goods appliances. Consumer attendees were more than willing to stop by the appliance makers for a cooking demonstration or a free cappuccino.

It was expected that BSH would launch a heat pump dryer in response to other such appliances already marketed by competitor Electrolux, but BSH topped expectations with an innovative and unique self-cleaning heat exchanger. Customers do not like to do appliance maintenance, but energy use goes up when lint plugs the exchanger. Both are very good reasons for this feature, and it is easy to explain on the retail floor. BSH claims energy savings up to 40%, and all this in a convenient 7-kg capacity. The different temperature parameters allow for a lower drying temperature, compared with an air-to-air condenser dryer.

A second innovation was the new dishwasher absorption drying feature using zeolite. During drying, moisture is absorbed into this natural mineral, to shorten the drying time and allow for a lower water temperature during the last rinsing. This reduces overall energy use by 15%. Read more about zeolite dishwasher drying at: ApplianceMagazine.com/content/2090

A third BSH innovation was somewhat harder to see. A new upright freezer requires 40% less power by its use of vacuum insulation panels. And BSH already provides an outstanding range of A++ cooling appliances. Vacuum panels seem to be the most effective solution at the moment for achieving excellent insulation while retaining the present standard measurements for appliances.

But specialists admitted that BSH is not sure if this is the future of insulation technology. The price is high and savings potential is limited as the energy consumption of cooling and freezing appliances is already quite low.

Miele Revives Dual-Feed Appliances

Happily, ultrapremium brand Miele reintroduced an important energy-saving product: a washer with dual water inlet. Americans might be surprised that this is seen as a novelty, but remember that European washers typically only have a cold water inlet with built-in electric heating. Europe’s 230-V electric voltage allows for this.

Another Miele energy-saving feature on all models is a 20°C program, to be combined with selected detergents. This is almost like washing with cold water—also unusual in Europe.

Miele also presented a new heat pump dryer. “Our heat pump dryer uses just 1.8 kWh in 104 minutes, compared with 3.3 kWh and 90 minutes for a comparable condenser model,” explains Michael Endt, product manager, laundry. “All components (evaporator, condenser) are new except for the compressor.”

Raising the Bar by Reducing Water Use

In dishwashing, a new milestone was announced by Miele: a new appliance uses just 8 L of water for a full machine cycle. Most competitors still use at least 10 L.

In cooking, the Con@ctivity feature enables the hood to react automatically to hob (cooktop) settings—venting doesn’t wait until steam and vapors start to rise. Communication between the hob and hood happens over power lines.

The existing large-capacity MasterCool cooling and freezing modules were first presented in Europe. Called Independence in the United States, they are far too large for most European houses, as the heights are 30 and 36 in. (fully integrated). Design is very contemporary, with German understatement. The interior is illuminated with halogen lights. In some markets, Miele offers RemoteVision, a servicing system allowing remote monitoring of the fridge.

In the CombiSet line of half-width cooking modules (29 or 38 cm), an interesting new Salamander unit is available from Miele. It has an infrared heater to heat downwards (keep your cooked meals or plates hot, make a crème brûlée). The heater, well known in professional kitchens and normally quite bulky, lowers itself in the countertop.

Cooling with Liebherr

Many insiders view Liebherr as Europe’s innovation leader in home refrigeration. It may not be the largest, but it does have a wide product line, especially in high-end, low-energy models. The company confirmed its status with several interesting new products at IFA, including some models so energy-efficient that they do not fit into the standard European classification system. One Liebherr chest freezer uses 40% less energy than Europe’s best energy efficiency label, the A++.

Another new model, called Freshness Center, is a high-end, large bottom-freezer combination with a French door design—actually quite unusual in Europe. The 90-cm width is also uncommon in Europe. The appliance is all stainless steel, has a touch screen user interface, and LED illumination. Liebherr engineered this unit to be the most sturdy and solid on the market—to justify the €3600 price tag and to distinguish it from Asian side-by-side models.

Next Year at IFA?

In spite of the success of the first edition, some wishes remain for next year’s Appliances @ IFA. The Italians were absent this time, as was France’s Groupe SEB (their Krups and Rowenta brands are important in Germany). Attendees also missed the full range of Philips small appliance products. Also absent were Spain’s Fagor and Turkey’s Arçelik and Vestel. Perhaps the success of this year’s show will convince these companies to be a part of the next edition.

The success of IFA raises speculation about Cologne’s Domotechnica fair. Will any in the industry return to Cologne? What will industry suppliers do?

Attendees should also not expect the same level of new developments at IFA 2009. Appliance OEMs can’t always plan their innovations according to the Berlin schedule. With that in mind, we can still look forward to next August. 

Engineering New Coffee Configurations

BSH also presented a new, fully automatic espresso maker under the Siemens brand. BSH created a new manufacturing line for the espresso makers in its Slovenian small appliance plant.

Timo Gördes, Siemens product manager–coffee, explained the appliance’s new heating element configuration. “First, the thermoblock is replaced by a flow-through heater, the so-called Senso Flow system. This is a pipe of about 20 cm with two heating elements attached, and two sensors. The Senso Flow system keeps the brewing temperature at a constant level of about 92°C. This is very important to generate a perfect aroma. Furthermore, the new heating element allows for a shorter start time (29 seconds).

“It did take us a while to design the interplay between heat elements, sensors, and software,” Gördes said. “This is the only espresso maker with this feature. It also means that there is no energy wasted in keeping the thermoblock hot in between operations.”

BSH also engineered a new coffee grinding system using ceramic disks. “The new ceramic grinder offers a better grinding result, as well as a lower noise level,” Gördes said, and added that noise is further dampened by extra insulation in the machine.

“The press in the press chamber has a convex shape and forces longer flows of the water through the coffee,” Gördes explained. “The pressure is now automatically adapted to the amount of coffee through a spring system. The important one-touch cappuccino function is realized by a reversible coffee outlet.” This outlet serves two areas of the machine: one for coffee and one for combined beverages such as large macchiatos.

“To make the machine easy to clean, the milk frothing unit is also new: fewer parts, dishwasher-ready, and a new, double-cycle cleaning program. The brewing unit can be taken out completely for rinsing,” Gördes said.

At the Bosch stand, another coffee product was seen: the Tassimo hot beverage system. This system uses T DISCs—prefilled beverage cartridges. Using this system the beverage does not touch the brewer, allowing for different hot beverages—like coffee, cappuccino, tea, and hot chocolate—without taste transfer between drinks. A bar code on the package provides the machine with the drink recipe. For cappuccino there are two disks: coffee and milk. With more than 40 varieties of flavors and premium Kraft Foods and guest brands to choose from, Tassimo is able to continuously extend its beverage portfolio.

An interesting change was seen here: Tassimo machines used to be made and sold by Braun (the German small appliance and shaver maker, famous for its modern design heritage). Braun and Kraft Foods developed the system together. But then, Braun and parent company Gillette were sold to Procter and Gamble, a direct competitor of Kraft. Of course, this would not work, and P&G agreed to discontinue the cooperation. Kraft Foods and BSH (as the new hardware partner) jointly redeveloped the next generation of the appliance under the Bosch brand. The new production lines are also in the Slovenian plant.