May - June 2004

• Toasters are covered under Quality Control Order and the regulating authority is the office of the Commissioner of Electricity in each state and toasters should conform to the specific standard.

• We tested 10 brands of automatic pop-up toasters — Bajaj, Birla, Black & Decker, Inalsa, Kenstar, Morphy Richards, Orpat, Philips, Spherehot and Usha Lexus.

• We tested them for safety as per IS 302-2-9 (1993), and IS 302-1 (1979), performance tests as per IS 1287 (1993) and for energy consumption as per International Standard IEC 60442.

• All 10 brands failed in the abnormal operation test as none provided for the non-self resetting thermal cut-out, necessary to prevent fire and such other hazards.

• If for any reason the ejector mechanism (plunger) does not work and the toaster continues working, it may result in fire and the toaster may deform. Bajaj was distorted and the outer body of Inalsa deformed slightly. The plunger did not work in Bajaj and Philips after the test. None of the brands provided a non-self resetting thermal cut-out.

• The various parts like the grip, knob, power cord, etc. should not heat beyond the value given in the standard. Spherehot did not conform to this parameter.

• The current carrying parts as well as the metal parts should not corrode as corrosion can be hazardous. We saw that the terminals where the supply cord was connected were corroded in Spherehot.

• Internal wiring and electric connections were not adequately protected in Bajaj, Birla, Kenstar, Morphy Richards, Orpat, Philips and Spherehot.

• If the plugs are not of standard quality they may soften and lead to the risk of exposure of live parts and cause accidents. None of the brands conformed to this test except Philips and Spherehot.

• Power cords for toasters should be at least 2 metres long. Except Bajaj, Morphy Richards and Spherehot, the power cords of all the other brands tested were less than 2 metres.

• Spherehot consumed the maximum energy at 28.99 watt hour. Black & Decker consumed the least at 17.34 watt hour, while Bajaj consumed 23.51 watt hour.

• When converted into rupee-value the energy consumption of Black & Decker would cost the least at Rs 29.13 per month for a family of 4 with an average of 4 slices per member. With Spherehot, you would spend the highest at Rs 48.70.

• Weight of the toaster should match the printed weight. Except Bajaj, none of the brands declared the weight of the toaster. While Bajaj declared 1.8 kg as the weight, the actual weight was just 1.315 kg.

• When the bread carriage is released automatically, the damping system should work well. In Spherehot, the carriage did not come upwards softly and the bread slices popped out with a force that was not user-friendly.

• According to the standard, it should not be easy to remove the marking or the marking plate from the toaster. Except Spherehot, none of the brands conformed to this parameter.

• Except Spherehot, all the brands gave cautionary instruction.

• Orpat and Usha Lexus were not marked with information on the country of origin. In the case of Bajaj, Birla, Kenstar and Morphy Richards, it was not marked clearly.

• Birla scored the highest at 74, followed by Black & Decker with 71. Orpat and Usha stood third with a score of 70.

• With a good score and a reasonable price, Orpat was our best buy.
  

 

Details of the test report can be read in INSIGHT

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