By Mary Beth Breckenridge Knight Ridder Newspapers
Heat-N-Glo’s new Cyclone is a new twist on fireplaces.
Cyclone is a cylindrical gas chamber with a whirling natural-gas flame inside. It can be used in place of a pillar or displayed on a wall. The flame’s unusual spinning action is created by a fan at the bottom of the unit.
The chamber generates only half the heat of a typical gas fireplace, so in can be installed in almost any room. The exhaust is vented to the outside, just like a direct-vent fireplace.
Cyclone is available from Heat-N-Glo dealers and distributors. The stand-alone model retails for $3,499, and the wall-mount system for $7,999. More information is available by calling 888-427-3973 or visiting www.heatnglo.com.
Q.When polishing my silverplate pieces for the holidays, I noticed a couple of pieces had small, raised blemishes where the silver was corroded down to the base metal. These pieces are stored, uncovered, in a glass-fronted cabinet. I am careful not to wrap them with plastic, newspaper or foil, and they are clean when I store them. What can be causing this?
A. John Shulan of Shulan’s Fairlawn (Ohio) Jewelers said some salty residue may have been left on the pieces without your realizing it, possibly from salt in the dishwater. He recommended always washing silverplate in clean water, drying it thoroughly and allowing it to air dry overnight before storing it.
Another possibility is that the silverplate is old and it is breaking down, Shulan said. The plating gets thinner with wear, and eventually tiny pinhole openings appear that allow the base metal to oxidize and erupt through the silver. Unfortunately, he said there’s nothing you can do to prevent that.
