Here are five pieces of advice for anyone buying a new appliance. As an engineer with over 30 years in the trade I give serious consideration to how easy it will be to get repaired, and to the quality of aftersales service and spare parts costs. I also attach great importance to the quality of service and advice you get from the retailer whilst in the process of buying – and the attitude you are likely to encounter if something goes wrong.
Eco tips for using dishwashers – video guide
July 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
This video is produced by Which? of whom I am an affiliate. The video lasts just under 4 minutes and contains advice and tips aimed at helping us to be greener when using our dishwashers. It’s pretty general and mostly just common sense but there might be at least something worth hearing.
Do we really need to dump our old inefficient appliances to save money and the world?
June 5, 2009 By 13 Comments
There is a big campaign by AMDEA trying to persuade us to throw away our old inefficient appliances and buy new more efficient ones. They claim we will be helping save the earth and will save ourselves lots of money too. However, although I agree that new appliances are usually more efficient I have more difficulty in accepting that it makes sense to throw away a perfectly good white goods appliance if it is working okay in order to save either money or save the environment.
Save on fabric conditioner when tumble drying
March 4, 2008 By 7 Comments
Here’s an environmentally friendly tip to save on fabric conditioner when tumble drying. If you are putting a load of washing into the washing machine and you know you will be drying it in the tumble dryer, do you still use fabric conditioner? We always have done, but tumble drying naturally softens the fabrics so fabric conditioner shouldn’t be required.
Appliances & Economy 7
October 8, 2007 By 7 Comments
If you use the economy 7 tariff you may want to set your washing machine, dishwasher or tumble dryer to come on during the night. Many appliances have a built in delay timer these days but if yours hasn’t you may be able to get away with using a separate plug-in timer adapter. However, as many appliances no longer run until a start button is pressed by the user it may not be possible to start one up automatically if no one is present to start it. There may be a way round this problem though, which I discussed previously on my washing machine forum – It It Possible To Add A Timer To Use Economy 7?
Which uses more water, a dishwasher or washing by hand?
May 15, 2007 By 9 Comments
I just saw an advert for a Bosch dishwasher, which reminds me there’s a common misconception about how much water dishwashers use compared to washing by hand, and confusion over which is the most economical. The ad claims a Bosch dishwasher uses as little as 9 litres of water – “a lot less water than washing up by hand – saving as much as 50 litres for a similar load”. The ad also describes how much more hygienic dishwashers are too because they can wash in higher temperatures.
Are all these environmental issues just a big money making con?