It’s Register My Appliance Week: keep the kitchen magic safe

As we return to the new normal, the domestic appliance industry is reminding households to look around their homes and register the more than 100 million older appliances that helped sustain and often entertain them through lockdown.

Our kitchens have been special over the past year. With the aid of several important appliances, not only did they keep everybody clean and fed, but they also provided space for some magic and fun in difficult times.

Despite the importance of these machines, recent government research has revealed 49% of people never registered their products. This leaves them off the radar if a safety repair is ever needed and the manufacturer will not know where to contact them.

REGISTER YOUR APPLIANCES 

While lockdown restrictions are slowly relaxing, there is still plenty of time for people to go to the online portal registermyappliance.org.uk,where they can quickly and easily log their home appliance details with the manufacturers of nearly 60 brands. With most makes welcoming products up to 12 years old, it’s a simple task to also register older previously forgotten machines. 

NEW SURVEY REVEALS MAGIC OF KITCHEN

Over the past year our kitchens have taken on new dimensions in our lives, according to a survey by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances.  Our kitchens became a unique and sometimes magical place. 

Adventurous cooking was important to many. In addition to baking treats (31%) and trying new recipes (20%), a host of less traditional activities also took place in our kitchens.  It was the hub for keeping in touch with friends and family far away for more than one in five (22%), online party central, for discos, Karaoke and quizzes for 16%, closely followed by gym bunny heaven for 15%, as well as home hair and beauty salon for a similar 15%.

For nearly one in five, the kitchen was simply the heart of the home, while it was a place for fun for 13% and similarly a magical safe haven for a further 13%. On a more practical note, the kitchen served as the new office for 10% nationwide -- a figure which rose to 20% for homes in London.  

APPLIANCES TO THE RESCUE

Meanwhile, our home appliances provided a mainstay, working hard to keep everyone ticking over. Most notably fridges and freezers were deployed to cut down on supermarket shops by nearly half the nation (43%), followed by cookers and hobs deemed crucial by 38%, as everyone mainly ate at home and even batch-cooked for other days. Nearly one in four homes ran their washing machines much more to launder clothes and towels; tying with vacuum cleaners which were also rated very handy for the constant clear-ups by nearly a quarter of homes.  Not forgetting kettles and coffee machines that ran constantly in one in five kitchen-cafés.

OLD APPLIANCES WELCOME

But the poll of appliance users nationwide, in both rental and owned properties, also revealed that the vast majority (83%) of respondents did not know or did not think they could register an older appliance in use in their homes, that they had not purchased themselves.   This included equipment they found in their homes when they moved in, bought second-hand, or inherited from family or friends.

Paul Hide, Chief Executive, AMDEA hopes that as many continue to work from home, proximity to our appliances will make it easier to take this sensible precaution, saying:

“Whilst recalls on appliances are very rare and can normally be remedied with a free in-home repair, the key is to engage quickly with the owners of potentially affected models, to make the arrangements. Few people seem to realise that they can and should register older models. At a time when we are uniquely close to our kitchens, with our phones and tablets to hand, it is sensible to take this simple safety measure, to ensure manufacturers can get in touch.”