Almost half of UK consumers (49 per cent) don’t register their domestic appliances, according to a recent Government survey.
The research (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – BEIS: September 2020, Consumer attitudes to product safety) was carried out ahead of Register My Appliance Week, which runs from April 26-30.
During this latest campaign, the domestic appliance industry is reminding households to look around their homes and register the more than 100 million older appliances that helped sustain them through the Covid-19 lockdown.
Our domestic appliances – used in essential tasks such as cooking and refrigerating food, washing laundry and dishes and vacuuming – total over 210 million.
While lockdown restrictions are slowly relaxing, there is still plenty of time for people to go to registermyappliance.org.uk, where they can quickly and easily log their home appliance details for almost 60 brands.
Over the past year, consumers’ kitchens have taken on new dimensions in their lives, according to a survey by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA).
The research showed that adventurous cooking was important to many people.
In addition to baking treats (31 per cent) and trying new recipes (20 per cent), 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 people (22 per cent), and online party central for discos, karaoke and quizzes for 16 per cent.
For nearly one in five consumers (19 per cent), the kitchen was simply the heart of the home, while it was a place for fun for 13 per cent and, similarly, a safe haven for a further 13 per cent.
On a more practical note, the kitchen served as the new office for 10 per cent nationwide – a figure that rose to 20 per cent for homes in London.
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 per cent), followed by cookers and hobs deemed crucial by 38 per cent, as everyone mainly ate at home and even batch-cooked for other days.
Nearly one in four homes (24 per cent) 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 (24 per cent). Not forgetting kettles and coffee machines that ran constantly in one in five kitchen-cafés (21 per cent).
But the poll of appliance users nationwide, in both rental and owned properties, also revealed that the vast majority (83 per cent) 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.
The Register My Appliance web portal was designed by AMDEA to make it quicker and easier for the public to register both new and older appliances, to improve ownership data.
By simply clicking on the brand logo, the user reaches a data entry form linked directly to the relevant manufacturer, where the vast majority accept registrations of products up to 12 years old.
Register My Appliance is supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), along with most safety and consumer groups.
Paul Hide, chief executive of AMDEA, hopes that as many people continue to work from home, proximity to our appliances will make it easier to take this sensible precaution.
“While 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,” he said.
“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.”
