As we return to the new normal, during Register My Appliance Week, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) 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 everyone clean and fed, but they also provided a space for some magic and fun in difficult times.
Yet recent government research [1] has revealed 49% of people never registered their products, and the domestic appliances – used in essential tasks such as cooking and refrigerating food, washing laundry and dishes and vacuuming – total over 210 million [2].
As part of the Fire Kills Campaign, LFRS is encouraging people to make their homes safer by registering machines at registermyappliance.org.uk to ensure all their home appliances – particularly older previously forgotten ones – can be located if a safety repair is ever needed. Nearly 60 leading brands are represented on the portal, developed by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA), with most makes welcoming details of products up to 12 years old.
Ashraf Hajat, Community Safety Team Leader at LFRS, urges the public to register products that helped them through lockdown, as well as any others in their homes.
“With restrictions relaxing, while we are still near our kitchens, it’s a great opportunity to remember to register all the indispensable appliances – particularly older ones – that kept us ticking over during lockdown. They should never be taken for granted – nor should the safety of your household. It is also vital that appliances are installed and used according to the instructions, and advice on safe usage is also available on the Register My Appliance portal.”
Our kitchens have taken on new dimensions in our lives in the past year, according to a new AMDEA survey [3], becoming unique and sometimes magical places.
The survey showed 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. The kitchen was the hub for keeping in touch with distant friends and family 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 (19%), 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%. The kitchen also served as the new office for 10% nationwide — a figure which rose to 20% for homes in London.
Meanwhile, our home appliances provided a mainstay, working harder than ever. Most notably fridges and freezers were packed 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 (24%) 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%). Not forgetting kettles and coffee machines that ran constantly in one in five kitchen-cafés (21%).
But the poll of appliance users nationwide, in both rental and owned properties, also revealed most respondents (83%) 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.
ENDS
[1] BEIS September 2020, Consumer Attitudes to Product Safety page 22 [2] BEIS ECUK 2020 Table A2 [3] All figures unless otherwise stated are from OnePoll. Total sample size 2000 UK adult home-owners or renters. The survey was carried out online between 25 and 26 March 2021.Notes to Editors – AMEDA:
- Further regional findings of the AMDEA survey included:
- The culinary crown went to the North East where organisation was way above the national average with more than half of people (56%) saying: ‘I packed my fridge freezer to cut down on supermarket shops’, and ‘My cooker and hob were crucial as we mainly ate at home and even batch-cooked for other days’ (51%). They were also the nation’s biggest bakers, 41% using their kitchen to bake treats such as home-made bread and cakes.
- Londoners used their kitchen much more recreationally in lockdown, with nearly a third (31%) holding online social events — zoom chat parties, disco/Karaoke, quizzes’ — compared to 13.7% nationwide. The lockdown puppy trend also appeared big in London with double the national average (15%) using the kitchen as ‘House-training HQ’ for a puppy or other new pet.
- AMDEA is the UK trade association for manufacturers of large and small domestic appliances; representing over 85% of the domestic appliance industry, rising to 90% of white goods brands. Members’ products include most of the UK’s top selling brands of major white goods, other large and small kitchen appliances, heating, water heating, floor care, waste disposal and ventilation equipment.
- 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 date. 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.
- Registermyappliance is supported by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, along with most safety and consumer groups.
Contacts for further details, interviews or comment:
AMDEA Press Office,
Dee Fernandes or Philippa Dovar,
Tel: 020 77 229034; 07887 648434
Notes to Editors – LFRS:
Interviews can be arranged through prior arrangement with Corporate Communications on the details below.
About the Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency response, prevention and protection services from 20 stations across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Its headquarters is based in Birstall, Leicester.
During 2019/20, we attended a total of 8,541 emergency incidents, including 2,079 fires and 748 road traffic collisions. A total of 7,274 Home Safety Checks were completed and we fitted 4,720 smoke alarms. 305 schools were visited as part of the Service’s schools programme, delivering fire and road safety education to 26,218 pupils. Staff organised or took part in 1,218 community safety activities, totalling over 11,000 hours of time engaging with members of the public.
The Service’s prevention, education, enforcement and inspection programmes have resulted in significant reductions in the number of incidents. In the last ten years, fire-related incidents have reduced by over 30 percent.
Contact:
Corporate Communications
Direct: 0116 210 5768
Corporate.communications@leics-fire.gov.uk
