Small appliances is a term covering a wide range of products, including some that might be more accurately described as middle sized, such as vacuum cleaners. While many of these devices are powered by electricity, either mains or battery, there are a few with other power sources, particularly in parts of the world where access to an electricity supply is limited.

Vacuum cleaners come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, with filters to improve the atmosphere for asthmatics and/or reduce pollution; tools for dealing with pet hairs; options for washing floors (carpet and hard surfaces); and different energy saving settings to help reduce users’ energy bills and save the planet.  There are also robots which return to base when they have finished their task. They are no longer the province of science fiction but a real option for the house-proud couch potato.

Kettles and toasters are examples of single-use devices but even they are designed to use less energy as well as offering convenience and ease of use.  And gadgets such as grills, toasted sandwich makers, rice cookers, deep fat fryers, doughnut makers (yes, really) are becoming ever more specialised.  Not to mention the recent boom in slow cookers and small hobs or ovens, all offering small-scale cooking equipment for those with little space or no need for a large standard cooker.  For every customer who aspires to a range cooker or double oven with wok burner there is another who is happy with just a microwave or a double hob. Some people want a kettle, some a coffee machine (filter or espresso/cappuccino maker) and others a jug plus a plug-in milk frother.

Electric woks, food mixers, blenders, whisks, spice grinders - there seems to be no end to the number of helpful gadgets that we want in our kitchens. Whether you bake or not you still buy gadgets, be it electronic scales or a can opener.

The demand for energy using products is not confined to the kitchen.  We have electric razors, hair dryers, curling tongs (and/or straighteners), irons and electric blankets. We like to barbecue in the garden once we have put away the lawn mower and the hedge clippers and cleaned the pond filter.  We may even have a patio heater to prolong the notoriously cool British summer’s evening and a plug-in insect repellent or fly paper.

Then there are the things we buy, not to save time or money, but to amuse ourselves.  The television, PC and mobile are being supplemented by other electronic devices – things that play music or games, or take pictures, with reading material, with buttons to press (or a touch screen) for almost anything you might want to do. 

All these are energy-using products and in addition to the array of legislation and standards to ensure that they are safe and fit for purpose, we are now seeing new Regulations to limit their energy use and potentially control even the materials from which they are made. 

It is obvious that it is better to use a toaster for two slices of bread that to heat an entire grill or to run a slow cooker rather than heat a double oven for hours to cook a stew.  For small quantities a microwave will cook more quickly and with less energy than a large oven.

But as we make our insulated living spaces cheaper to heat and more comfortable we spend more time in them. Instead of going out to the pub (which will have its own heating and lighting and probably a large television as well), we stay at home using our own individual energy supply.

The challenge for our industry is how to satisfy a growing demand for small appliances and simultaneously reduce their energy consumption and carbon emissions. So while we want our customers to buy more small appliances, we are trying to ensure that they do not have to spend more money on energy.

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