We all rely hugely on our fridges, washing machines and microwaves for keeping our busy lives on track, but would your appliance manufacturer know which machines you have and where to find you if a fault came to light with your model?
The answer is ‘no’ for some 100 million appliances, according to recent research. But this could all be remedied by people taking a few minutes to register their much-loved items.
To mark Register My Appliance Week – taking place from 17 to 21 January – Suffolk County Council is urging the public to register their many treasured appliances that, unlike our cars, are still off the radar if a free safety repair is ever needed.
This is more important than ever, as it’s estimated that we are now running over 212 million essential appliances to cook, wash clothes and dishes, clean floors and store our food.
While the recent increase in online purchasing (reportedly soaring as high as 70%) and the advent of smart appliances will all help to improve traceability, research found that 49% of us have never registered a product, leaving millions of large and mid-sized older machines totally untraceable.
As part of the Fire Kills Campaign, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, along with Suffolk Trading Standards, is encouraging people to make their homes safer by registering machines at registermyappliance.org.uk.
Councillor Andrew Reid, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Public Protection and Communities, commented:
