energy saving

8 Essential Non-Electric Appliances for Your Kitchen

8 Essential Non-Electric Appliances for the Kitchen

Do you want to try off-grid living, but are afraid of the lifestyle extreme change? Why not experiment with some non-electric appliances? Simply switching to non-electric appliances in your kitchen can put some extra money in your pocket as they shave vital pounds and pence of your utility bills.

The number of non-electric appliances available will suprise you

Our top pick

A pasta maker is essential if you love pasta. And, since homemade pasta is one of the easiest things to cook, it’s a good place to start if you’re contemplating off-grid living. Remember: The quality of the pasta depends on the quality of the ingredients, and your kneading technique. If you don’t knead correctly, your pasta will be sticky.

Most pasta makers are adjustable, so you can make perfect lasagne, cannelloni, ravioli, ribbon noodles, and fettuccine, etc. In no time at all you’ll be making pasta good enough to impress Marcus Wareing on MasterChef: The Professionals.

Non-electric appliances you might already own

Many of our existing kitchen appliances don’t need electricity. There are also several affordable options available, so you can really embrace retro living.

  1. Coffee percolator. They make delicious coffee and are convenient for camping trips. Percolators are easy to use, simply add water, ground coffee beans and a filter and leave it on a heat source (a fire for non-electric living) for 5 – 10 minutes, depending on how strong you like your coffee.
  2. French press: This is another coffee maker that is as easy to use as a percolator. Simply boil water on a heat source (a gas stove or open fire), and pour over coffee grounds. Let it steep for around five minutes and then push the plunger down to get all the grounds to the bottom. Pour and serve.
  3. Manual mixer. Twist the handle and watch the beaters whirl. It’s great for beating eggs, whipping cream and making batter.
  4. Hand flour mill. Got gluten issues? Then use one of these babies to turn oats, rice or chickpeas into flour.
  5. Dough maker. Of course you can knead dough by hand, but why not try a non-electric bread maker to speed things up a bit. Simply add the ingredients, crank the mixture and enjoy perfectly kneaded dough.
  6. Food strainer. Many people have a food strainer occupying the back of the cupboard. It’s great for making your own sauces, juices and jams. All you need do is cut up fruit, drop them in and start turning. You don’t need to peel or core the fruit, as the strainer will do all the separating for you.
  7. Manual food processor. A twist of the handle turns multiple blades rapidly, producing the same great results as an electric food processor. A number of blades allow you to cut, dice and blend as desired.
  8. Zeer clay pot fridge. You’re unlikely to have one of these lying around, but they’re great way to keeping food cool. You put one terracotta pot inside another and fill the space between with wet sand. As the water evaporates, it pulls heat from the pot inside and makes it cooler than the air outside.

The bottom line

Let’s not muck about, eschewing electricity for manually-operated appliances does feel like a bit of a step backward. Technology advances for a reason – to make life easier. Using elbow grease is not easier than flipping a switch or pressing a button. Depending on how passionate you are about your cooking, however, it can be more satisfying when you know the meal produced is the result of authentic hard work.

If you’re passionate about saving energy and going green, non-electric appliances also hold certain appeal. And, if you’re in the position where every penny saved is a penny earned, you can’t shrug off the money-saving benefits of putting electricity on the back burner.

Posted by Surewise in Appliance Insurance Articles

Great Tips on How to Choose an Energy Efficient Kettle

Great Tips on How to Choose an Energy Efficient Kettle

Your kettle isn’t exactly a large appliance, so you wouldn’t think that it uses a huge amount of energy, right? It’s true on the surface, except that your kettle gets a LOT of use. On average, a UK household boils the kettle 1500 times per year. It’s not that difficult to believe if you consider that you might boil your kettle 4 times a day for coffee or tea and then perhaps another once or twice to cook food. All of that use adds up. According to Chris Goodall (cited by Ethical Consumer) your kettle can consume about 150kWh per yeah. This amounts to about 4% of your total electricity consumption.

Kinda scary, isn’t it?

One of the biggest problems is overfilling the kettle. If you’re only making one cup of tea or coffee, technically you need less than 500ml of water, but we tend to stick the kettle under the tap and just let rip, so we end up with enough water to make tea for a Sevens rugby team. Once again Ethical Consumer has a fun stat for us: Apparently if all the households in the UK boiled exactly the right amount of water they need for one day, the energy saved could light every street lamp in the country for one night.

Some kettle manufacturers have stepped up to stop the overfilling problem; for example, the ECO Kettle has 2 compartments so you can fill one with one cup of water to be boiled at a time. Some energy efficient kettles have lower water level indicators (minimum amounts to be boiled) so you can boil want you need, even if it is less than 500ml. And, because most elements are now under a plate, you don’t have to cover exposed elements with water you don’t need.

Another great feature that many kettle manufacturers are using is variable temperature control, so you can set the kettle to switch off when the water reaches a set temperature. For example, you can set your kettle to 70°C so that you can make the perfect cup of green tea.

More than energy efficiency?

Energy efficiency is one thing, but what do you know about manufacturers’ stance on human rights, animal welfare and transparency in their supply chains? These days, with the global village being as small as it is, we’re more aware of the need to protect or at least stand up for people who live on the other side of the world. Ethical Consumer takes transparency and workers’ and animal rights very seriously and when it reviews appliances it considers things like:

  • Supply chain policies: Are workers treated fairly, are they adequately remunerated, are working conditions safe? Supply chains that have components in China are usually problematic.
  • Environmental reporting: Transparency in environmental reporting is important, which means honesty when it comes to things like carbon emissions, water use and land use.
  • Company profile: Includes consumer boycotts for things like animal testing and financing drilling operations or fracking.

Choose an ethical and energy efficient kettle

Ethical Consumer uses a rating system out of 20 to determine which are the most ethical and energy efficient kettles. The list is interactive, so you can select the criteria that are most important to you and get truly relevant results. If all criteria are selected as important, the top kettles include:

  • Bodum Clara glass hob kettle (14)
  • Bodum electric kettle (14)
  • Dualit electric kettles (14)
  • ECO Kettle electric kettles (14)
  • Judge hob kettle (14)
  • Krups electric kettles (14)
  • La Cafetiere electric and hob kettles (14)
  • La Cafetiere hob kettles (14)
  • Magimax electric kettle (14)
  • Masteclass hob kettles (14)
  • Moulinex electric kettles (14)
  • Rowenta electric kettles (14)
  • Stellar electric and hob kettles (14)
  • Tefal electric and Quick Cup kettles (14)
  • Breville electric kettles (13)
  • Morphy Richards electric and hob kettles (9)
  • Prestige electric and hob kettles (8)
  • Braun electric kettles (7.5)
  • De’Longhi electric kettles (7)
  • Kenwood electric kettles (7)

The internet has made it super easy to be an ethical consumer, so why not take advantage of Google and hold large companies accountable for their business and manufacturing practices – and enjoy a cool kettle with all the energy and money savings that go with it.

Posted by Surewise in Appliance Insurance Articles

How Water-Efficient is Your Washer-Dryer?

How Water Efficient is Your Washer-Dryer?


The washer-dryer is a helpful appliance that helps you save a lot of time and effort as you complete the daily household chores. Unfortunately, the appliance can also be a big water guzzler.

The amount of water consumed per wash-dry cycle or the water efficiency, varies greatly across washer-dryers. As per product review company Which?, the difference between a water-saving washer-dryer and an inefficient model could be as much as 17 litres per kilogram of washing. Unknown to the average consumer, most washer-dryers also use significant quantities of water for cooling during the drying cycle.

Choose a water-efficient washer-dryer

Buying a water efficient washer-dryer can save as much as 3000 litres of water a year, which will reduce your utility bills and limit your carbon footprint.

To buy a water efficient washer dryer you should:

  • Read the water consumption information printed on the bottom half of the EU energy label.
  • Choose a washer-dryer that carries the ‘Energy Saving Trust Recommended’ logo, as that is a good indicator of its overall efficiency. Don’t simply choose a machine with a high-energy efficiency rating, as this indicates how much electricity it uses and has nothing to do with water consumption.

Tips for reducing your washer-dryer’s water consumption

Apart from buying an appliance that is technically water efficient, here are a few tips to reduce the per cycle water consumption of your washer dryer:

  • Wash and dry full loads so you can lower the number of cycles.
  • If you tend not to fill the drum on most washes, consider buying a washing machine with a smaller drum the next time around.
  • Buy a washer-dryer with auto load control. This feature will automatically adjust the water level depending on the load per wash cycle.
  • A washer-dryer with better spin performance (i.e., a higher rpm (revolutions per minute) value) will reduce the drying time and is therefore more efficient.
  • Use cotton wash instead of synthetic wash to reduce water consumption by as much as 50%.
  • Use the extra rinse cycle only if it is necessary; for instance to get rid of the fabric softener/ detergent because a family member has skin allergies.

When the weather permits, save on water by hanging your clothes to dry out.

Posted by Surewise in Appliance Insurance Articles