NEW LIVING
C OV E R S T O RY B y AM E LIA BARN E S
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“Australians are spending more on appliances, not for the sake of convenience, but certainly for that ultimate entertaining/status piece.”
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DOM A IN
NIKOLE RAMSAY / E&S TRADING
Welcome to the future
hose who watched the last season of The Block will be well aware of the high-tech appliances boom sweeping the Australian market. From voiceautomated taps to $26,000 refrigerators, we saw these appliances take centre stage in many of the contestants’ rooms, serving as much a piece of art as they do a functional item. With so many brands and features on offer at various prices, researching the white-goods market can be overwhelming. Australian consumers are a cautious bunch unlikely to jump on the latest appliance gimmick unless it demonstrates a genuine improvement to their life. In the past decade, major household appliances in the average Australian home have evolved in many ways, particularly in energy efficiency. “Australia is one of the world’s leaders in driving energy efficiency and water-consumption reductions,” says E&S managing director Rob Sinclair. “Products must achieve super-low energy consumption standards and, in the case of refrigeration and airconditioners, the use of the most efficient and environmentally friendly gases is imperative.” There has also been a shift in appliances’ flexibility and ease of use. Self-cleaning ovens, dishwashers with easy-to-move shelves and induction cooktops have all entered the mainstream. Sinclair says customers generally look to fulfil four wishes when shopping for an appliance: the ability to make their life easier, save time, be energy efficient and be safe. Heat-pump technology that regulates washing-machine water temperature is among the new features that meet this criteria. “In the case of appliances in the laundry, we see Bosch, Siemens, Miele, Asko, V-Zug and AEG using super-efficient heat-pump technology to significantly reduce the running cost of dryers in our laundries,” Sinclair says. This technology has more recently made its way into dishwashers from Swiss brand V-Zug, which Sinclair says makes them the most energy efficient dishwashers in the world.