As easy as pie
Everyone knows the heart of the home is the kitchen, and it’s never been easier to make yours a domestic haven, from everyday chores to good old-fashioned home cooking
We all spend a large proportion of our time at home in the kitchen, which is why the appliances we find in them have become more energy-efficient and, crucially, more hassle-free throughout the years. And your latest kitchen addition should be the smart meter, which together with its nifty in-home display, saves you untold hassle and effort, giving you more time to indulge your culinary passions.
Life in the kitchen wasn’t always so easy, though. Back in the 1970s, even having your own washing machine was considered a rare privilege, and cooking in general required a few more steps than it does today. It was a similar story when it came to monitoring your energy spending, with endless complicated meter readings. These days, however, our kitchens are full of handy additions that slip into the background; we use them every day without even thinking about it.
Domestic ease
When it came to making desserts, the 1970s were nothing if not the decade of the great British trifle, but to whip the dish’s cream into the perfect consistency, it’s likely that all you had in your arsenal was a whisk, a bowl, and your stronger wrist.
Nowadays, on the other hand, electric whisks and food mixers have become ubiquitous in kitchens throughout the country, which means whipping cream – and plenty of other recipe instructions – requires much less elbow grease and time than it ever did before. Think how much importance people place on their kitchen working for their needs, and being somewhere they actually enjoy spending time in. As a result, we think nothing of our integrated oven, hob and grill all being in one unit, at a uniform height with our other work surfaces. However, most cooks of the 70s had to make do with a standalone upright oven, with a grill at the very top. In contrast, today’s user-friendly cookers and hobs are designed for perfect, ultra-convenient and even cooking every single time.
And when you’d finished cooking all those decades ago, then came the tricky and tedious business of cleaning. More often than not, washing clothes would mean lugging a big bag to the nearest laundrette, while cleaning the dishes, not to mention pots and pans, would have you hunched over the sink for ages. Thank goodness, then, that the average kitchen in 2017 boasts a dishwasher and washing machine, saving us hours each week in tiresome chores.
Save effort and money
And just as our modern kitchen equipment saves us plenty of effort, the new way in which millions of us are using and paying for our energy is doing the very same thing. Smart meters show you how much energy you’re using and what it’s costing you, in pounds and pence, and send readings directly to your supplier. This means no more hassle of rummaging around with a torch to take meter readings, and no more stress of estimated energy bills. Armed with this information, you’ll also be able to keep tabs on your gas and electricity use next time you fire up the blender, turn on the oven, or use any of your other household appliances. Smart meters are the latest addition to your kitchen to help you start cutting energy costs, and make life just a trifle easier.