Explainers
How home appliances work, in plain English
Simple guides on how the everyday appliances in your home operate, where the energy goes, and which features are worth paying for. Every explainer is based on published specifications and independent research, not hands-on testing.
Guides
Start with the appliance you need to understand
Each explainer covers how the appliance works, where it uses power, and which features matter in practice.
Dehumidifiers
How dehumidifiers remove moisture
A look at condensation, refrigerant and compressor models, and why capacity ratings matter more than fan speed.
Heaters
Electric heating and running costs
How convector, fan and oil-filled heaters warm a room, and how wattage links to the cost of each hour of use.
Water filters
What filters remove, and what they do not
Carbon, ion-exchange and membrane filters explained, with a note on cartridge replacement and certification marks.
Key terms
Three specifications that are often misread
01
Extraction rate
Dehumidifier extraction is the litres of water removed per day under standard test conditions. Compare models at the same temperature and humidity, as the rate falls in cold, damp rooms.
02
Heat exchanger type
Heat exchangers in heat pumps and some heaters move warmth rather than generating it from scratch, so they can cost less to run per unit of heat than resistive models.
03
Wattage and running cost
Multiply the wattage by hours of use and divide by 1,000 to get kilowatt-hours, then multiply by your electricity unit rate to estimate the cost of each session.