November 29, 2010 | Laundry Appliance Repair, Help & Advice | No comments
File this one under ‘sounds way harder than it actually is’. Thought you’d need to get a repair man in to replace the pump in your washing machine? Think again; it’s not actually that difficult – just check out this video:
November 29, 2010 | Uncategorized | No comments
File this one under ‘sounds way harder than it actually is’. Thought you’d need to get a repair man in to replace the pump in your washing machine? Think again; it’s not actually that difficult – just check out this video:
November 25, 2010 | Uncategorized | No comments
As you will be very aware, winter has arrived with a vengeance over the last couple of days. While good news for scarf salesmen and yetis, not so nice when you have to battle through snow and wind to get in to work. When it comes to comforting yourself over the fact that it’s going to be dark by four in the afternoon every day for the next five months, I am of the opinion that hearty food is the best medicine. On that note, check out these delicious looking one-pot, slow-cooked recipes – the lamb shank I think looks particularly delectable. Remember to check out our website if you need oven spares; we’ve got thousands of ’em.
November 23, 2010 | Kitchen Appliances Repair, Help & Advice | 1 comment
The oven. Along with the hob, the most important and most regularly used appliance in the kitchen. It’s not inconceivable that you use it two or three times every day. Without it, you couldn’t make lasagne; enough said. For this reason, replacing your oven has got to be a measured decision. And the first thing you have to decide? Well that would be whether to go for gas or electric. Both energy sources have pros, both have cons. So which is more suitable for you?
How Good Is It At Actually Cooking?
While we need to remember that ovens are ovens – and that no matter what the source of its heat is, it will cook your food. If it doesn’t, it’s just broken. I think the decisive factor here is the time it takes to preheat. And this is where the electric oven just can’t compete with its gas counterpart. When you turn on the electric oven, the electricity flowing through the element takes minutes to get the oven to a level of heat that you’d consider worthy of roasting a potato. But with gas ovens, the gas is ignited and the flame is immediately hot enough to cook with, and therefore the air in the oven will get hotter quicker.
Which Is More Reliable?
When you’re oven cooking, you want to be confident that the food in the oven will cook at the temperature you’ve set for the time you’ve allotted. No one likes chips that are burnt to a crisp or lasagne that’s brown on the outside but positively tepid under the first couple of layers. Fan assisted ovens evenly distribute heat throughout the oven. You can get fan assisted gas and electric ovens, but the gas versions tend to be a little more expensive.
How Much Are They Gonna Cost Me?
This is where the electric oven comes in to its own. You can pick up a basic electric oven for less than £200, but you’d be extremely hard pushed to find an entry level gas model for less than £300. No contest on this front.
Maintenance
There’s a Gas Safe Register for a reason; you must be registered as an engineer with these guys if you want to carry out any repairs to things like ignition switches or gas jets on your oven. If you don’t have the official accreditation, trying these repairs yourself could end in tragic and lethal circumstances. Don’t try these fix-its yourself. And while electricity must be treated with respect too, it’s ok for you to try and fit a grill element yourself. In fact, we encourage you to – just check out this video. Basically, something going wrong with your electric oven is easier (and cheaper) to fix yourself.
So it looks as though the electric oven may have just edged it; it certainly does if initial cost and potential fix-it problems are your main concerns. What do you think? Any gas users who want to argue their side’s case?
November 19, 2010 | eSpares Updates | 2 comments
I am proud and honoured to announce that eSpares has been nominated for the Non-Store Retailer of the Year award at the Oracle Retail Week Awards 2011. The full list of finalists is:
It is an honour to be named on such a prestigious shortlist. Now we just have to look forward to the ceremony in March – and keep our fingers crossed!
November 17, 2010 | Vacuum Cleaner Repair, Help & Advice | No comments
Universal vacuum tools are an inexpensive alternative to genuine tools, or a lifesaver if the tool for your vacuum is unavailable. Although we’ve found that customers often have doubts over whether ‘universal’ really means universal. Check out this video to put your mind to rest:
November 15, 2010 | eSpares Updates | No comments
Today we’ve been mostly working hard editing videos and generally catching up with the weekend. We’ve also been looking forward to the watching the International Space Station pass overhead at about 5pm. If you’ve got Monday blues, this photo’s for you. A mountain in the Andes mountain range taken from aboard the ISS.
November 10, 2010 | Dishwasher Repair, Help & Advice | 1 comment
One of the most common appliances mishaps we hear about is the leaky dishwasher. If you’ve experienced it, you’ll know what a pain a waterlogged kitchen and a big stack of washing up can be.
Fear not though, because there is a silver lining – it’s not necessarily a job for the plumber. One of the most common causes of a leaking dishwasher is a damaged lower door seal. Here, Josh shows you how easy it is to repair a dishwasher leak in this video…Read more
November 10, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 comment
One of the most common appliances mishaps we hear about is the leaky dishwasher. If you’ve experienced it, you’ll know what a pain a waterlogged kitchen and a big stack of washing up can be. Fear not though, because there is a silver lining – it’s not necessarily a job for the plumber. One of the most common causes of a leaking dishwasher is a damaged lower door seal. Watch Helen show you how easy it is to repair in this video…
November 8, 2010 | eSpares Updates | No comments
The main objective with the redesign of our product landing pages was to get rid of all the clutter. Have a look this is the old design…
And now for the new….
We decided to get rid of the ‘Related Products’ column at the left of the page to allow the focus of the page be completely on the product you clicked on.
Another important area we wanted to look at was the “Fits the following Appliances” section:
The new design has appliance models listed in a table format. Once you select your model and appliance type you can easily find your model number and be sure this is the part you need.
One of our favourite new features is an add to basket box that follows you as you scroll down the page so you don’t have to waste time scrolling back to the top of the page to add it to your basket once you have made your decision to purchase the product.
Overall I feel the newly designed product pages will make it easier and quicker for customers to be confident the part fits their appliance, making their time spent on the website a more relaxed and enjoyable experience.
