You press the start button and nothing happens. No lights, no hum, no drum movement. A tumble dryer no power fault is frustrating in October, when wet coats and muddy school kit pile up and the line outside is no use. Fortunately, a lifeless dryer often has a simple explanation....

A washing machine not heating is one of the quieter faults we see. The drum still turns, the water still drains and the cycle still ends. The only clue is washing that feels cold, smells stale or keeps its grease marks. We see it most once autumn loads get heavier....

A pattern we see repeatedly is the appliance that stops working properly a few weeks after a kitchen refit, and appliance installation faults explain the great majority of them. The machine worked perfectly before the fitters came. It works badly afterwards. Nobody connects the two events because several weeks have...

Every engineering business that works on domestic appliances knows the September pattern, and autumn appliance breakdowns arrive with a predictability that has nothing to do with luck. Call volumes rise sharply in the first fortnight of the school term and stay high until Christmas. The machines have not conspired to...