170 million new electrical items are purchased each year in the UK, yet as a country we recycle less than a third of these when they come to the end of their lifecycle. In fact, it is estimated that we throw away enough WEEE waste to fill Wembley Stadium six times over, every single year.

As a result, a government adviser stated at the beginning of 2014 that “families should stop buying new cars, fridges and washing machines, and instead repair them when they fail”.

According to the government adviser, “re-using household appliances and furniture could save families £1 billion a year” – and at BuySpares, we are keen advocates of repairing rather than replacing broken household appliances. This is why we’re using Fix It Week (October 18^th – October 25^th 2015) to encourage our customers to repair their appliances.

We appreciate that not everyone is confident that they have the skills required to repair their household appliances, and would often prefer to purchase a new appliance. But as one of our customer reviews stated:

“Why would anyone just keep buying new replacement appliances these days when you can usually repair for a fraction of the costs and save the down time…” – Peter, September 2015

To help you feel more confident in repairing your appliances, whether it’s the washing machine, cooker or fridge, we have an easy-to-follow video to help guide you through the repair process. To give you a snapshot of our videos, below we share 4 of our videos which will help you save money, by giving you the advice needed to repair a range of household appliances.

How To Remove and Replace The Door Seal on a Washing Machine:

If you’ve noticed a puddle of water near the front of your washing machine, you may have a damaged door seal – and this will need to be replaced if you want to bring your washing machine back to its peak performance.

Whilst it may sound like a difficult repair, it needn’t be – if you follow the advice outlined in this video.

What To Do If Your Tumble Dryer Isn’t Heating Up:

Your tumble dryer is an invaluable appliance when it comes to drying your clothes, particularly during the winter months when it isn’t possible to hang your laundry out on the line. As such, we understand how frustrating it can be when your tumble dryer fails to heat up.

If you’re experiencing such a fault with your tumble dryer, you don’t have to go purchase a new one. Instead, watch our two-and-a-half minute video, below, and find out what to do if your tumble dryer isn’t heating up – enabling you to fix it yourself.

How To Replace the Element in a Fan Oven:

Picture the scene, you’ve taken the time to prepare a roast dinner with all the trimmings for the family, accompanied with onion gravy and followed by a selection of puddings – sounds great doesn’t it.

Unfortunately, your cooker element has other ideas and isn’t heating up – meaning you’re not able to create the culinary masterpiece you’d hoped for. But this doesn’t mean your cooker has been rendered useless.

Instead, follow the example set by our customer, Brian from Cork, and watch our video below to find out how to replace the element in your fan cooker.

“I cracked on doing my repair using the video links as a guide. In less than 15 minutes the repair was done and it cost me about 25-33% of what I would have to pay someone to come out” – Brian, Cork, March 2015

How To Fix a Smelly Washing Machine:

Unpleasant odours coming from the washing machine is something many of us are putting up with, and such an issue is common due to more of us washing at lower temperatures.

Although a smelly washing machine is a common issue in the UK and one which many of us tolerate, it could be having more of a detrimental impact on your washing machine than you’d think. So instead of tolerating the smelly washing machine sat in the corner of your utility room, tackle the issue by following the advice in this video.

The four videos above are just a snapshot of how, at BuySpares, we are encouraging our customers – not just during Fix It Week, but throughout the year – to take the time to repair rather than replace their household appliances.

If you’ve got an appliance which isn’t performing to its full potential or has developed a fault which you’re currently tolerating, use our advice centre and blog to find the information required to repair it.

Tags: BuySpares Videos, money saving, Top Tips