Useless function......?

The last time I bought a new washing machine and microwave oven I asked the sales assistant for the simplest versions available. I bet I only use one function on each, two if pushed.

Just think, some brainbox sits in an office dreaming up these daft additions which are superfluous to many of our requirements. He must be cornered behind the bike-sheds and given a good talking to. Form an orderly queue.

Jane43, it was the ‘rinse and spin’ when I only wanted ‘spin’ and hadn’t yet worked out properly how to do it (nothing explicit in the manual) that wrecked my very nice oversized hand-knitted, pure wool jumper, that I’d hand washed for the first time - after spending so many hours and at least £70 on it. ?

I like to think that I M fairly ‘tech savvy’, I can set and use most of the locks & timers in my home, but I admit the oven one always sends me running to the manual, it just isn’t intuitive. I recently had to replace my oven, and bought the same model as I was extremely happy with it. It had lasted many years, but I was really upset to find that they have changed the auto timer...it now will only switch the oven off, not on What’s the point of that? I’ll be at home to turn it off, but I need it to come on maybe two hours before that, when I’m out! Totally useless feature.

I never use mine either although when I got my new oven I thought it wasn't working until I complained to the kitchen company who told me I had to hit the timer button to turn oven on. Felt a right plonker, if only I checked the manual....

I never even use my oven let alone the timer function. For the past 10 years I have used a halogen bowl oven. Can do everything the oven can do at half the cost and much easier to clean. My oven is used for storing baking tins etc..

My oven is switched off at the main switch when not in use so no timer in use there. If I leave it on my cat uses it to summon me to the kitchen to provide him with food or to turn the tap on for a drink. He does it by laying on the induction hob so that it beeps, he won't get off until I answer his request!!!

I’ve just realised that, on Sunday, the clock in my car will tell the correct time! Brilliant.

Everything comes to she who waits*Polremy*. ?

I'm exactly the same Sago. I got up this morning to find there had been a power cut during the night and everything had to be reset! The ovens and microwave won't work at all until that is done. DH usually does it because I get so cross with the whole process, but he's not here at the moment. I never use the timers on the ovens and hob (DH does), I prefer a clockwork wind-up timer. Not that I do much cooking anyway! Likewise my washing machine has numerous programmes and settings but I only ever use two of them. And as for navigating the TV and DVD recorder - I just can't be bothered. It's not that I'm a technophobe, I've built two computers from scratch and can sort out most computer problems, but why on earth does simple household equipment need to be so technical!

I have switched off all the clocks on all my appliances I have nothing on standby, as it is so harmful to the environment, I have a kitchen clock why do I need one on every appliance.

I’m ok with stuff in my own house but before Covid I would occasionally dog sit overnight for friends and navigating their stuff was a nightmare. Central heating that wouldnt come on, and a digital panel that made no sense at all, same with the microwave. Added to that was one of their dogs would bark frantically at me if I even as much as approached either of these things! I asked many times to make sure their heating would come on so I didn’t have to sit in my coat! They said they didn’t understand it either and their frustration had rubbed off on the dog ? why can’t central heating engineers stick with what works, the little wheel that you just turn to increase or decrease the heat? Ditto microwave manufacturers. Mine is a small basic model, you just turn a wheel to min, med or max, turn another wheel to how long and press the start button.
Fortunately I’ve never needed to use their washing machine, dishwasher etc.

When we moved into our house 3 years ago it had this large, expensive and totally useless oven. There are twice as many knobs, most of them a mystery to me and of course no manual. I swear I still dont use half of the functions. And yes one of them is a stupid timer button

My oven has both an oven timer, and a separate timer, both very useful and frequently used. Likewise the microwave can be programmed to turn on later and cook, also frequently used. The washing machine and tumble dryer can also be set to start, eg early morning so that clothes are freshly washed or dried and not sitting overnight getting creased or mouldering in the damp in the washing machine. My son uses those a lot on days he needs 'office' clothes and has left it until late to do his laundry. The washing machine does have a number of programme options, including time of wash but this can be overridden to do a shorter or longer wash. I don't use them all, but did buy the machine for those options I do use. The only downside is that I often have to do an additional faster spin as the default speed is often not fast enough.

I use mine all the time and so does my husband if he needs to turn taps off in the garden etc. Sometimes I wonder why it is going off and he tells me he is timing topping up the pool or something. Trouble is, he is a bit deaf and doesn’t always hear it.

Polremy, mine too. I've only just acquired the car and it's too much trouble to consult the manual about changing the clock time when it will be right on Sunday.
I've had my oven for 16 years and still can't use the timer to switch off when the food is ready. When my son came to visit, he put it right and then, a week or so ago, we had a power cut and it was back to square one.

I don't use the oven timer, but I do use the clock on the oven.

However, I am a great believer in looking through the user's manual first before trying to do anything on an oven I don't know.

Had he been my son, I would have left it to him to deal with.

Had new central heating put in two years ago and I still can’t figure out the digital control.
With my old system the timer was easy and set to switch on an hour before I got up , now in Winter, I have to get up in the freezing cold, manually switch it on, then wait for the house to heat up.
I looked and looked at the instructions but it’s all so complicated and it never works right for me.

When we moved to this house we replaced the oven with one that was the same make and model as the one we had left behind. I used to (split infinitive alert?) regularly set the timer on the old one to come on at a certain time and go off at a certain time, having cooked whatever was in the oven. Will this one do it? No, it won’t. The controls are identical but I can’t set the switch off time, so after tearing out what little hair I have, I’ve given up. It’s not so important now that we don’t work, but I found it very useful when I did.

I have a wonderful tumble drier with only 3 settings - time, high speed or low speed.

My washing machine has about 12 settings and I only ever use 3 of them. One setting is for Jeans !! ? Honestly!!

I am desperately trying to avoid adding to the IoT (Internet of things) in this house, but it is becoming more and more difficult. My tumble dryer has packed up, and I can only get a new one in the right size if I get one that will connect to my mobile phone. I don't need to switch the dryer on or off from the sofa, it would be much better for me to get up and move around. Great for those with disabilities no doubt, but just more complicated. Why would I want a IoT device to switch lights or music on, or open and close the curtains, I need every encouragement to take exercise!

I looked and looked at the instructions but it’s all so complicated and it never works right for me

I could have written this. I hate the little pictures to illustrate how to do something, they make no sense to me.

When I have struggled with anything for ages, then asked DS, who has sorted it in seconds!, he just says ‘Well it must be you Mum!’

I will use an alarm clock for timing rather than read the endless pages of instructions given in a brochure that came with my new electric cooker. So far so good.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I have a very old timer - up to one hour for baking and cooking from frozen. You just turn the pointer to the correct time and it beeps obligingly. Simples. NO digital faffing. My new washing machine washes much cleaner than the old one (14 years old).but the 12 progammes on the actual machine differ greatly from the instruction leaflet. It also seems to be washing for a very long time. There is a 30 minute wash, but not it's always clean enough. What happenned to egg timers with sand glasses? Do they still exist?

Severnsider I think we must have a very similar drier. I've had it for 20 years and (touch wood) it's still working. When I go to stay with DS2's family, I am completely bamboozled by the multiplicity of settings and timings, but DiL says she mostly uses only one setting.