Are smart appliances actually useful?

Smart appliances are sold on the same premise as smart everything else: that connectivity adds capability. Sometimes it does. The problem is a mismatch of timescales. A washing machine is expected to last ten to twelve years and a fridge fifteen; a manufacturer's app and cloud service is a software product with a much shorter commercial life, and there have been enough discontinued platforms now to know how that ends. The useful question is therefore not whether the smart features are good, but whether the appliance is still a good appliance the day the app stops working.

What you'll need

• An honest list of what you would actually use the connectivity for (optional)
• The appliance's specification, to check what it does without the app

Step by step

1. Write down what you would actually use it for.Not what the feature list offers — what you would do differently. If the honest answer is nothing, that is the answer. Most smart appliance features are used for the first fortnight and then never again.
2. Recognise the features that genuinely earn their place.Energy monitoring that shows real consumption per cycle. A notification when a wash finishes, if it stops damp laundry sitting for hours. Remote or delayed start if you are on a time-of-use tariff. Fault codes and diagnostics that let a service line identify the problem before an engineer travels. Filter and maintenance reminders on machines whose maintenance you would otherwise forget.
3. Recognise the features that mostly do not.Voice control of a machine you have to be standing at to load. Downloadable wash programmes. A camera inside a fridge. Recipe integration. Anything that requires you to open an app to do something a dial did in one movement. These are demonstration features rather than daily ones.
4. Check what the appliance does with no internet at all.This is the important question. Every control should be available on the machine itself. If any normal function requires the app, that function has an expiry date attached to it. Ask specifically, and be sceptical of a machine whose front panel is a single button.
5. Weigh the software lifetime against the appliance lifetime.The appliance will be in the kitchen for a decade or more. Look at whether the manufacturer has a stated support period, whether it uses an open standard such as Matter, and whether it has previously discontinued a platform. A brand with a history of abandoning apps is telling you something.
6. Do not run a high-power appliance from a smart plug as a substitute.Most smart plugs are rated well below a heater, dryer, kettle or washing machine, and nothing that must not switch on unattended should be on one. Smart plugs are for lamps and low-power electronics, and for energy monitoring on small appliances.
7. Understand the safety limit on remote start.Remotely starting a washing machine or dishwasher means starting an appliance with a heating element and water in an empty house. Fire services advise against running those unattended, which substantially undercuts the main practical case for remote start.
8. Consider the account and the data.Smart appliances need an account, hold your wifi credentials and generally report usage data back to the manufacturer. Read what is collected, use a strong unique password, and remember to factory reset and deregister the appliance before selling or disposing of it.
9. Judge the price premium, not the feature.Where connectivity is included on a machine you would have bought anyway, use it and enjoy what works. Where it costs a meaningful premium, ask whether the same money spent on a better drum, a quieter motor or a longer parts commitment would serve you better over twelve years. Usually it would.
10. Buy the appliance first and the smartness second.Capacity, noise, energy label, build and parts availability decide whether an appliance is good. Connectivity decides whether it has an extra feature. Choosing in the other order is how people end up with a poor machine that sends notifications.

Tips

• Energy monitoring is the single feature most likely to still be useful in year five, because it changes behaviour rather than adding convenience.
• A smart plug with energy monitoring gives you the most useful smart-appliance feature on any dumb appliance for a fraction of the price — as long as the appliance is within the plug's rated load.
• Check whether the manufacturer supports an open standard rather than only its own app. It is the best available signal that the appliance will still be controllable in five years.
• If you buy a smart appliance, set it up on the wifi once and check that everything you need works from the front panel too. That is your fallback and it is worth confirming on day one.

Common mistakes

• Buying an appliance whose normal functions need the app — The app has a shorter life than the appliance. Anything that only works through it becomes unavailable when the platform is retired, and the machine is still in your kitchen.
• Paying a large premium for connectivity — The same money spent on the mechanical specification buys years of life or a quieter machine. Connectivity does not.
• Using remote start to run a washing machine while out — It puts a heating element, a motor and water on with nobody in the house. That is precisely what fire services advise against, and it is the main reason remote start is less useful than it sounds.

Questions people ask