Five champion Australian athletes are gearing up alongside Ironman and Morphy Richards brand ambassador Alistair ‘Ali’ Day for tomorrow’s Iron-Off.

In case the top athletes’ grueling training regimes has got in the way of polishing their domestic skills, Morphy Richards is inviting the general public to head to the Crown Street Mall Amphitheatre tomorrow between 12pm and 2pm to help the stars out.

This is the, um, ah, ahem, the ComfiGrip Iron with Ceramic Soleplate

The Aussie athletes – including some Olympic hopefuls – are Super fish and Australian Champion David McKeon, World Champion track runner Ryan Gregson, Australian triathletes Aaron Royle and Shane Barrie, and Australian High Jump Champion Petrina Price.

The event will also provide a good opportunity for fans and children to admire their sporting heroes.

$4,000 of Morphy Richards products are also up for grabs.

Speaking of the partnership between the small appliance maker and Ali Day, Fiona Petkaris said: “Some say sex sells, we at Morphy Richards say steam sells.”

The Morphy Richards Iron-Off, tomorrow 24 February

Specifically, the North American business including the United States and Canada, as well as the New Zealand business have showed vigorous growth.

Breville’s revenue from the Australian division is down 6.4 per cent from the prior half year, signalling tough trading conditions and increased competition from house brands, the small appliance company said in a statement issued on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) this morning.

Breville's premium products are doing well (Breville Juicer Blender BJ840)

But Breville claims that it has challenged this trend by expanding its range of premium products, and using Kambrook to contend with the entry level market.

“The Breville brand continued to successfully launch innovative new premium products that increased it’s average sales price, whilst Kambrook performed solidly in the increasingly competitive entry level segment of the market, successfully maintaining a price premium over house brand products,” Breville said in the statement.

“Through its multibrand strategy the Group maintained its market leadership position in the core kitchen appliance category and has grown it’s share in the ironing and personal care categories.”

Revenue from the international business was able to mostly offset the poor Australian result; the Group’s overall revenue was down 0.9 per cent.

New Zealand revenue was up 14.6 per cent and North American revenue was up 12 per cent.

Overall, Breville appeared pleased with results saying: “Following an encouraging overall first half performance, Breville remains cautious on the outlook for the remainder of FY12 with global uncertainty expected to continue.

Breville is on track according to its foretasted earnings for the fiscal year 2012.

Here are thirteen tips for managing spills:

1. Make sure that your kitchen workspace is clear and uncluttered, providing fewer distractions and making any spills that do happen easier to get to and clean.

2. Prepare in advance.  If you’re doing some messy cooking where spills are inevitable, think about laying down some newspaper over workspace surfaces first.

3. Preparing food on a tray attachment fitted to your sink means any spill will go right down the drain, keeping everything neat.

4. Try to deal with spills straight away – they’ll be tougher to manage later.

5. Do your measuring up close and personal.  Most spills take place when ingredients are in transit, so bring everything together into the one area first before doling out the required amounts.

6. Use paper towels to clean up spills, rather than tea towels, which will absorb the flavours, odours and germs, spreading them with further use.

7. Use salt to clean spills in the oven.  If food bubbles over and spills on your oven’s floor while cooking, try to cover the spill in salt straight away – the salt will help reduce the smoke from the spill if it burns and make it easier to clean up once the oven is cool.  Even baked-on spills can be cleaned more easily by soaking them in warm salt water first.

8. Using a pyrolytic oven can be used to vaporise spills and food splashes and make cleaning easier.

9. Spills on induction cooktops are far less likely to burn or get caked onto the flat, heatless surface, making cleaning them as simple as giving the surface a wipe down – just be careful of any residual heat from your pots and pans.

10. If you have a wooden kitchen floor, be mindful of water spills – if they’re left to soak into the floorboards, you could wind up with a swelling or rot problem later on.

11. It’s important to stay vigilant for any spills in your fridge and to clean them up as soon as possible – if left alone, they’ll spread odours through the fridge, or freeze in place and prove difficult to shift later.

12. Look for a fridge with spill-safe shelves, so that any spills on an upper shelf won’t trickle down to the lower shelves.

13. Put things away as you go.  Less clutter means fewer things to knock over, creating more spills.

Half of the Australians surveyed said that the coming year was a good time to start buying discretionary items, such as household appliances.

The willingness to spend could be due to the finding that two thirds of Australians think their personal finances will get better in the next year. Comparatively, only half of global respondents think their financial position will be improving.

The Nielsen survey revealed almost a quarter of Australians are putting money towards home improvements and new technology over spending money on new clothes.

Chris Percy of Nielsen Pacific said consumers down under are perking up.

“While Australians still seem to be cautious, we have seen an uplift in consumer confidence in the last quarter,” Percy said.

Is a Jura coffee machine your new treat?

“Reports of low retail spending are still concerning, but we hope, or the retailers will hope, that this increased consumer sentiment will begin to translate into better results for retailers as 2012 progresses, although we still predict a challenging year ahead for the retail sector.

“The RBA’s surprise decision to keep rates on hold may weigh on future consumer sentiment, particularly with all of the major banks raising their mortgage rates independently of the RBA’s judgement, in a bid to protect profits.”

Paying off debts and putting money away in savings is still preoccupying consumers with 44 per cent saying they would save any spare cash and 34 per cent would pay off debts.

What’s the next appliance you plan on buying?

In fact, some women would rather skip a meal, clean up dog poo or run 10 kilometers than vacuum, says the report. Over two thirds of women admitted they were responsible for the apparently odious chore.

State by state it seems Tasmanians are the least likely to do a thorough job, with 70 per cent saying they avoid moving furniture to vacuum the dust underneath.

Other sucking stats:

• 35 per cent vacuum once a fortnight
• Australians spend 68 days (or 1,635 hours) vacuuming over a lifetime
• 11 per cent don’t vacuum under the bed for years
• 25 per cent vacuum under the bed every few months
• 13 per cent of women say they’ve hurt themselves while hoovering
• 79 per cent of Aussies say a happy home is a clean home

Why does vacuuming suck?

Well, maybe it doesn’t. While the commissioners of the report would prefer people to by a robotic vacuum, other research has suggested that the automatic appliance is not as popular as one might imagine.

How to make vacuuming easier

• Get a decent vacuum! A quality vacuum does all the hard work for you
• Make sure the bag in your vacuum is empty
• Look around and pick up clothes, shoes or toys that might be in the way before you vacuum
• Mentally prepare yourself and just get on with it

What if an all-purpose robot maid was the latest home appliance?

Someone to empty the dishwasher, vacuum the house, walk the dog, and clunk around saying “affirmative” in an adorable electronic monotone?

Keep dreaming. For now. News today out of the US indicates robotics still has a way to go before attaining the sci-fi fantasy.

Seven adult-size “HUBO” robots were on display at Drexel University to kick off National Engineers Week on Monday. Moving, dancing, shaking hands.

As Drexel’s associate professor of electrical and computer engineering put it “they are world-class, state-of-the-art robots” and yet, unfortunately, some way off performing any domestic chores. In fact, apparently not falling over is a major problem.

Robots in the house today

True, there are a lot of domestic robots on the market but the vast majority of them have zero personality and a distinct lack of kitsch sci-fi appeal.

We see robotic lawn mowers, pool cleaners, gutter cleaners. Oh and we’ve even got Appliances Online’s very own Navibot. Kudos to the very Battlestar Galatica name (and apparently it vacuums pretty well) but it’s distinctly lacking in the charisma department.

We’ve already reported on a new study suggesting a negative reaction to robot vacuum cleaners according to both practical and emotional criteria.

No surprise – I mean, where’s the randomly flashing lights, catch-phrases or excitable electronic bleeping George Lucas promised us?

So what’s the hold-up? When will robots be cute?

We had cheerful predictions by Scientific American magazine, in 2008, that by 2010 we will be assisted by machines with the cognitive abilities of a lizard, and a freely moving and thinking machine by 2040.

As Bill Gates pointed out in the same magazine two years earlier, the hard part will be to give robots the intuitive human abilities which, for instance, help us navigate our way into the kitchen and wash up various bits of delicate crockery without smashing them to pieces.

There have been inroads made – you may have heard of the Big Dog, a vaguely horrifying four-legged robot able to traverse difficult terrain thanks to an independent onboard computer. If not, check it out here.

And a robot such as the PR2 (above right) which has the ability to fold laundry – also gives us hope.

We were also taken with “Monty” – a human sized robot, developed by Anybots, pictured here (at right) doing the dishes, until we twigged to the fact it’s controlled by a human operator.

But still, it doesn’t look like we can expect robots to develop consciousness, rebel against their human masters and stage a bloody revolution any time soon.

And despite our sad sci-fan fan-boy pinings, we suspect even the most sophisticated automatons will remain boringly functional.

However, we at Appliances Online will be disappointed if there aren’t a few bits of circuitry devoted to catch-phrases and randomly flashing lights.

Magnussen will appear in a series of Olympic-related ads for Samsung across TV, print and online. He will also make a number of appearances for Samsung, starting with last week’s press conference announcing the sponsorship at the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool, Sydney.

The Missile: Hot Olympic hopeful or just hot?

“As one of this country’s most competitive, inspirational and passionate swimmers, James Magnussen is a great fit for the Samsung brand and the perfect way to bring our involvement with the London 2012 Olympic Games to life in Australia,” said Tyler McGee, Samsung Australia.

Magnussen is also pleased with the support.

“I am excited to partner with the Samsung team as an ambassador. Samsung is an incredibly impressive global brand with an amazing range of advanced technology that I have already incorporated as part of my training. As a key Olympic sponsor, it’s great to have their support in the year of the London 2012 Olympics,” Magnussen said.

Who is your favourite brand ambassador?

And he’s not without his favourite Samsung gadget.

“Currently, my favourite Samsung product is definitely the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

I use it to plan my day and enjoy movies and music when I get a break, but more importantly, technology plays a vital role in my training regime. My coach uses the Tab as part of my training – without giving away too many trade secrets, we have the ability to film my stroke and I then get instantaneous feedback from my coach.

McGee said: “As a provider of state-of-the-art electronics that help inspire Australians through innovation and design, we believe that James will showcase the positive way in which technology is changing our lives. We are thrilled to hear that James and his coach have already successfully incorporated Samsung products into his daily routine to help improve his training techniques.”

Unlike many other arbitrary food holidays (which are often the invention of food manufacturers as a marketing ploy), Pancake Day has a traditional origin.  Shrove Tuesday became associated with pancakes as it was the best way to use up the sugar, eggs and other sweet and rich ingredients that would become unavailable to observers of the 40 days of ritual fasting during Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday the following day.  This origin is broadly shared by Carnivale (roughly translated as “farewell to meat”) and Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”).

But whatever the day’s origins, today is as good a day as any to indulge your sweet tooth or experiment with some new savoury fillings.

There’s no end to the number of pancake recipes available online, from very basic options through to complex flavoured varieties.  For a simple starting point, try the basic pancake and basic crepe recipes from Taste.com.au.  For a gluten-free option, try the berry and chocolate buckwheat hotcakes recipe, found in Indulge by good friend of Appliances Online, Rowie Dillon.

One important factor when cooking up your pancakes is to get the temperature of your pan just right and keep it that way – too high and you’ll annihilate your batter; too low and you’ll end up with a sticky, half-cooked mess.  You can maintain an even temperature by cooking on a reliable cooktop from Appliances Online (induction cooktops offer very precise control over temperature and are simple to wipe clean when a gooey mishap inevitably occurs), or an electric frying pan.

If you’ve got a favourite pancake recipe, topping or trick for flawless preparation, please feel free to share it with us so that everyone can experience excellence in pancakes, no matter what day it is.

Euromaid, a 100% Australian-owned company, has developed a dishwasher that can not only reliably handle all of the above and more, but is exclusively available through Appliances Online.

The Euromaid DW23W is a dishwasher that can hold up to 14 place settings, efficiently cleans dishes, and is quick and simple to use.  As the dishwasher is only available through Appliances Online, you can be confident in its affordable price and the service you’ll recieve when purchasing it.

Here’s John from Euromaid to take you through the features of this exclusive dishwasher:

So to sum up:

• Adjustable roller basket for easy loading and unloading
• Plastic spray arm to protect your dishes
• Angled sprays to slice through grease and caked-on food
• Manufactured in Europe
• 100% Australian-owned
• Backed up by 15 years of testing
• Exclusive to Appliances Online

There are plenty of good reasons to shop at Appliances Online, from our award-winning customer service to our free delivery throughout many Australian cities.  In case you needed another reason, Appliances Online is the only place you can buy the affordable and high-quality Euromaid DW23W.  Pick one up today, and start getting more for less.

Only a small number of claims have been made for partial cash refunds for energy efficient fridges, freezers, washing machines, and dishwashers since the programme started in April 2011.

Craig Jones, Greenmola spokesperson, said the lack of awareness was concerning and could cost the consumer more money in running costs over the long term.

“The rebate may help people make better long term purchasing decisions that consider the running costs of whitegoods,” said Jones today in a statement.

The dollar amount of the rebate depends on the star rating of the appliance: the higher the star rating the higher the cash return.

For example, a 2-door, 500-litre fridge with a 3.5 energy star rating is eligible to receive a $40 rebate, and a 2-door, 500-litre fridge with a 4-star energy rating is eligible to receive a $60 rebate.

Rebates for washing machines, freezers, and dishwashers are also up for grabs. Greenmoola notes that rebates are not offered for clothes dryers as the the most efficient way to dry clothes is on a clothes line.

Claims can be made up to six months after purchase. To make a claim, consumers need to fill out a form at Greenmoola.com.

The NSW Energy Savings Scheme has organised the programme in an effort to promote the purchase of energy efficient appliances. Electricity retailers that operate in NSW pay for the rebate by purchasing NSW Energy Saving Certificates created by Greenmoola.com.