Built in: Appliances that are built into a cabinet in your kitchen furniture and can be concealed by a cabinet door matching the rest of your kitchen.
Built Under (cookers):Cooking appliances that fit under your worksurface.
Built under (Dishwashers Laundry and Refrigeration):Appliances that fit under your worksurface with a cabinet door to match your kitchen.
Canopy: Canopy hoods are placed into an artificial chimney of any style.
Cartridge: A cartridge provides a rotary or slicing motion to shut off the water flow as opposed to a compression stem and bonnet. The compression stem, which has a flat rubber washer at the bottom, uses a downward rotary force to shut off the water flow against a seat
Catalytic / Self Clean: This is usually a feature within an oven cavity though in some instances may also be incorporated to a lid that covers a cooker hob. This is where special grease-absorbent liners soak up fat and grease from the oven when it is exposed to very higher temperatures, normally of 330C or higher, and in some cases it simply carbonates and turns to dust making cleaning much easier.
Ceramic: Ceramic hobs use radiant heat from under the glass of the hob. The cooking surface, unlike induction hobs, does get hot.
Chimney Hood: Chimney hoods are fitted as a feature above a hob or cooker. They have extraction motors built in.
Cold Fill Only: Refers to a washing machine or a dishwasher that fills from the cold water supply, the appliance then heats the water to the temperature required.
Conventional Oven: Conventional ovens do not have a fan within, so the oven is hotter on top shelves and cooler on the bottom shelves.
Disposers: built-in grinders and filters that remove food waste during the wash.
Double Oven: Double ovens have two cooking cavities and can be built into the kitchen furniture at eye level or under the worksurface.
Dual Fuel: Dual fuel is a term applied to appliances that use electricity and gas as heating fuels. In almost all cases the hob is gas and the oven and grill are electric.
Dual Zone: A dual zone allows for a variety in heating requirements. In most cases there is an inner zone and an outer zone within the main ring so that energy can be saved when cooking with smaller rings (and only the inner zone is used).
Elements: The elements are those features of the oven that deliver the heat. Radiant ribbon elements and coil elements are the two most common varieties – the coil elements tend to be used in smooth top units. Electricity heats the elements which in turn distribute heat evenly around the cooker or oven to cook.
Energy Rating: The rating of how energy efficient an appliance is. The rating is measured ‘A’ to ‘G’ with ‘A’ being the most efficient and ‘G’ being the least.
Fan Oven: Fan ovens circulate warm air all around the oven. Cooking time is reduced and food is cooked evenly.
Gallery: A kitchen layout characterized by two parallel runs of cabinetry on opposing walls.
Halogen: Halogen hobs use high power light and radiant heat from below the cooking surface to generate heat.
HEPA: High Efficiency Particulate Air Filtration, removes microscopic particles and bacteria from the room air when you vacuum.
Induction: Induction hobs use an electromagnetic coil situated below the ceramic cooking surface. Heat is transferred directly to the pot or pan but the hob itself does not get hot.
Inset sinks: Sinks mounted into a hole in the worktop such that the rim of the sink overlaps the worktop and supports the weight.
Laminate: A hard plastic decorative veneer applied to cabinets and shelves. Can refer to a material formed by building up layers, such as flooring, or to the process of applying veneer to a surface, such as a countertop.
LPG Gas: LPG gas or Liquid petroleum Gas is usually transported to a property and stored on site in steel bottles.
Multifunction Oven: Multifunction ovens have the option of fan or conventional cooking, plus grilling or fan grilling, offering more versatile cooking options.
Natural Gas: Natural gas is usually piped to a property beneath ground level from the road and is usually billed quarterly by the relevant utility supplier.
Nominal Size: Size used for identification only; not literal dimensions
Parental Lock: This allows parents to select a pin number to lock the controls on the appliance, stopping children from altering program settings in accidentally
Pop-up: The sink drain assembly that closes off the sink bowl outlet to retain water in the sink or it can be opened via a lift rod to raise the plug stopper to let the water flow through
PSI:Pounds per square inch; a means of measurement used to determine pressure within contained areas
Pull-Out:Refers to the dual purpose spray head in a kitchen tap. The spray head can be left in the spout receptor and be used as a fixed source of water. Alternatively, the spout can be pulled out from the receptor and used to spray down all corners of the sink bowls or used to fill over size containers
Pyrolytic Cleaning: Pyrrolysis is the use of heat to break down complex chemical substances (e.g. grease) into simpler substances which in cooking appliances are much easier to remove. Similar to Catalytic Liners, this process relies on heat as a catalyst to work but requires much higher temperatures.
Rechargeable: An electrical appliance that can store power in an internal battery. The appliance can be recharged from the mains when power is low.
Self Timer: Allows you to delay an appliance’s start of programme. Particularly useful if your electricity charges are discounted at certain times of day or night.
Semi Integrated: Semi integrated appliances are built into the kitchen cabinets and are concealed with a door that covers the appliance up to the drawline control panel.
Single Oven: Single ovens have one door to access the cooking cavity. These cookers usually have an oven and grill in the same compartment.
Sit on sinks: (also called overmounted sinks) are positioned directly on top of the base units, replacing the worktop that would run over this area.
Splash-backs: A splash-back is a separate plate of metal or sheet of glass. Forms as a guard against grease stains marking walls. They are easy to clean though
Spin Performance: The measure of how much water is removed from laundry during the spin cycle. ‘A’ being the best performance (fastest spin).
Undermount sink: rimless sink, recessed below tile, stone, or solid surfacing countertops.
Wash Capacity: How much dry washing can be washed in a single load.
Wash Performance: The rating of how well a washing machine or dishwasher cleans. Rating is from ‘A’ being the best performance.
Watts : How powerful the electric motor or heating element is within an appliance. The higher the watts the more powerful the appliance.