D.I.D Electrical have teamed up with UPC to bring you and incredible offer not to be missed.
Get a €250 D.I.D Electrical voucher, when you sign-up here on this page to any of these new UPC triple play packs from just €66 per month:

• Fibre Essential
• Fibre Max
• Fibre Ultimate

Sign up to UPC Triple Pack and get €250 D.I.D Electrical Voucher

Simply fill out the form below and UPC will contact you to confirm all aspects of your order and to confirm if you qualify for either offer. Only orders placed via this contact form that have originated from D.I.D Electrical will qualify for this offer. Terms and Conditions. *

When used properly, dishwashers are one of the handiest household appliances. Food and drink looks and tastes better when served in clean cups and bowls, whilst cloudy glasses and plates with food residue left on them have the opposite effect. To avoid the latter of these, follow our tips on how to get the very best of cleaning from your dishwasher.

1. Clean your dishwasher regularly – To avoid the build-up of food residue and bad smells inside your dishwasher, run an empty cycle every once in a while to freshen and clean. For best results, simply mix a small cup of baking soda with a larger cup of white vinegar, and add this before the wash.
2. Scrape excess food off plates - Laziness can drive us to lumping plates and bowls into our dishwashers when they still have food remnants on them. There’s no need to rinse these items before putting them into the machine, but you should always scrape off food bits into the bin before a cycle to avoid clogging.
3. Put cutlery in the right compartment – It may seem obvious, but it’s a common error. Avoid food becoming encrusted on spoons by alternating them – one facing up, the other down. Knives should always face downwards for safety reasons.
4. Don’t overfill – Leave some space between dishes to let water access their surfaces. If dishes are closely-packed, they’ll block one another and prevent water from getting access to other items in the wash.
5. Check the temperature – Saving energy is an attractive prospect, but ensure your dishwasher temperature is at least 140 Fahrenheit to remove the toughest of food debris and stains from kitchenware. The recommended temperature for the killing of bacteria in the sanitiser or detergent you use is approximately 155 Fahrenheit.
6. Check the sprayer – Blocked dishwasher sprayers make for dirty washes. Use a mix of baking soda and vinegar (as described above) to unclog any food or mineral deposits inside the sprayer, as this will make sure your dishes are cleaned fully and left sparkling like new.
7. Check the base of the machine – Before you replace the sprayer arm, be sure to check the drainage area at the bottom of your washer. Giving it a good deep-cleanse will improve the effectiveness of your dishwasher’s drainage substantially, meaning all waste and residue is washed away properly after each cycle.
8. Top or bottom? – It makes a huge difference where you place your kitchenware in the dishwasher, and this should always be done correctly for safety and sanitary reasons. Put all large serving equipment, bowls and glass & plastic cups on the top rack, with pans, plates and cutlery on the bottom in their respective compartment areas.
9. Clean the gasket area – Grime can quite easily accumulate in the rubber gasket area of your dishwasher. Prevent this by regularly wiping it down to get rid of any initial deposits and keep your dishes sparkling.
10. Unload properly – Don’t let yourself down at the final hurdle! Take out everything on the bottom rack first to avoid trapped water in cups and bowls dripping down on your clean pots and pans.

We have an extensive range of Dishwashers from top brands. Bosch Dishwashers, Zanussi, integrated dishwashers, smeg, hotpoint and candy dishwashers. View our full range of dishwashers here

* As usual this is only a guide so please consult your dishwasher manual supplied by the manufacturer.

Ireland Kicked Off their Rugby World Cup Sunday against the US Eagles. To our fellow hardcore fans who got up in the wee hours of the morning to watch the match on TV, fair play! It wasn’t a pretty game and Brian O’Driscoll certainly wasn’t making any excuses for the below par performance but a Win’s a Win and here’s hoping Ireland will kick on from here and put in a spirited performance against a well fancied Australian outfit.

Ireland Rugby World Cup 2011

If you’re like us and watch alot of sport on tv you’ll want the best quality picture with Full HD and very little motion blur. Plasma TVs are superb for watching sport and the New LED tvs with High refresh rates will give you amazing quality. In particular have a look at the New Samsung Smart TV 8 Series, It will blow your mind!  Saorview, Ireland’s new digital TV service are broadcasting all of their matches in Full HD so you can enjoy every second in glorious detail. If you’re in the market for a new TV, we’d recommend you purchase a TV with MPEG4 and MHEG5 format that is capable of decoding the Saorview signal. Alternatively you can purchase a setup box which is available to purchase online or instore today. for more information on saorview please visit www.saorview.ie

Ireland’s upcomming fixtures.

• Saturday 17th September @ 9.30am Ireland Versus Australia in Auckland
• Sunday25th September @ 6am Ireland V Russia in Rotorua
• Sunday 2nd of October @ 8.30am Ireland V Itay in Dunedin

Come on Ireland!

We’ve been looking forward to the arrival of Samsung’s New state of the art washing machine with Eco Bubble technology for some time now and today’s the day. The shipment has finally arrived and we’re pretty excited to be the first retailer in Ireland to have the Eco Bubble available to purchase from Today. Ok, it’s just a washing machine we hear you say…. but we’re fanatics about washing machines and technology so we hope you understand why we can bearly contain our excitement!

Eco Bubble Technology.
Water and detergent are fully dissolved in a special bubble generator at the beginning of the wash cycle with air to form perfect bubbles. These bubbles create a foam cushion where the perfectly dissolved washing detergent penetrates into the fabric more evenly, deeper and faster than a normal washing machine. The Detergent can then start to act on dirt and stains immediately as the bubbles work right into the fabric.

Eco Bubble Technology by Samsung

The Eco Bubble means 3 things

1. It’s easier on your clothes: The Eco Bubble technology gently washes your clothes so it takes better care of the fabric. There’s less mechanical action with the eco bubble so this means less wear and tear. More bubbles – Less balls!
2. It’s easier on your pocket. The eco bubble uses up to 70% less energy. Say that again. 70% Less energy when the super eco bubble wash programme is selected! Incredible. This means more money in your pocket so you save, every time you use your Samsung Washing Machine.
3. It’s super quiet and a dream to use. You’re trying to watch your favourite program on your lovely LCD TV that you bought from D.I.D Electrical and there’s the washing machine making a racket in the background! Not with the Samsung Eco Bubble… The washing machine is built with a quite motor which has no belts or gears. This results in less noise and vibrations which makes it quieter and more durable. Not to mention that the motor comes with a 10 Year warranty.

Samsung Eco Bubble Display Programmes

The washing machine comes with a standard 2 year parts and labour warranty, 5 year parts warranty and 10 year motor warranty for your peace of mind. Is it possible to love a washing machine? The eco bubble comes very close!
View Full product information about the New Samsung Eco Bubble Washing Machine

Oven cleaning: the job that everyone puts off in the hope that, somehow, the baked-on grease, burnt food and sticky grime will disappear of its own accord. Sadly, there is no escape. Sooner or later, you’ll be forced to get out your rubber gloves and collection of cleaning products, and get to work on a back-crippling deep-cleansing session. There are alternatives, however, as we are about to look at. These handy techniques may make you realise that cleaning your cooker and oven doesn’t have to be such a laborious task after all.

The ultimate secret to keeping your gas or electric oven in pristine condition is prevention, which simply means cleaning up your mess as you go along. You can make things easier for yourself by waiting until your oven has cooled after you’ve used it, and then using a diluted spray and brillo pad to keep on top of any grease that’s building up. This way, you can avoid the exhausting task of having to scrub at thick layers of grime that has collected over a long period of time.

If you fail to follow the above prevention steps, you could be in for a little more work. However, there’s no need to fish out up to €100 to get a professional cleaner in when you can just as easily do the job yourself in less than an hour. Remember to wear rubber gloves for protection, and get a spray can of heavy duty oven cleaner and a metal scourer at the ready.

Firstly, spray the oven door, sides and metal brackets of the oven with an even coating of the cleaner. Leave this to work its magic for as long as directed on the product can, and in the meantime, open all windows in the room to ensure fumes are ventilated and don’t build up in your kitchen. Then, you can get to work with your scourer, by dipping it in a bowl of warm water and scrubbing over the spray.

After you’ve scrubbed every nook and cranny, all you need to do is put on those finishing touches. Use a clean, soft cloth to remove any residue of the spray product, and give your revitalised oven a shine that makes it look like new. You may also want to turn the oven on a low heat for a short while just to kill of any germs or remnants left by the cleaner, and get rid of those nasty fumes once and for all.

Your electrical appliance will undoubtedly be gleaming after this luxury treatment, but you may as well give your hob a good clean whilst your in the mood. Do this by soaking a cloth in vinegar – which cuts expertly through grease and grime of all descriptions – and giving the hob a good scrub and rinse. This should only take a matter of minutes, but be careful to wash it down with water afterwards to get rid of any residue left by the cleaning fluid.

By following these simple pieces of advice, you should find that cleaning your gas cooker become less and less of a dreaded chore. In fact, it’s been proven that clean ovens can even make a difference to the taste of your food, so it really is a win-win situation.

View our full range of ovens, cookers and hobs gas and electrical

Congratulations to Noelle Waldron from Mayo who is the Winner of our Samsung Fridge Freezer.

Have you ever found an unexpected item in your fridge freezer, which really shouldn’t belong there?! We’ve heard stories of people keeping all sorts of items in their fridges and freezers. So now it’s your chance to tell us your experience. Simpy tell us what was the most unusual item you’ve ever found in your fridge / freezer or indeed what strange items you store in your fridge / freezer!

The Prize:

A beautifully designed Fridge Freezer from Samsung worth €399!

The RL38SCPS Frost Free fridge freezer features Samsung’s Multi Flow technology, which provides even cooling throughout the refrigerator and maintains the ideal temperature to keep your food fresher for longer, as well as total no frost, antibacterial protection and an ‘A’ energy rating. It also comes in this very modern Platinum Silver finish which will look stylish in any kitchen! View our full range of Fridge Freezers

How to Enter?

1. You must

- be a Fan of D.I.D Electrical on facebook www.facebook.com/didelectrical
OR
- follow us on twitter www.twitter.com/didelectrical
OR
- subscribe to our newsletter

2. What’s the most unusual item you keep or have found in your fridge / freezer?!

• Let us know by commenting below, facebook or twitter.

Rules:

1.You must be signed up to receive our monthly newsletter / facebook fan / follow us on twitter.

2. Entries close at 9pm on Thursday 7th of April 2011.

2. Entries are only open to residents in the Republic of Ireland

3. No cash alternative or exchange will be permitted

4. For your peace of mind, we never share your details with any 3rd parties

5. The winner will be announced on our website/ blog  on the 8th of April 2011

6. Winner must make him/herself available for  publicity photos with D.I.D Electrical

Having to clean your fridge and freezer isn’t a particularly nice chore – especially when you come across mouldy food that’s been on the back shelf for weeks. To avoid the problem of coming across rancid products, just follow our detailed advice on how to clean the above two kitchen appliances so well that they gleam like new.

It’s advisable to get the most difficult job out of the way first: cleaning the freezer. You should plan this a couple of weeks in advance and use up anything that you don’t wish to throw away. On the real cleaning day, empty all of the machine’s remaining contents to free more space for when it comes to refilling. This is also what you should do before cleaning out the fridge, although in this case, there’s no need to use up all of your refrigerated goods – simply store them in a cooler bag whilst you set about scrubbing and drying, and then replace them again afterwards.

Next comes the dreaded freezer-defrosting repair process. Depending on how much ice has built up since the last time you cleaned the machine, this could take anywhere from 45 minutes to a few hours. Turn the appliance off, open the door, and give the ice inside time to melt slightly. Then, you can catalyse the defrost-process by using a scalpel or knife to ease the ice off the base and walls of each compartment. It may be useful to carefully place a bowl of boiling water on each level of the freezer and close the door for a few minutes, just to help speed up the rate of melting.

Once the ice has cleared, things start to get a lot easier and there are fewer problems. You can set about the actual cleaning job. Essentially, the same rules apply here as they do to cleaning a fridge. Take out any removable parts in either appliance, as you can wash and clean these separately without too much difficulty. Use rubber gloves to pick up any debris left in the closed compartment areas or base of the fridge/freezer, and then spray the bases, walls and doors with an even coating of a diluted cleaning solution comprising of washing up liquid and water.

You can use bicarbonate of soda to eliminate any smelly odours as an alternative to the soapy water mix, whilst vinegar is ideal for attacking greasy stains and spillages. After you’ve done this, it’s a case of scrubbing hard in every nook and cranny with anti bacterial products, before rinsing with a clean, damp cloth, and wiping dry with a freshly laundered tea towel.

The job that was previously daunting really does sound easy when put into simple, easy-to-follow steps like this, and all that’s left for you to do after the above is the replacing of food, jars, containers and bottles back into their respective places in the fridge or freezer.  By following this quick and effective cleaning routine on a regular basis, you’ll find maintaining a clean and healthy kitchen has never been so easy! Note: This post is for general  informational purposes only. Please check with your manufacture for more information.

Whether you have a brand-new washing machine, or you are trying to make the most out of the appliance that you already have, there are always some techniques that we may neglect when washing clothes. Indeed, it is important to consider that your washer machine may work differently than other models in the market, and therefore you may need to add a bit of thought into how you are going to use the washing programmes available effectively.

1. This leads us to our first tip: read the manual thoroughly. Many consumers do not realise that their washers can work towards a low temperature, or that they have a dedicated feature for clothing that should be hand washed. By learning about what the washers and dryers in your house can do, you will be able to utilise its key aspects properly.

2. Don’t forget to read the washing instructions on your clothes, either. Most clothing labels will have details of the conditions in which to wash your items, and you should follow this for optimum results.

3. Purchase different types of detergent for different types of clothes. In a family of four, the typical wash will include really dirty clothes, light and dark items and fabric that should be hand washed, as we mentioned earlier. You may find that you need to conduct separate washes for each kind of clothing, or use a different type of detergent in order to get the best results and the cleanest laundry.

4. Protect your clothing as much as possible! Being in a washing machine can be a rocky experience. As such, make sure you have a laundry net at the ready to prevent damage to sensitive items, and that any fasteners on your clothing are secured to stop them from detaching.

5. Check your pockets! Do you love your mobile phone? If so, it is worthwhile to keep them away from washing machine dryers. Indeed, if you are not careful, you could find that items like these could affect the cleanliness of your wash.

6. Allocate the space in your washing machine effectively. It might seem really economical to cram all of your clothes into one washing machine load, but this normally results in the clothes not being entirely clean if the drum is overloaded, or detergent remaining on your garments because they didn’t have space to clean. As such, don’t be afraid to do two smaller loads in your washing machine tumble dryers instead of one large one.

7. Look after your washing machine. If you expect clean and dry clothes from washers and dryers, you need to keep this appliance clean, too. As such, be sure to leave the door open to allow air to ventilate the drum, and try your best to wash the compartment where your detergent goes on a regular basis.

8. Don’t be afraid to use cold water cycles or to wash loads at lower temperatures. When the items you are washing aren’t stained heavily, cold water will work just as well as water of higher temperatures.

9. Check if your washing machine has a feature that reduces creasing, as this will reduce the amount of time you have to spend ironing later on.

10. If you are using strong types of detergent, do a patch test first. Examples of such items may include stain removers and bleach.

It’s something we’ve all got on our mind at the moment: keeping our food fresher for longer. In these tough economic times, the last thing we want to do is to be wasteful, and by following these ten useful tips, you will be able to reduce the amount of food you’re throwing in the bin.

1 Consider refrigerating foods you normally wouldn’t have. Did you know that you can add two weeks to the shelf life of apples by refrigerating them? By being resourceful with the space in your kitchen and storing things differently, you will notice a transformation in the quality of the food you eat.

2 Use containers and airtight bags to store your fruit and vegetables in the fridge. Investing in some containers is a great idea. For example, if you rinse spinach in cold water prior to putting it in an airtight container, you can delay it from going off and becoming unusable – saving you money and giving you meal ideas!

3 Store iceberg lettuce in cold water to retain its crispy freshness. There’s nothing better than a refreshing salad with crisp, fresh lettuce. By breaking up an iceberg wedge and immersing it in cold water before refrigerating, you will be able to keep that lovely freshly-bought taste. This will also work for radishes – particularly if you have grown your own at home.

4 Buy food sensibly! Some statistics suggested that people buy 20% more food in the supermarket when hungry. So – by eating in advance, and only buying perishable food in small quantities as and when you need it, you will throw away less and eat fresher food!

5 Treat dried herbs with a pinch of salt. Using herbs to spice up your food is a wonderful idea, but dried herbs will lose their taste over time, and are nowhere near as fresh as they should be. If you want to use dried herbs, replace your jars once a year at least.

6 Location is key for storing your pantry foodstuffs! Packaged food is usually meant to be kept cool and dry, so situating your pantry directly adjacent to the oven will make the quality of your food deteriorate more quickly.

7 Declutter your food storage areas frequently. If you have a fridge that is fit to burst, it is likely that not all of the food stored in there will get the cool air it needs. So: why not declutter and get rid of the food you won’t eat?

8 Take heed of use-by dates. Use-by and best-before dates offer a great reference for how fresh the food you are purchasing is, and by choosing products with a longer shelf life in the supermarket, you will enjoy better-tasting food at home.

9 Plan how you are going to use the food you buy. Sometimes, it’s easy to do a ‘supermarket sweep’ and pop things in our trolley erratically. By thinking ahead and doing a meal plan, you will be able to time food purchases for maximum freshness and minimal waste.

10 Location, location, location. Purchased some expensive food? Make sure it is at the front of your pantry or fridge freezer so it doesn’t get forgotten, and it is enjoyed while it is still fresh. Comparably, if you have more than one item of food, place the one with the shortest shelf life towards the front so it is used first.

View full range of fridges and freezers at our online store