Last week the Government announced that it would be introducing a £200 energy bill loan for all households in the UK. If you’re not sure exactly what this flat rate energy bill discount entails Martin Lewis has explained how it really works in a post on Instagram.

Last week Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that in October every household in England, Scotland and Wales will be given a £200 discount on their energy bills. However, this £200 isn’t a gifted discount to help save on energy bills, it is actually a loan that will need to be paid back at a rate of £40 per year over five years from 2023 to 2027.

What is the energy bill loan?

Unsurprisingly, the introduction of the energy bill loan has caused a lot of confusion. Speaking on Instagram, Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert founder explained exactly who will receive the energy bill loan, how it works and how it will be paid off.

Image credit: HGL / Contributor / Getty

‘This is going to happen. There is no choice about it. It is not optional and it is going to happen automatically on every single bill,’ said Martin Lewis of the loan on Instagram. Unlike previous financial support offered by the government, individual households will be unable to opt out of the loan.

‘Then from the following April, and for five years after that, you will then have your bill automatically – without choice – increased by £40 a year. That is how it will work,’ the financial expert added.

Martin Lewis addressed the confusion over what happens if an individual moves out of a home where they didn’t pay energy bills when the £200 discount was applied. He explained that even if you didn’t benefit from the £200 loan in October 2022, your energy bills will still be £40 higher if you move into a new home.

Image credit: Lizzie Orme

‘There is no personal loan to an individual. This isn’t about, you borrowed money, you pay it back,’ he says. ‘So if you’re living at home with your parents and you move out in two years’ time, even though you didn’t get the £200, your bill will still be £40 higher – every household will be charged £40 more.’

‘You’ll simply get your energy bill and it will be higher because of this levy and the one this October will be lower,’ says Martin. So if you’re wondering why your energy bill is so high this could be why.

Why has the energy bill loan been introduced?

The energy price cap announcement by Ofgem last week revealed that the energy cap would be increased by 54 per cent to almost £700 per household. The new energy bill loan announced by Rishi Sunak has been created to help households with the soaring energy prices.

Image credit: Fiona Walker-Arnott

Rishi Sunak said it was not responsible for energy prices to be kept artificially low by the cap as suppliers were struggling to keep up with rising wholesale costs causing many companies to go bust.

‘It is not sustainable to keep holding the price of energy artificially low. For me to stand here and pretend we don’t have to adjust to paying higher prices would be wrong and dishonest,’ he said. ‘Without government intervention, the increase in the price cap would leave the average household having to find an extra £693.’

So come October 2022 whether you like it or not, expect to see the £200 discount on your energy bill.

The post What is the energy bill loan? Martin Lewis explains how the discount will actually work appeared first on Ideal Home.

If you are searching for the best candle to burn this spring and summer – and even beyond – then we can help. The Ideal Home team have been spending their time trying and testing candles at home, to report on all of the best candles that are worth your money. Oh, and we’ve listed one top pick from each scent group, from ozonic to herbal, floral to fruity and even spicy and woody candles.

Exactly what makes a good candle, you ask? We say that it’s a combination of scent, the candle’s ability to fragrance a room, how clean it burns and also we can’t forget about looks. Because we all know that candles add a design element and a feeling of luxury to our homes, whether placed in the middle of a coffee table or nestled on open shelving.

Burning one of the best home fragrance buys in your home will ensure that your living room, dining area, bedroom or even hallway or kitchen, smells as nice as it looks. Yes, candles are an easy way to mask home smells, whether that be from cooking or a wet dog walk. As well as looking lovely – and luxurious – the majority of candles you buy are also safe to use around pets, just be sure to light them out of reach of children. Otherwise, if you’re searching for something a little safer to emit fragrance, and without the use of a flame, then a reed diffuser is a great alternative.

What are you waiting for? These incredible candles below will turn heads – and take your home from medial to magnificent.

What is the best candle you can buy?

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to home fragrance – especially candles. Choosing the right candle for your own home will depend on two things: fragrance and design. If you want your candle on display, let’s say in the middle of your coffee or dining table, then the latter is important. Otherwise, if you’ll be hiding it in a cupboard when not in use and burning it in an inconspicuous space away from pets and children, then this isn’t as important. We’ve listed the best candles by season and by fragrance family. Here’s a quick low-down of what we’re loving this year.

The best candle for spring – The White Company Blanc
The best candle for summer – H&M Sundried Linen
The best fruity candle – Skandinavisk Fjord
The best floral candle – Skandinavisk Lempi
The best fresh candle – Hotel Collection Lime, Basil & Mandarin
The best herbal candle – The White Company Geranium Leaf
The best woody candle – WoodWick Smoked Walnut & Maple
The best spicy candle – The White Company Winter
The best ozonic candle – The White Company Seychelles
The best citrus candle – Stoneglow Flower & Lemon
The best warm candle – Slab Lab Fog
The best Yankee candle – Yankee Candle Clean Cotton
The best essential oils candle – Botanica Fresh Pineapple & Tunisian Rosemary

The best candles for your home in 2022

1. The White Company Blanc 2-Wick Candle

The best candle for spring

Image credit: The White Company

A classic scent from The White Company, Blanc is elegant – in looks and scent – and it makes a lovely gift idea since it comes in a white gift box. It’s a great all-rounder but especially fit for burning in spring or summer, due to its crisp and fresh aroma.

Lighting this lux candle could easily trick guests into thinking you’d just deep cleaned your entire house, even if you’ve only run the vacuum and mop around within 5 minutes before their arrival. t’s the perfect combination of fresh and floral, with notes of geranium, juniper and patchouli. A unique blend if we do say so. It burns clean and for a total of 55 hours, plus it should require minimal wick trimming. Treat yourself to a lid for this candle to prevent dusting – and to protect your sides in case of any spills.

This candle boasts two wicks and is hand filled in the UK with high-quality refined mineral wax. Sitting inside a classic The White Company glass vessel, it’s definitely a candle you’ll want to place on display. Let’s say, in your hallway or living room.

2. H&M Sundried Linen Candle

The best candle for summer

Image credit: H&M

We’re big fans of everything at H&M Home, and their candles are no exception. This striking scent is nice and simple and perfect for lighting inside any room of your home. Whether that be your bathroom, bedroom, hallway or even your kitchen.

Easily enough, this candle smells exactly like fresh linen. With the addition of subtle apple and cotton, as well as white musk. This scent was created in collaboration with perfumers from the renowned Robertet perfume house and it’s really impressive. It’s nice and fresh so as not to clog the air inside your home, and it’s never ever overpowering meaning that you can light it for hours on end. It’s a paraffin and plant wax blend but rest assured it burns clean. Plus, it has an 80-hour burn time.

Complete with a cork lid, this handle is poured into a glass jar and is large in size to ensure it floods your home with its fragrance.

3. Skandinavisk Fjord Scented Candle

The best fruity candle

Image credit: Skandinavisk

The perfect combination of floral and fruity, this candle is the perfect burn for spring into summer. It emits a fresh, light fragrance that’s never overpowering yet noticeable to guests.

This Swedish rapeseed wax blend is scented with sweet notes of apple and pear, this candle is balanced well with the addition of orchard fruits, and then redcurrants give it a sour, sharp finish. You’ll have to keep its wick trimmed to prevent it from curling, other than that this candle burns clean and lasts an impressive amount 50 hours.

As with all Skandinavisk candles, Fjord is hand-poured into a glass jar that’s made from 30% recycled materials. It comes with a lid that’s made from FSC-certified beechwood and all packaging is FSC-certified, too, and decorated with natural colour dyes.

4. Skaninavisk Lempi Candle

The best floral candle

We’re not usually fans of sweet candles as they are often quite overpowering, but this one from Skandinavisk, their Lempi Scented Candle, is lovely and subtle. It comes inside a decorative glass jar, complete with a wooden lid, making it ideal for Skandi-style, boho or modern homes.

This sweet candle has notes of peony and rose, as well as strawberries and mosses. It’s definitely not too sweet, that’s for sure. It’d be a great burn for spring or summer days and evenings.

This vegan-friendly Sweedish candle is made from rapeseed wax while the glass vessel is made from 30 per cent recycled materials. It has a cotton wick, too.

5. Hotel Collection No.1 Lime, Basil & Mandarin Glass Candle

The best fresh candle

Image credit: Aldi

This Aldi candle is one of their best, and it’s undeniably a brilliant choice for lighting inside your home year-round. Thanks to its cheap price, you can get away with buying a good few of these and popping one inside every room. Thanks to its luxe look, you won’t even mind it being on display, either.

Scented to smell like a blend of lime, basil and mandarin, this fresh-scented candle is surprisingly great at flooding a room. Without being too overpowering, that is. You can light it anywhere from a bathroom to a kitchen, bedroom or a hallway – this is one of the main reasons why we love this smell so much. It’s versatile.

Though this candle is less than £4, it certainly doesn’t look it. With a total of two wicks and a metal lid to keep dust away, which also doubles as a stand to protect your surfaces, this Hotel Collection candle ticks all our boxes. It actually burns evenly, although you might need to trim your wicks quite frequently.

Buy now: Hotel Collection No.1 Lime, Basil & Mandarin Glass Candle, £3.49 each,  Aldi

6. The White Company Geranium Leaf Candle

The best herbal candle

This Geranium Leaf Candle is a herbal option if you are searching for something uplifting. We suggest popping this candle in a living room or hallway – just make sure it’s an airy or large space as it’s is quite powerful. It’s poured inside a ceramic vessel and comes with a matching lid – to stop the candle from getting dusty when it’s not lit.

With initial notes of geranium, peppermint and Sicilian orange, the immediate scent we get from this candle, before and after lighting, is peppermint with a hint of lavender. There’s no doubt that it’s uplifting, which is why we suggest popping it in a living room if this room is used a lot by you and the kids. Or, in a hallway to flood all of your rooms with scent.

This candle has a burn time of 40 hours – impressive! – and it’s filled in the UK using high-quality wax for a long, clean and even burn.

7.  WoodWick Smoked Walnut & Maple candle

The best woody candle

Image credit: WoodWick

This WoodWick candle is our favourite to burn in autumn and winter. Why? It’s sumptuously woody and boasts a delightful Pluswick – to imitate the sound of a crackling fire as the wax burns and emits fragrance.

Talking of fragrance, this candle has notes of smoked woods and toasted nuts – basically, autumn in a nutshell (see what we did there?). It’s definitely one for lighting on a cold day or during a chilly evening, whilst it starts releasing fragrance pretty fast. Just be aware: it also burns fast, so you might want to buy a larger jar.

Housed inside a thick glass jar and complete with a wood style lid to prevent dusting, this candle looks and smells the part. We say to place it on show, perhaps in the middle of a coffee table or atop a mantlepiece.

8. Winter Signature Candle

The best spicy candle

Image credit: The White Company

The White Company never disappoints when it comes to home fragrance – especially around Christmas time. If you are searching for a spicy candle to light on a cold evening, then the Winter Signature Candle should be it. It’s the perfect warming concoction, plus it looks like luxury, too.

With notes of cinnamon, clove and orange, this warming candle is both spicy and fresh, and never too overpowering. It essentially smells like Christmas in candle form, and we love it. It’s also impressively scented so as to reach each and every corner of a room, no matter its size.

Housed inside a classic The White company glass vessel, this candle is made of high-quality mineral wax and it boasts a long, even burn. It arrives cocooned inside a gorgeous gift box, making it ready to gift.

9. The White Company Seychelles Candle

The best ozonic candle

This bestselling candle from The White Company is our top pick if you want an ozonic candle to burn in a bathroom. Whether that be for your en-suite, a downstairs bathroom or a family bathroom, that is. Its subtle smell will banish any odours, while it’s never too overpowering – even if placed inside a windowless bathroom.

With ozonic notes of bergamot, fresh coconut, green jasmine, amber and warm vanilla, this candle has a soothing effect. It has a clean scent that will not only make your bathroom smell fresh, but it’s also a lovely scent to burn in a bedroom or hallway. We would perhaps steer clear of popping it in a living room, as it works best in smaller spaces.

This candle comes inside a lovely white box, making it ready to gift if need be. It’s made using high-quality mineral wax and filled in the UK, while it sits inside a classic, elegant The White Company glass vessel.

10.  Stoneglow Flower and Lemon Scented Candle

The best citrus candle

If you are a citrus fan, then this Stoneglow candle is made for you. It’d be lovely in a kitchen due to its fresh scent, and it’s poured inside a frosted glass vessel that features a stand-out floral design. Essentially, it smells as good as it looks.

This refreshing candle has immediate notes of citrus – lemon and patchouli to be exact – which is why we consider it to be just right for a kitchen. It has floral base notes of jasmine and lavender, as well as spicy nutmeg. The base is quite woody, but overall, from the first whiff of this candle, you will smell citrus with a hint of something floral.

With a burn time of 35 hours, this Stoneglow candle is an affordable alternative to others they sell. Rest assured what it lacks in price it does not lack in scent. It’s also made right here, in the UK.

9. Slab Lab Fog Scented Candle

The best luxurious candle

A unique blend of fragrance, this Slab Lab candle is made using coconut and rapeseed wax, while we think it’s the perfect burn for last summer, early autumn. For when the evenings begin to get chilly and you choose to retreat inside.

Boasting a strong scent even before being lit, this candle boasts notes of chamomile, clover honey and bergamot, mixed with English lavender and freesia. Topped with fragrant vanilla and tonka bean. It’s sweet yet warm and definitely unique.

Hand-poured into a grey glass vessel, with plain white labelling, this rapeseed wax candle is GMO-free and plant-based. It also has a long burn time of 40-45 hours, while the lack of tunnelling is impressive, to say the least.

Buy now: Slab Lab Fog Scented Candle, £25, Trouva

10. Yankee Candle Large Jar Clean Cotton

The best Yankee candle

Image credit: Yankee Candle

This Yankee Candle is loved by Amazon reviewers – nearly 30,000 of them, to be exact – and it’s easy to understand why. It has room-filling capabilities, so rest assured it will flood your home with scent.

It has top notes of sun-dried cotton, combined with green notes of white flowers and a hint of lemon. It’s safe to say that this freshly scented candle isn’t too overpowering, so if you tend to steer clear of headache-inducing scents, this one is nice and subtle. Although it is made using paraffin wax, like all other Yankee candles are, it does give off a powerful, fresh scent that you’d love to smell in any room of your home. From your kitchen to your bathroom, bedroom or even hallway.

Poured inside a large jar with a burn time of a whopping 150 hours, this 623g candle is also a bargain. It comes with a lid, to keep dust away from the wick, and the wick itself is a 100% natural fibre cotton wick, for a clean burn.

11. Botanica by Air Wick Candle Fresh Pineapple & Tunisian Rosemary

The best essential oils candle

Part of AirWick’s Botanica range, this candle is infused with natural essential oils. It’s well-scented to fragrance a small room, and it’s impressively odour-reducing so makes a great addition to a hallway or a kitchen.

With 5 scents to choose from, Fresh Pineapple & Tunisian Rosemary is our favourite with citrusy yet herbal notes.

This candle comes inside a jar complete with a lid, and it has an impressive burn time of up to 40 hours. Although its packaging isn’t as luxurious as we would hope, it is recyclable. Also, Botanica by Air Wick is partnering with WWF for the restoration of wildflower habitats in the UK.

Why choose a candle over a reed diffuser or room spray?

Candles, as well as smelling lovely, also have the ability to create a calm atmosphere. They also look great on display. Choosing a candle over a reed diffuser or room spray is all down to personal preference. A candle will take longer than a reed diffuser to release scent, and it needs to be lit and blown out by you in order to work. Whilst a reed diffuser sits there and does the work itself, with only the need to occasionally flip the reeds. You can’t control how much scent is released with a candle, but you can with reed diffusers and room sprays.

How to look after my candle?

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as just lighting your candle, blowing it out, lighting it again and so on. In fact, to ensure that your candle burns to perfection, there are some things you will need to watch out for – and a few items that you will need to buy. Get yourself a candle care kit if you’re burning candles that are high-quality.

You’ll want to use a wick trimmer to trim your wick when it gets too long – the average wick length should be a quarter of an inch.

Using a candle snubber to extinguish your candle will ensure you don’t blow any wax out of the jar, or inside and around the jar, to ensure a clean burn from start to finish.

Lighting your candle until the melted wax reaches the corner of your jar should ensure your candle doesn’t tunnel. Never light a candle for 10 minutes and blow it out.

Use some tweezers – or a candle dipper – to delicately move your wick if it starts leaning to one side. If you don’t do this, your wick could end up underneath the wax making it more or less impossible to light your candle ever again.

The post Best scented candles – 11 fragrant buys for SS22 appeared first on Ideal Home.

So much time and effort is spent deciding upon wall decoration in a room, but the floor is just as crucial to get right. These days we have have so many amazing kitchen flooring ideas that we’re spoilt for choice.

When looking at flooring for use in kitchens, two of the most important things are aesthetics and, of course, material. For the latter, the typical choices include porcelain tiles, stone, wood, concrete and LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles). And that’s barely scratching the surface.

In terms of practicality, modern porcelain tiles tend to be the most hard-wearing choice for kitchen flooring, as they are waterproof, stain resistant and scratch-proof, as well as easy to clean. Natural stone will last a lifetime if properly installed and treated, but it’s porous and must be sealed. ‘Porcelain floor tiles come in a variety of sizes, styles, and colours,’ notes Jo Oliver, Director, Stone and Ceramic Warehouse. ‘With their incredibly hard-wearing properties, they’re ideal placed in high traffic areas like kitchens.’

Foundations are worth thinking about, too. Sub-floors need to be clean, dry, structurally sound and flat, and most suppliers recommend using an installer experienced in the flooring being applied (especially for natural stone). Larger format tiles and patterned layouts usually take longer to fit and incur more wastage, so are generally more expensive.

Kitchen flooring ideas

Add interest to your home with kitchen flooring ideas for every space and style

1. Contrast with your splashback

Image credit: Future PLC/Veronica Rodriguez

Use your kitchen flooring ideas as an opportunity to add personality into your home. Create an exciting and joy-inducing scheme by choosing colourful patterned tiles for both your floor and your kitchen splashback ideas.

There are a couple of ways you can make this work. While having the exact same tile on both surfaces would be a bit much with a pattern, you can choose two tiles which match either in colour or pattern. Or, use the same pattern but in two different scales.

Finally, the most bold – but often most effective – solution is to choose two contrasting but complementary colours and patterns.

2. Use flooring to zone

Image credit: Future PLC/Brent Darby

Flooring is an excellent place to visually zone a space. Since so many of us live the open-plan life, with kitchens in the same room as dining spaces and living areas, it’s useful to make markers separating the various functions.

In this case, choose one, fairly plain, surface for the overall flooring space. Then, choose a secondary surface, such as a patterned or coloured tile, and use this to delineate a zone. Some areas this could work in include underneath the dining table, the cooking zone and your kitchen island ideas.

3. Supersize your tiles

Image credit: Future PLC/Darren Chung

One way to use kitchen flooring ideas to improve the sense of space is to upsize. Choose oversized tiled with subtle, minimal grouting which won’t overly distract the eye. As a result floor – and room – will appear larger.

Paler shades of tiles will also help bounce the light around, increasing this effect.

4. Lay boards in a chevron pattern

Image credit: Future PLC/James French

Wooden flooring is always a stylish choice. Ass interest by playing around with laying patterns. Chevron is having a moment, but won’t date as it’s a classic look.

One thing to keep in mind with wood is that these floors are not always suitable to use with underfloor heating, so if that’s a dealbreaker for you make sure you check with your flooring supplier before buying.

5. Choose a simple style

Image credit: Future PLC/Katie Leew

The best kitchen flooring ideas are often the most simple. If you have bright cabinetry that you love, then you probably don’t want to distract from these with an overly bold floor.

Traditional wooden plank floor boards are comforting, warm and add the perfect amount of subtle character.

6. Work in vinyl

Image credit: Future PLC/Ben Anders

Vinyl flooring is hard-wearing, durable and easy to lay. It is also much softer and warmer underfoot compared to stone and ceramic tiles, more forgiving with dropped crockery and a breeze to keep clean. A recent surge in popularity means there is now a wide range of modern, trend-led designs available.

When working out how to buy kitchen flooring, note that thickness is a good indication of quality, for both sheet and tiled vinyl. Cheap sheet vinyl starts at 1mm thick, which will make it easy to fit but not very long-lasting. Aim for 3.5mm upwards.

7. Think about pattern

Image credit: Future PLC/Polly Eltes

Make a feature of your flooring with beautifully patterned kitchen floor tile ideas and they can become the standout piece in your kitchen. Consider your colour scheme carefully when playing with pattern and choose a hero colour from your cabinetry to pick out in your tile design.

8. Stick to stone

Image credit: Future PLC/Brent Darby

Natural materials such as stone are always a popular choice and lend authenticity to a scheme. A current trend is ‘mimica’ porcelains, which recreate the look of natural materials, while offering an easy-to-care for finish.

Size of tile can have impact, too. ‘Most commonly, the ‘free length’ or ‘random length’ tile size is opted for, by which the widths are fixed (usually 500mm or 600mm) and then lengths are a random selection ranging upwards to 1000mm,’ says Isabel Fernandez, Director, Quorn Stone. ‘This free length flagstone has the ability to work in all sized kitchens and gives maximum focus on the beauty of each tile.’

9. Keep cool with polished concrete

Image credit: Future PLC/James Merrell

Looking for a tough kitchen floor covering that is also effortlessly cool? Opt for polished concrete. Perfect if you’ve got an uneven floor surface, as you simply concrete over it.

It’s also extremely low maintenance and hardwearing, and can help reflect light around the room.

10. Call on contrast

Image credit: Future PLC/Richard Powers

Wooden floors are a great choice for kitchens and kitchen-diners, provided they are treated so that they’re resistant to spills and stains.

A dark-stained floor, sealed properly, looks fantastic when paired with white walls and high, airy ceilings.

11. Go traditional with granite

Image credit: Future PLC/Simon Whitmore

Classic granite tiles will suit all styles of kitchen and are great for well-used spaces that see a lot of spills. Durable, hardwearing, stain-resistant and easy to clean, granite is the perfect material for family homes.

12. Create a subtle feature with parquet

Image credit: Future PLC/Robert Sanderson

Choose a delicate parquet if you want to give a nod to a feature floor without being too over the top. Classic parquet flooring can be laid as individual blocks, or the effect can be copied by engineered wood planks, which are easier to fit.

White or pale grey units and furniture are great partners, as they let the warm wood tones shine through.

13. Fake it till you make it

Image credit: Future PLC/James French

Laminate isn’t just a cost-effective flooring option – modern laminates often come with long guarantees, are super-durable and can be used with underfloor heating. Plus, advancements in digital imaging technology mean that wood or stone effect versions are virtually indistinguishable from the real deal.

14. Try simple floor tiles

Image credit: Future PLC/Trevor Richards

Get the effect of terracotta without the cost by choosing practical lightweight porcelain tiles. The perfect addition to a country utility room, these tiles need only minimal care. Complete the space with a bright artisan fabric, cream units and open shelving.

15. Paint the floorboards

Image credit: Future PLC/Richard Gadsby

Light, bright and easy to refresh, painted white boards are a wonderful choice for contemporary kitchen flooring ideas. You may want to include a rug or runner over the most high-traffic points in the room, or underneath the dining table, to prevent too many scuffs and scratches.

16. Keep it country

Image credit: Future PLC/Colin Poole

A stone floor is a lovely addition to any country kitchen ideas. Get the effect with a limestone tile, or choose a modern lookalike in porcelain. Team with classic white cabinetry to keep the look light and make the overall scheme feel more contemporary as a whole.

17. Say it with slate

Image credit: Future PLC/Oliver Gordon

Slate flooring in on-trend large-scale slabs lends a rustic vibe to this glossy kitchen. Slate is a beautiful material with natural ridges and variations that add depth to a space. Rough edges are part of slate’s charm and the material will only look better with age.

18. Go for geometrics

Image credit: Future PLC/Jonathan Jones

Be adventurous with statement kitchen flooring. Geometric tiles add contemporary interest to a space and liven up plain cabinetry. Pattern is ideal for stamping personality on your home. Team with a simple metro tile for a trendy wall that won’t steal attention from your floor.

What is the easiest kitchen floor to ​maintain?

There are so many options for your kitchen flooring on the market, but one of the most popular has to be the porcelain tile floor. ‘All porcelain tiles are durable and perfectly suited to high traffic areas,’ says Kamila Swiatecka, Brand & Marketing Manager, Tile Giant. ‘The well-known misconception is that tiles are cold, but actually, you would be surprised how soft and warm to touch they can be. They are also ideal for use with underfloor heating, perfect for family living.’

‘A porcelain tile is non-porous and will therefore provide a stain proof option which can be preferable with young children,’ adds Isabel Fernandez, Director, Quorn Stone.

What is the most hard-wearing flooring for kitchens?

Porcelain is, unsurprisingly, a very hard-wearing material. ‘Natural stone flooring can be one of the most forgiving floor coverings if the right stone and finish are chosen,’ says Isabel from Quorn Stone. ‘Naturally some stones will be denser than others which provides more durability, however all natural stone will be subject to a little wear and tear over the years.’

LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) is another great option to explore. You can find these in all manner of colours, patterns and effects, and they are very durable, making them perfect for high-traffic kitchens.

The post 18 kitchen flooring ideas for wall to wall style appeared first on Ideal Home.

If you love crispy chicken or speedy fish finger dinners, the best air fryer will transform your home cooking game. Our top 10 best air fryers come from brands like Ninja, Instant, Cosori, and Philips, and while every model in this guide comes highly recommended by our expert reviewers, there are some key differences to consider before you make your choice.

Many of the best air fryers have drawer-style designs, which allow you to pull out the cooking basket and shake up your chips or onion rings as they’re cooking. Others have mini-oven designs that come with rotisserie functions, perfect for an exceptional Sunday lunch. A few of our top air fryer picks even have multi-drawer designs that allow you to cook your fish in one drawer and chips in another.

Lots of us are using the New Year as an incentive to boost our diet and adopt a healthier lifestyle. While not all foods you can cook in an air fryer will deliver the low-fat results you’re looking for, they do present a brilliant alternative to deep-frying all sorts of foods. Homemade potato chips are delicious and so much easier when made in an air fryer, and a homemade breaded chicken fillet is a lot better for you than your local takeaway. For appliances that can air fry as well as slow and pressure cook, take a look at the best multi-cookers.

What is the best air fryer in 2022?

We loved the Instant Pot Vortex Plus 6-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer because it’s reasonably priced and allows you to cook large portions at once. For an option that will cook multiple elements of a meal all in one go, the Ninja AF300UK Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer was also a firm favorite.

1. Instant Pot Vortex Plus 6-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer

Best air fryer for powerful design

Size: 28.6 x 22.9 x 29.8 cm
Capacity: 5.7 litres
Programs: Air fry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate, grill
Reasons to buy: 

• Amazing air frying, and it does so much more
• Smart brushed finish
• Speeds up cooking significantly
• Made some of the best fries we’ve tried

Reasons to avoid: 

• Controls are noisy

The Instant Vortex Plus wowed us with its speedy and delicious cooking. It has a removable air fryer insert that slots neatly into the base of the air fryer drawer, and you can remove this if you want to reheat rice, bake cupcakes, or even roast some potatoes for your Sunday lunch. That’s right, while the Instant Vortex Plus is an immense air fryer, it also does a lot more thanks to its six cooking modes. You can even use it to dehydrate.

We enjoyed how speedy the Instant Vortex Plus was when it came to cooking frozen food. Frozen chicken fillets that would usually take 20 minutes only took 12, and sweet potato fries that would usually take 40 minutes only took 25.

The controls are touch-operated, and you can change the temperature and time using the dial at the front of the fryer. The brushed metal finish also elevates the look, and we thought it was a real treat to look at when left on the kitchen counters.

Ideal Home rating: 5 out of 5 stars

2. Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer L501

Best air fryer for under £100

Size: 27.2 x 27.4 x 30.2 centimetres
Capacity: 4.7 litres
Programs:Chicken, chips, frozen, steak, seafood, veggies, bacon
Reasons to buy: 

• Air fries to perfection
• Smart up-top controls
• Shake reminders for even cooking
• Removable insert for easy cleaning
• Drawer is dishwasher-safe

Reasons to avoid: 

• The preset timings are a little off, but can be adjusted

Amazon’s best-selling air fryer held up well under our tests, too. The Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer L501 has a smart look and a range of custom presets that will come in handy for low-effort cooking. It’s also adjustable, just press to increase or decrease the temperature or timer to achieve your perfect result.

We enjoyed the fries this air fryer produced on the chip setting. They were crisp and evenly cooked, and the cooking time was well below average which is a winner for hungry homes! That did mean we had to turn it down from 20 minutes to 30, but this was easy enough to do. You’ll get a reminder to shake your food halfway through on some settings. If you’re in the middle of a particularly riveting piece of telly then it may be a distraction, but you can simply press a button to switch off the reminder for no interruptions.

Included with the air fryer was a recipe book with loads of great tips. We made the buffalo cauliflower, chicken wings and more recipes from the book and found it a great help for those getting started with air frying. The large capacity makes this a top choice for families. We also loved that the insert means you can easily clean the drawer and basket in the Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer L501, simply put them in the dishwasher. The insert lifts out simply to allow you to reheat dishes with sauce.

Ideal Home rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Read our full Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer L501 review

3. Tefal YV970840 Actifry Genius XL 2in1

Best air fryer for homemade chips

Image credit: Tefal

Size: 48.9 x 38 x 29.5 centimetres
Capacity: 1.7kg
Programs: Chips, breaded items, desserts, nachos, fish and meat, chicken legs, stir fry, ‘world foods’, pie
Reasons to buy: 

• Paddle included to stir your food
• Pair with an app
• Space-age design
• Great for cooking entire meals

Reasons to avoid: 

• Not the best for low-fat

This machine has a huge footprint, so if you’re after a compact air fryer you can pop in a cupboard when you’re not using it then you might want to think again. That said, it’s so technologically advanced, we probably wouldn’t hide its considerable light under a bushel.

It has several things that separate it out from the rest of the air fryer crowd, including nine intelligent cooking modes and a My ActiFry app that features around 300 recipes. However, it’s the integral paddle with dual-motion technology, which stirs the food giving it an even, crisp coating that we think is the game-changer. Not only does it mean you can just leave the ActiFry alone to do its magic, it also allows you to cook dishes such as stir-fries and curries in it, too, using one of the two 1-meal-in-1-go programmes.

It hands-down produced the best chips we tried, with just half a teaspoon of oil and the chicken was well-cooked and juicy inside, although still dryer on the outside than normal frying would produce. It’s a generous size, too, producing main meals for up to five and starter portions for eight.

Because it doesn’t have a classic basket design, you can cook anything from stir-fried rice to fajita-spiced veggies without anything falling out of the slots in the basket. This does also mean that fat won’t drip away from your chips or chicken, so while it’s certainly a tasty pick, it’s not quite as low-fat as some of our other options.

Ideal Home rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Read our full Tefal YV970840 Actifry Genius XL 2in1 review

4. Ninja AF300UK Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer

Best air fryer for multi-drawer cooking

Size: 35 x 37.5 x 31.5cm
Capacity: 7.6 litres
Programs: Air Fry, Max Crisp, Roast, Bake, Reheat & Dehydrate
Reasons to buy: 

• Superior air frying
• Sync or Match two useful zones
• Both drawers are diswasher-safe
• It can cook an entire meal, fish in one drawer, chips in the other

Reasons to avoid:

• A large option for most kitchens

What’s better than one air fryer? Two, in one. The Ninja AF300UK Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer comes with two distinct air frying zones that allow you to air fry your fish and chips individually, or bake a side dish such as mac and cheese while you air fry chicken. You can match or sync these two drawers to make sure all elements of your meal are complete at the same time.

The Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer also comes settings to reheat, dehydrate, roast, and bake. Its Max Crisp setting is designed for frozen food and we found that it gave us next-level frozen chips, fish fingers, and other freezer staples. It also cooks food in record time, because there’s no preheat time and its temperature can be easily adjusted. This air fryer gave us crispy chips and wedges every time, and always cooked our meat through completely. We even used it to make cauliflower wings, which were an unexpected triumph. The trays can be a little deep to reach into, so make sure you use non-stick cookware to take your food out when it’s done. The exterior stays cool though, even when it’s cooking at 240 degrees.

The instructions come with a recipe test with fun hints and tips for ideas to try in your air fryer. This included ideas we’d never considered before, such as brownies or fajitas. It is on the large side at 35 x 37.5 x 31.5cm, but if you can spare the space, it’s a game-changer.

Ideal Home rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

5. Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer

Best air fryer for 2 people

Size:35.2 x 35.1 x 30.1 cm
Capacity: 2 litres
Programs: Air fry, bake, reheat, roast
Reasons to buy:

• Seriously good value
• Easy to use
• Colourful, fun design
• Does more than just air fry

Reasons to avoid:

• The small capacity isn’t ideal for everyone

Instant Brands is known for creating amazing air fryers and smart countertop appliances in the US, so we were first in line to review this new model when it launched in the UK. The Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer not only wowed us with its value-for-money, but it also impressed us in testing. Despite the limited capacity, it was able to air fry our (somewhat crammed-in) chips evenly with just a shake or two from us halfway through.

This air fryer is perfect for small kitchens. It has a removable basket liner that can drain away fat from bacon and juices from chicken, but take it out and suddenly you can bake, roast and even reheat in this beauty.

You can pick up the Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer in a range of fun colours. We tried it in red, but the blue option is quite fetching. There is also a white for clean kitchens, and a failsafe matte black. The display is very intuitive, and can be controlled with touchscreen settings and a tactile dial.  The only con? It’s not great for families.

Ideal Home rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Read our full Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer review

6. Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer

Best rotisserie air fryer

Size:44.2 x 41.6 x 39.4 cm
Capacity: 10 litres
Programs: Air fry, bake, dehydrate, rotisserie, chips, chicken, veggies, steak
Reasons to buy:

• Sleek controls
• All the functions of a mini oven
• Incredible rotisserie
• Great space-saving design
Reasons to avoid:

• It’s a little fiddly

The Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer offers an alternative take on air frying, with a rotisserie attachment that allows you to cook a whole chicken with crispy delicious skin and juicy meat, in just one hour. It also comes with a rotisserie mesh basket, which is what we used to cook our chips. It keeps them spinning as it cooks, meaning that every single crisp was evenly cooked.

Because it’s more of a mini convection oven thanks to the removable mesh wire trays, the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer doesn’t quite speed up your cooking time as much as a drawer air fryer with single-function design. However, it can be used to bake, rotisserie, air fry, and even dehydrate, and it’s also a well-sized machine to fit in as much capability as you like onto one kitchen counter.

We enjoyed the smart controls, which show the temperature as it preheats, and how easy it is to choose your mode and even illuminate the inside of the oven to watch your food as it cooks. Cleaning is easy too, but our main drawback is that it’s a bit tricky to take out the drawers because they get very hot. Oven gloves are a must!

Ideal Home rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Read our full Breville Halo Rotiserrie Air Fryer review

7. Philips Essential Air Fryer

Best air fryer for small kitchens

Size: 47.6 x 32.8 x 26.3cm
Capacity: 4.1 litres
Programs:Frozen, fish, meat, vegetables, chicken drumsticks, cake, reheat
Reasons to buy: 

• It’s perfect for smaller homes and kitchens
• Easy to clean
• Intuitive to use
• Comes with an app

Reasons to avoid:

• It’s more expensive than some other small options

If you want the best air fryer for a small kitchen or two-person household, the Philips Essential Air Fryer is the one for you. In terms of the cooking quality, it was pretty much on par with some of the larger and more premium brands in this guide. There’s plenty of cooking modes, including fish, meat, frozen food and reheat, and you can choose your temperature manually too.

The basket and drawer can both be washed in the dishwasher, which makes cleaning that much easier. We found the controls a little confusing at first but they’re fine once you’re used to which button indicates which cooking mode.

One complaint we had was the price, which was pretty high when compared to other small air fryers. It is clearly designed for smaller kitchens and homes though, with grooves that make it easy to carry and store, and a lightweight design.

Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Read our full Philips Essential Air Fryer review

8. Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer

Best premium air fryer

Size: 38.4 x 40.3 x 31.7cm
Capacity: 6.7 litre
Programs: Air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat, and dehydrate
Reasons to buy: 

• As smart as they come
• See-through cooking doors
• Easy controls

Reasons to avoid: 

• Very bulky

Instant’s latest launch is the third to make it into our top 10. It’s the brand’s first attempt at a dual-drawer air fryer, and it’s a great start. The Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer has two dishwasher-safe baskets that resemble the classic Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, but it has more straightforward controls that are a lot easier to get to grips with.

The oven has a pre-heat time and a reminder to shake midway through the cooking zone, which is an efficient way of making sure your food is perfectly cooked. We did find that our chips needed shaking up midway through the cooking cycle, so the reminder came in handy. After just 10 minutes on the preset air frying temperature, our chips had crisp brown exteriors but needed some time to cook all the way through. Our fish also needed to be turned over midway through the cooking cycle.

Cooking times with this air fryer were brilliant, with some of the speediest chips we’ve made. The modes for syncing cooking temperatures and times, as well as the match finish setting, were both very intuitive to use, too. While we liked the light that let us look into our cooking basket as it worked, we did find that our view was limited by the handle. When it comes to quality air frying though, look no further.

Ideal Home rating: 5 out of 5 stars

9. Swan Retro Air Fryer

Best-looking air fryer

Image credit: Swan

Size: 34.8 x 24 x 33.7cm
Capacity: 6 litre
Programs: Air fry only
Reasons to buy: 

• Looks lovely
• A generous capacity
• Will match with many Swan appliances
• Dishwasher-safe

Reasons to avoid:

• Less smart settings

Unlike pretty much all the other air fryers we tested, which, to paraphrase Henry Ford ‘you can have in any colour as long as it’s black’, this 5 litre machine was a pleasingly cheerful bright cherry red. It also comes in cream and black so would work well in pretty much any scheme if you wanted to leave it out on the worktop.

If you want something a little easier to operate than some of the more high-tech options, the Swan Retro has a simple temperature dial and a twist-timer at the top. It feels sturdy and has a large interior capacity of 6 litres. At 34.8 x 24 x 33.7cm it’s larger than some options but will work well in family-size kitchens.

We were very impressed by how this air fryer cooked bacon and other meats, but when it came to chips we found that it took longer than most air fryers. The timings were comparable to a regular oven.

The tray and non-stick basket can both be popped in the dishwasher, too.

Ideal Home rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Read our full Swan Retro Air Fryer review

10. Tower Vortex 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer Oven

Best air fryer for chicken

Size:44.2 x 38.4 x 36.2 cm
Capacity: 11 litres
Programs:Air fry, bake, roast, dehydrate, rotisserie
Reasons to buy: 

• It’s a real multi-tasker
• Makes a mean chicken
• Lights up for easy viewing

Reasons to avoid: 

• You lose some of the convenience of a classic air fryer

The Tower Vortex 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer is more of an American-style air fryer. It’s designed to look like an oven and comes with a drip tray and multiple shelves to cook your food as you would in a regular oven. There are some perks to this design though. Our favourite was the rotisserie function which made some of the most delicious chicken we’ve ever made. A game-changer for roast dinners.

The shelves need to be taken out and switched around mid-cook if you want to achieve an even crisp, which is not ideal and can be a little fiddly. The oven did a great job of creating crispy food though, especially when it came to the frying setting. It can also bake and roast like you’d expect in a regular oven.

A nice touch is the door, which you can see straight through. There is a button to illuminate the fryer as it cooks which allows you to look in and check on your food without opening it. It’s a large option, but a versatile one too.

Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Read our full Tower Vortex 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer review

How do air fryers work?

Air fryers work like a convection oven to circulate air around your food and cook it evenly from every angle. That means any fat you add to the air fryer will circulate around your fries, chicken or fish as it cooks, making it crisp and crunchy. 

Air fryers typically come with an in-built basket that has space for air to get underneath your food, as well as cooking it from above and the side. In the Ninja Dual Zone for example, you can remove this and use the tray like a regular oven tray to add a crisp cheesy top to a pasta bake or roast vegetables and potatoes for convenient mealtimes. Check out the best microwaves for more easy meal prep appliances. 

How to buy the best air fryer for you

Check the air fryer features and programmes

Look for easy-to-use controls for both temperature and time, as these are the most important features on any air fryer. Auto-stop and keep warm functions can be useful but chips, if left for any amount of time will soon lose their crispness. More expensive machines will feature touch screens rather than dial controls, which will help with accuracy.

What else should I look for?

The bigger the basket capacity, the more people you’ll be able to cook for. So if you’ve got a family, then a 5 litre machine (which usually provides a chip capacity of around 800g to 1kg) is probably a must.

A loud beep to signal the end of cooking time is a good idea if you’re using the time to wander off and do something else. Most air-fryers will only cook one food group at a time (ie meat or veg) but some will cook a whole meal in one go if you’re after a one-pot solution.

Are air fryers healthy?

Air fryers are as healthy as the food you cook in them, but one thing you can be confident in is that they’re healthier than deep fat fryers. If you want to cut back on the amount of oil and fat in your food, air fryers are also excellent for crisping up your meal while not submerging it in fat.

Bacon is not particularly healthy, but cooking it in an air fryer means that the fat will drip away from the meat and into the basket, while still rendering and crisping for that perfect bacon sarnie. Air frying is also a way of adding more veggies to your diet. Some of the best things to cook in an air fryer are cauliflower “wings”, which is simply florets of cauliflower tossed in whatever sauce you wish to pair it with.

How much oil do I need to use in my air fryer?

While most recipes call for a teaspoon or half a teaspoon of oil. We found we got a more even coating on some foods by decanting our choice of oil into a small spray bottle and using that. Never use one-calorie oil spray, which is a step too far in the diet stakes we found, producing nasty, chewy fries.

Most of the machines we tested couldn’t be used with fattier meats such as sausages or chicken or duck with the skin on. This sometimes results in meats being drier on the outside. This was where a spray oil came in handy and definitely improved results if not making them as good as if they’d been fried.

Ready for another test? Best kettles

How to make perfect chips in an air fryer

If you’re making fresh chipped potatoes, leave the cut chips immersed in cold water for about half an hour then rinse well to get rid of starch as this will improve the texture once cooked.

Place chips in your air fryer and start to cook as soon as you’ve coated them in the half-teaspoon or so of oil for best results and don’t leave to sit in the fryer once cooked.

The post Best air fryer 2022: the top 10 we’ve tried appeared first on Ideal Home.