You have turned the car around many times- Your partner regularly thinks they have left the iron on or their curlers on near something flammable so you have to go back and check or they will blame you for your house burning down if you are too lazy to turn around.

Relationships on Female First

Relationships on Female First

They have a very active imagination- When you ask them what could happen if they left the fan on for instance- they come up with an elaborate story of the very worst case and impossible scenario.

They ask you if you've turned things off- When you say you have- they have to double check because of that one time you forgot- and they will never let you live it down.

They will get out of bed to double check they've not left something on- They can't sleep until they know for definite that there's no risky business going on in the kitchen- like a hob that's managed to turn itself back on or something.

They will ask you to confirm that something is unplugged before you leave- They need a trigger so when they ask themselves if they turned it off- they can ask you too to put their mind at ease.

Members of your family with a key- Have been asked to go around and check that all is well with the appliances when you've been on holiday or a weekend away.

They use things to help them remember- If they don't have you around as a second pair of eyes they will use something else to help them recall the act of turning something off- like replacing the tea towel after they've clicked the oven off.

They check things multiple times- They may check appliances are off several times before leaving the house, which makes you late for almost everything.

They tell you how envious they are that you can just leave without a second thought- You have had many conversations about this- despite you telling them that they have never left anything one before so why would they now? They still have to keep up with their little routine.

When they look deep in thought- It's usually due to appliance anxiety and you're afraid to ask in case they ask you to take them home half way through a very long car journey.

Original research from Hive (leading suppliers of connected home technology and Smart systems)

Kass Hussain, Hive Director, comments on the trend, "Appliance anxiety is something we all recognise. You rush to leave the house and later on you'll have that nagging feeling that you've forgotten to turn something off. And with more and more devices in the house, it's a feeling that's becoming increasingly common. As our study has found, some people have even cut short trips to check that they haven't left anything on!"

Kass continues, "With connected home technology, people are able to control their homes from wherever they are. With our app and the Hive Active Plug for example, you can check or turn off your iron, whether you're poolside in Skiathos or Skegness."


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