13/12/2024
With energy prices staggeringly high, the humble hot water bottle is making a comeback – often dug out from drawers and cupboards – helping people to stay warm without putting the heating on. However, while make do and mend works for many things, with hot water bottles safety comes first... and they have a shelf life. Use this little-known way to check how old yours is.
▪️Every hot water bottle sold in the UK should have a 'flower wheel' on the funnel somewhere, which shows the date it was made...
The number in the centre of the wheel shows you what year it was made. For example, if it says 18, it was made in 2018.
▪️There are also 12 segments around the centre of the wheel. Usually, the number of these segments that have dots in show you what month it was made. So, if there are dots in six sections, the bottle was made in June.
▪️some just have dots just in one segment. For example, if there are dots in the third segment from the top, going clockwise, it was made in March.
The number of dots in the final (or only) filled section shows which week of that month the bottle was made. So, three dots means the third week of the month.
A typical hot water bottle has a lifespan of 2 years!
