86 percent of Western European consumers declare that sustainability matters a lot to their choice of product. Even so, only 11% of consumers actually choose to use the eco program. Most people think that choosing energy label A is the only thing they need to do to be sustainable…

That’s how sharp it sounded from Marcus Miele, representative of one of Miele’s two founding families, when German Miele held a press conference on 30 August 2023 at the IFA fair in Berlin.

There is no doubt that sustainability is “the nerve of our time”. And there is also no doubt that Miele is trying to give consumers answers to the demands of sustainability at every turn.

This applies in production, where already in 2021 Miele switched to using 100% green energy in the manufacture of products at all factories.

And this applies in the relationship with the consumer, where Miele, like other major manufacturers, links the digital with the sustainable more strongly than ever.

The linking of artificial intelligence with sustainability takes place in a series of new apps, where the consumer can get a “consumption overview” and can set the appliances to run when it makes the most sense in relation to the electricity price. The new apps are designed so that there is also “fun” and competition involved, probably inspired by the apps where athletes today can compete virtually in running, cycling, golf etc.

New at Miele is “AI-diagnosis”, where artificial intelligence can make repairs a new, better and cheaper experience. The consumer can troubleshoot his washing machine, possibly with the assistance of a technician who follows the distance. The consumer can also be notified of upcoming errors. The new AI technology can predict e.g. a clogged filter or a need for descaling.

Miele has taken several years of oven technology development into an app – Meal Sync, so that the artificial intelligence itself analyzes the food that is put in the oven and calculates the cooking and roasting times.

“Stress-free cooking”, as it was called. The technology can do a lot: “However, you still have to chop the vegetables yourself”, as it dryly sounded in a side note from Miele director Axel Kniel.

All in all, the product news was lined up at Miele’s press conference. A microplastic filter for the washing machine was presented, a Laundry Dry Cabinet for the wrinkled clothes was presented.

As well as a new, further developed version of Miele’s cordless vacuum cleaner, and convenient new cordless Duoflex HX1 stick vacuum cleaner, was presented by Reinhard Zinkann. With its SpeedLock system*, patents pending, and a matching wall bracket, the Duoflex HX1 is astonishingly simple to operate. A further benefit is the modern design concept with six attractive colour versions. ‘This vacuum cleaner is far too attractive to be stowed away in a utility room’, is Zinkann’s verdict. The Duoflex HX1 has proven motor technology from Miele’s Euskirchen plant to thank for its suction

Further improvements on the dishwashing front

Previously, Zinkann had drawn attention to the Miele dishwasher as a ‘success story of the special kind’, with over 940,000 units sold in a single year, five wins in a row with Germany’s consumer watchdog Stiftung Warentest, the Green Product Award 2023 – and with almost all models from the current G 7000 series sporting the top ‘A’ energy efficiency class. ‘For this IFA, we have further perfected our dishwashers’, Zinkann announced. By way of an example, he cited additional programmes for thorough, energy-efficient and gentle cleaning in equal measure. In addition to this, the dishwasher baskets have undergone further development to securely accommodate reusable bottles and drinking straws for thorough cleaning. At the end of the day, it is those small things and details which often make a difference – for greater sustainability in everyday life.