Where would we be without washing machines and microwaves? As Discovery Week approaches, MAXINE GORDON looks at how electricity changed the way we live.

MEALS which cook in minutes, a close shave without the palaver of lather, and clothes and dishes which wash and dry themselves without the need to get your hands wet - all have been made possible by the arrival of electricity into the home.

There's no doubt about it, electricity sparked a domestic revolution which changed the way we live.

Innovations such as the automatic washing machine, the microwave and the electric fridge-freezer have enabled us to shave time off our household chores - or at least carry them out with less blood, sweat and tears.

When York's first electricity generating station opened in 1900, who could have predicted the rise of what we might today call the 'people's power'?

However, it was many years before electricity became a household standard, recognised as a clean, efficient and affordable power source.

At first, electricity was expensive, not everyone had access to it, and there was an element of mistrust because people could not see or smell it.

Michelle Petyt, assistant curator in social history at York Castle Museum, reveals that only 32 per cent of homes were connected to the National Grid when it was completed in 1933. By 1945, 86 per cent were wired up. But coverage was patchy, mainly limited to urban areas.

Social houses built just before the Second World War in York had electricity, but they also had a range fitted and tenants were encouraged to use gas because it was cheaper.

"People stuck to their gas cookers. They didn't trust electric cookers, because they couldn't see the heat and gas was easier to control," says Michelle.

Many of the electrical goods we use today such as the electric iron, shaver, vacuum cleaner and washing machine were invented in the early part of the 20th century. Most were widespread in the United States before they came here, and it wasn't until the consumer boom of the 1950s that they became domestic essentials.

The Castle Museum has a collection of early electrical appliances on show in its turn-of-the-century Edwardian electrical shop and in its 1940s kitchen display.

In the kitchen set, there is an early electric iron plugged into the light fitting, an electric food mixer and an electric cooker complete with oven, grill and dual-plate hob.

This lower middle-class home would also have had an electric vacuum cleaner, which was much more efficient than the bellow-powered cleaner it replaced which worked on a sucking method.

"HC Booth came up with the principal of vacuum cleaning in 1901," explains Michelle. "The first vacuum cleaner was launched in the US in 1907 by Mr Spangler. His company was bought out by Hoover, which originally was a leather and saddling business but was looking for new products because the motorcar was replacing the horse. And to think that we do the Hoovering now, but we could have been Spangling!"

Next door to the 1940s kitchen is a replica of a kitchen from the Eighties, complete with a microwave.

The microwave is a relatively recent invention, dating as it does from experiments with radar in the 1940s. Although the first domestic microwave hit the shops in 1947, they were big and cumbersome and it would be another 20 years before what we might recognise as a microwave today was on the market.

So what of the future? Well, we should expect our electrical appliances to become even more sophisticated - tailored to helping us do many of our domestic duties with minimum fuss.

Dr Nick Pears, lecturer in computing science at the University of York, says computer technology has widened the possibilities for electrical goods.

"Over the past 15 years, the big change has been the use of ever-more sophisticated embedded microprocessors, namely computers, which are used to enhance performance.

"These work through the use of sensors which adjust the controls accordingly to improve performance or increase efficiency.

"For example with a washing machine, you want it to get your clothes as clean as possible, in as short a time as possible, using as little energy and water as possible."

Today, you can buy the "intelligent" microwave, which through the use of sensors and a computer, can cook your food without instructions.

"The sensors work out how much steam is coming off the food and adjust the power level accordingly to cook the food to perfection," says Nick.

And just around the corner for us all looms the "intelligent" home, he adds. "We already have a prototype system which can control your own house via a central computer. It can control all the appliances in your home such as video and central heating - even draw your curtains automatically when it gets dark.

"We are involved in a project at the university where we will place cameras in the corner of a room and use gestures such as pointing a finger at the TV to switch it on."

Pity you can't do the same and magically iron a pile of laundry - now that would be technological advance.

Discovery Week - formerly Science Week - begins on Friday and is organised by Science City York. For more details, contact 01904 554433.