These 10 Things in Your Home Have Bearings in Them 

We deal with bearings all day long here at Alpine Bearing. You might not be as obsessed with bearings as we are, but we bet you interact with bearings in your home every day.

Did you know these 10 things in your home have bearings in them?  

1. Microwave. Bearings are perfect for reducing friction on objects that rotate. Next time you’re watching a Hot Pocket heat up, know there’s a bearing in the mechanism that spins the plate under it. 
2. Swivel chairs and stools. Bearings under the seat let a chair swivel, whether it’s a barstool, a chair in your home office, or a highly optimized gaming chair. Casters on the bottom of furniture use bearings to roll smoothly too. 
3. Food processor. Bearings and spinning things go together like peanut butter and chocolate. There’s a bearing in the motor that spins a food processor’s blade!
4. Drawers. Drawer slides often include bearings so you can easily pull the drawer open, even when it’s full of heavy items like pots and pans.
5. Toys. If you have children, you’ve probably slipped on a toy car. The wheels in that car have tiny bearings inside. From high-tech drones to the humble yo-yo, many of your kids’ toys and gadgets have bearings inside.
6. Exercise equipment. Treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes all have bearings to reduce friction during your home workout…whenever you finally get around to it.
7. DVD player. A DVD must spin quickly and steadily for the player to read it correctly. A small bearing inside the machine keeps everything stable so you can watch your favorite movie for the 20th time.
8. Washer and dryer. You may have noticed a pattern among many of these items: rotation. An appliance with a spin cycle would be useless without bearings. And nobody likes dirty clothes.
9. Vacuum cleaner. Bearings smooth the motion of a vacuum’s suction fan and floor brush. Perfect for picking up all those crumbs that wind up under the couch.
10. Drill. DIY with confidence. Your power tools have bearings in them to handle the load, friction, and vibration they create during use.

Bearings usually hide far from your sight, but you’d notice if they were gone. The smooth rotation they provide is essential to keep appliances and furniture working correctly. If you’re not sitting above one right now, try to guess when you’ll use a bearing next. It might be sooner than you expected. 

If you’d like to learn more about a specific application of bearings, get a technical consultation, or order bearings, contact one of our sales engineers.