We're choking in cables in our house. They're spreading like creepers. In the corner of our kitchen where the phones get charged, there is a permanent and steadily growing tangle of black wires that ensnares plugs, connectors and probably small animals. I stare at it and think: what on earth are they all for?
Thanks to iPods, digital TVs and radios, and home computers, with all their associated paraphernalia, many of us have experienced a proliferation of home appliances at the very same time as trying to reduce our electricity use. The question is, are the two phenomena bound to be contradictory?
Certain things are now regarded as necessities. No-one would suggest that we go back to washing clothes by hand. The best thing we can do with washing machines, fridges, kettles and TVs is to get ones with the highest possible energy efficiency rating and use them as economically as possible.
The Energy Saving Trust, which runs the Energy Saving Recommended (ESR) endorsement scheme that identifies the most energy-efficient products on the market, says: "There's no need to compromise on functionality to be more energy efficient. Many of the latest and most sophisticated consumer electronics carry the Energy Saving Recommended logo."
Choosing ESR products and using them economically can make a huge impact. Kettles use more than one-quarter of all energy for domestic cooking and if everyone switched to an ESR kettle, it would save enough electricity to run 310,000 homes for a year. Similarly, 80% of the energy used by a washing machine is for heating the water. Wash clothes at 30 degrees instead of 60 and you can slash that by nearly half. But what about all those less than essential gadgets, such as dishwashers and hairdriers? If you have an energy-efficient dishwasher and use it only when it's full, that's more efficient than washing by hand under hot running water. But there's no denying an electric whisk adds to the energy burden when it replaces a mechanical one.
It's unrealistic to expect people to give up all their gadgets. The ESR rating helps consumers to make informed choices, but not all gadgets have been assessed for the scheme. As a general rule, though, an appliance that has a heating element, such as a tumble drier or hairdrier, is going to use more energy than something that lights up a bulb or runs a small computer. A hairdrier, for instance, might use 1.5kW of power, equivalent to more than 130 low-energy 60W-equivalent bulbs, though a hairdrier is typically used only for a few minutes. Britons spent £400m powering tumble driers in 2007. By putting up a pulley on the kitchen ceiling instead, you would make massive electricity savings - and give yourself some leeway on the hair tongs.
Some gadgets can be combined to save on energy. For instance, an integrated digital TV, which has a built-in digital decoder, saves on the energy required to power a separate set-top box. One large freezer typically uses less energy than two separate appliances.
If we choose our appliances carefully we can make a positive impact.
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