Energy - How to make your home more energy efficient

In the Kitchen

The kitchen is probably the most energy intensive room in the home and so it is a great place to look for energy-saving ideas. There are lots of little things you can do to reduce the impact of appliances in the kitchen such as ensuring that the fridge is set to an appropriate temperature. By making small changes to the way that we cook can also help to reduce your electricity bill.

Energy Labelling

• Energy labelling of all new laundry and refrigeration products is now obligatory. When you go shopping you will find energy information labels on all these appliances. The energy label allows you to compare how energy-efficient one model is against another.
• Buy 'A' rated kitchen appliances - they cost less to run and over time will give you considerable savings on your electricity bill.
• Buy efficient electric appliances. They use 2 to 10 times less electricity for the same functionality, and are mostly higher quality products that last longer than the less efficient ones. In short, efficient appliances save you lots of energy and money.
• In many countries, efficiency rating labels are mandatory on most appliances. In the EU, models are labelled A++ for the most efficient, then A+, A, B, C, D for subsequently less efficient models. Look for the A++ or A+ models.