Household appliances contribute to global warming

THERE has been a massive surge in electricity usage over the past 10 years as labour saving devices take over our homes.

Tom Halpin of Sustainable Energy Ireland said yesterday that research had traced the spiralling hike in electricity to the increasing penetration of household appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, driers, fridges, computers and multiple televisions.

Speaking at the launch of Energy Awareness Week, which starts tomorrow, he pointed out that this high level of energy consumption is on the rise and accounts for about 50% of carbon dioxide emissions a key contributor to global warming and climate change.

While the thought of living in an igloo in Ireland might seem fantastic, Mr Halpin warned that more extreme weather patterns may be on the way and Ireland could actually become much cooler.

However, the power to change is in our hands, he said, and if everybody made even a small change in their energy usage the results could be dramatic at a national level.

"For example we often tend to overheat our homes. If you simply turn down your heating thermostat by one degree Celsius you will save 10% per year on your heating bill which could save you 80," Mr Halpin said."

"The savings on a national level could be as much as 100 million," he added.

Ireland's national energy bill is currently just over 4.4 million euro.