4 June 2007
Announced late last month, domestic energy reading gadgets will soon be made available to millions of households by the end of next year, according to Environment Secretary David Miliband.
Writing for his column in the Daily Mirror, Mr Miliband explained that the hand-held machines will give a read-out of the amount of electricity an appliance is using, as well as showing how much it costs to run it.
"At the moment, more than a quarter of our emissions come from heating and powering our homes. I want everyone to have free access to a gadget called a realtime electricity display," he wrote.
"It tells you how much energy an appliance is using and about how much it's costing and you can take it around the house to calculate how much electricity your dishwasher or phone charger is eating up."
Simple actions around the home could save households huge amounts of money on their bills, with energy-wasting activities like leaving the TV on standby adding to consumers' quarterly bills.
Pensioners and other vulnerable members of society will be placed alongside poorer families at the top of the priority list for the gadgets, which will be made available from their energy supplier.