Have you got the oldest cooler in town?
By Jayne Warren - 06/11/2007
I imagine that lots of Mature Times readers have hung onto some of their trusty old appliances, whether they be washing machines, hoovers, fridges - or even cookers (I know I have!). And we are not alone. Apparently there are some 188 million old, energy-hungry large domestic appliances still in use across Europe. But in terms of energy efficiency and costs, it might be worth considering making a change.
A new website initiative called Time to Change (see the link below) has been set up to demonstrate the significant benefits of replacing outdated domestic appliances with new energy efficient models, and provides information on individual household savings within the broader context of the national environmental impact. Time to Change is the UK segment of a pan-European programme, and the central feature of the website is a handy calculator which provides users with an estimate of their personal eco-savings.
You simply key in the age of an old appliance (the calculator provides results for every year of manufacture from 1980 to 2000, and it instantly pulls up how much money, CO2, electricity and water could be saved if it were to be replaced with a new A+ rated model. To make it easier to envisage these savings there are also practical comparisons, such as units of energy - kWh per year - translated into the number of days a 60W light bulb could be left on, or how many balloons could be filled with the corresponding CO2 savings.
The calculator also gives a snapshot of the bigger picture, highlighting how, if we all replace the 15.4 million outdated appliances that are still in use in the UK, we could save enough electricity to power 1,000,000 homes for an entire year.
Here's an example: if you replace a fridge freezer manufactured in 1992 with a new high efficiency model, on average, you could save 347 kWh of energy each year - the equivalent of leaving a light bulb on, day and night, for 241 days. That means a financial saving of £35.57, and enough Carbon dioxide (CO2) saved to fill 18,672 five-litre balloons.
On a broader scale of 'going green', a recent survey showed that, while 51% of the public claim to agree with the introduction of green taxes, they wanted financial incentives to go green - such as tax breaks and cash-back schemes to encourage the purchase of energy efficient products.
So who is most likely to have old appliances? One in three houses have at least one appliance that's ten or more years old, with the figure rising among those on fixed incomes (50% of those 65+) or among those not working (44%), who are keeping old appliances longer. In these categories, despite the environmental benefits of modern appliances and savings on utility bills, economic considerations ruled the day, and they would still only replace a large appliance when the cost of repair outweighed the price of a new model.
But how is this for incentive to change? Time to Change is searching for the UK' oldest working fridge or freezer - and the winner gets a brand new energy efficient model. So if you are 18 or over and think you own the oldest appliance around, please go to the site below and follow the links. Entries must be received before midnight on 30th November 2007.