ABSTRACT
A nnual electricity use by the typical household that uses mains gas for its heating isabout 3700kWh, or ‘units’ in conventional usage. Deducting approximately 750kWh/year for lighting leaves about 2950kWh/year for other appliances, or approximately 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Until recently, this figure was rising inexorably here and in other countries. In the Netherlands, for example, electricity use in the home rose by 2.8 per cent a year in the period 1995-2002.1 Greece easily matched this figure for the 1990s. But in the last few years, domestic consumption of electricity appears to have reached a plateau in the UK. It isn’t falling yet, as the increase in the number of appliances in the home balances out the better efficiency of new machines and household gadgets.
