ENERGY-EFFICIENT households are good news for the environment – and watching the watts can spare your wallet as well as the planet. A new website exposes the “gas guzzlers” of the electrical goods world and points to alternative products that do the job at a fraction of the cost.

The website Sust-it.net is the idea of Ross Lammas, of Hartpury, Gloucestershire. The 45-year-old company director found it difficult to access meaningful information on the energy consumption of household products when he set out to build an environmen-tally sustainable home and office. “It was virtually impossible,” he says. “I would go into a shop and ask for figures on efficiency. The staff blank you.”

The result of Mr Lammas’s frustration is a website that ranks appliances by energy efficiency, listing electricity consumption in watts per hour and — more helpfully — the cost of using a product per day or per year.

The gulf in running costs between the best and worst performers can be startling. For example, one 63in Fujitsu plasma-screen television costs £655.22 a year to run, based on a five-hour viewing day, while a Samsung model of the same size costs only £203.89.

Which tumble dryer you buy also makes a difference. The top-performing Zanussi TC180W dryer costs £165.30 a year to run, against £294.32 for the Hotpoint CTD00P. The calculation is based on one hour drying a day. Shoppers can then weigh running costs against purchase price and quality, checking products at price-comparison websites such as www.kelkoo.co.uk and review websites including www.which.co.uk.

At Kelkoo, the Hotpoint dryer is £75 cheaper than its Zanussi rival, but high running costs wipe out the saving within seven months. Given the Zanussi’s stronger customer reviews, the pricier machine seems to offer better value.

Beyond product information, the Sust-it website offers superficial advice on subjects such as energy-efficient lighting, heating and travel. Readers interested in a comprehensive change in lifestyle should visit the website of the Energy Saving Trust at www.est.org. uk or www.uSwitch.com for more on reducing energy bills.

As yet, Sust-it has a limited database. Computers will be listed from mid-February, as will data on carbon emissions for all products. In the meantime, to calculate running costs for a product not featured on Sust-it, try the calculator at www.ukpower.co.uk, the gas and electricity price-comparison website.

Sust-it running costs are calculated using nPower’s standard electricity tariff for the Midlands - a mid-price deal - and average use times. The UK Power calculator will give a more accurate estimate tailored to your circumstances.

CASE STUDY: MORE EFFICIENT VIEWING

STEVE BRYSON, a 54-year-old marketing consultant in Cheltenham, used Sust-it to check the energy efficiency of the 32in Sony LCD television that he had his eye on as a Christmas treat.

Mr Bryson, above, says: “I wanted to know whether I was going to saddle myself with a gas guzzler. Luckily, it came in the top three for efficiency. That sealed it. If it hadn’t done well, I would have bought another model.”

His new television costs a respectable £43.20 a year to run, which is only £6 off the top spot. But he says that environmental, rather than financial, concerns sparked his interest in energy savings. He now plans to use the site to guide future purchases and is looking at other ways to reduce his carbon footprint, including taking more holidays in the UK.