Economy 7 is a big saver for nighttime clothes and dishwashing. For clothes washing surely the minds at Bosch could develop one with a separate tank into which used hot soapy water could be stored and then reused for the next load, while rinsing takes place ? We usually do about 4 loads one after the other and the waste is dreadful. Landlords should also be legally required to upgrade tenanted properties to a minimum standard for energy efficiency, in my work i encounter a lot of tenants who can't afford their power bills which are excessive mainly because of the supplied poor and old equipment and neglected properties.

Roarke, London, England

"The monitor can detect when appliances are left on unnecessarily and beam instructions to switch them off."
[BUT]
"Householders will be able to override decisions by the monitor to switch off equipment."

And just how long do you think it will be before the eco-fascists decide that we aren't qualified, so we cannot be allowed to override their wonderful machinery ?

NEVER give the government (especially this one) any power to impact your lives even further!

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

If you can, soak your washing overnight then wash on "worn once" - it works perfectly at half the cost.

Rob, Scarborough, UK

Marc Kirkwood: in the energy-saving context you have right on your side; but in the social context, if I were your mother, I'd say "Find your own home if you don't respect our household rules!"

Inge Jones, London, UK

One way to reduce domestic energy consumption is to develope washing machine detergents which do not require heat. Recently, we started washing all clothes on cold cycle. We have seen little difference in quality of washing and have saved significant electricity bill. Of course, families with young children, who play football or rugby, would need their clothes seperated and washed on appropriate cycle; again with development of detergents providing oxygen would reduce the amount of heat required. There is lot of mechanical action in washing machines to remove most of the dirt.

Kirit Talati , Grimsby, U.K.

Brilliant idea -- although it'll be hard to convince people like my parents, who insist on leaving the TV on when we go out of the house, "to deter burglars". We always have the blinds closed anyway, so the light from the TV set makes little difference. I can understand why they want the light left on (and there's only one bulb in the entire house that isn't "energy efficient", which is confined to a 40W halogen lamp); but I keep sneakily turning the TV off if I'm the last person to leave. Which annoys them a little bit, along with the fact that I'm the only one who bothers to recycle anything at all (mostly newspapers, glass and metal cans in what limited quantities I can manage).

The Standby Saver on Dragon's Den comes to mind. Though I've always wondered why standby still exists on TVs, as I've always preferred to use physical switches. (Have HDTV manufacturers gone mad? My friend's big LCD screen doesn't have a proper power switch at all, and the front standby button glows...)

Marc Kirkwood, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK