Page 43 - European Energy Innovation - spring 2019 publication

Spring 2019 European Energy Innovation 43

COMMUNICATION

There’s now a web app that
helps you cut energy bills

An EU’s Horizon2020 project has developed a free web app that allows consumers to compare
and choose the most energy-efficient home appliances and cut energy bills.

PocketWatt is a new web app that tells consumers
how much an appliance costs to run, enabling them to
compare both the running costs and the energy savings of
similar models.

The tool covers refrigerators and freezers, washing
machines and driers, dishwashers and air conditioners,
and it is currently available in the Czech Republic,
Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Try PocketWatt here
Consumers can access the app via the PocketWatt
website and use their smartphones’ camera to scan the
QR code on a selected product both online and in-store.
The tool will then tell them how much it would cost
to run that model, and they can search to see if more
efficient models are available. This way they can make
comparisons between models, identifying the best option
for their household and lifestyle.

The aim of PocketWatt is to encourage consumers to buy
more energy-efficient appliances, and make the energy
label easier to understand and more readily available.

Energy-efficient appliances help cut carbon emissions According to the European Commission, every home in
by preventing wasteful energy use. These appliances also Europe is projected to save nearly €500 per year by 2020
help consumers cut their energy bills, performing the thanks to more efficient products. PocketWatt is here to
same services such as cleaning clothes and dishes, but help facilitate and accelerate this transition, and generate
doing so with a lot less energy. even more savings for consumers. l

PocketWatt was developed by the Digi-Label project,
a consortium of eleven organisations across Europe,
and is funded by the European Commission. A number
of retailers and manufacturers are working with the
consortium to enhance and expand the impact of the
project, including Whirlpool.

Karim Bruneo, a Corporate Responsibility and Government
Relations manager at Whirlpool, had previously said of
PocketWatt:

"In line with our commitment to developing high-
performance appliances that conserve the earth's
resources and help homeowners do the same, we're glad to
support the Digi-Label consortium in driving the consumer
awareness about energy efficiency and sustainability."

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