The Next Generation of Appliances: Visions for Sustainability

The suggestions for future generations of appliances presented in this paper are based on the assumption of an increasing awareness of the environmental problems and of real human well-being. In some sense it will reflect the author´s personal preferences. A future refrigerator can be designed to consume no more than 50 kWh per year, without using any risky synthetic gasses. Washing appliances will use no electricity for heating, which will bring annual electricity consumption below 50 kWh for a washing machine. For electronic equipment, the efficiency gain known from battery operated version should be applied to units on the main supply, bringing the electricity consumption for a computer used 2 hours per day down to 5 kWh per year, for instance. With careful behaviour, annual electricity consumption for a household can easily be brought down below 250 kWh per capita, compared to 1000-2000 kWh which is typical today in Western Europe.