European households will be more energy efficient from Feb. 20, with new eco design and energy efficient measures in place, said the European Commission on Wednesday.
The EC said that new energy-efficient measures will be applied to ovens, hobs and extractors allowing consumers to save up to 50 euros on their energy bills per year.
According to the EC, the measures relating to gas and electric ovens, hobs and extractors cover aspects such as increased energy efficiency, more transparent information for consumers and optimized functional performance and reduced energy consumption in low power modes.
'The measures will not apply to products that are already on the shelves in stores but only to new products being offered for sale,' the EC said.
According to the report published by the EC, an energy efficient gas oven will save 180 euros over its lifetime compared to an older product and an efficient electric oven will save up to 230 euros.
The European Union announced the new measures for energy efficiency on January 2015. New measures covering cooking appliances, coffee-makers and networked devices such as printers, entered into force on Jan. 1 2015.
The EU aims for a 20 percent cut in energy consumption by the year 2020. Apart from labeling directives, the European Commission targets measures to increase energy efficiency at the generation, transformation, distribution and consumption levels.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
murat.temizer@aa.com.tr