Post by PeterL on Aug 23, 2014 18:39:14 GMT
EU ban on vacuum cleaners is a blow to our freedoms
From September 1, it will be illegal in the EU for manufacturers to make or import vacuum cleaners with a motor of greater than 1,600 watts.
Until this week I had not the slightest idea of the wattage of my vacuum cleaner. Nor did my wife when I asked her. All we know – or care about – is that it does the job.
But it turns out that we – and you, too, if you have a vacuum cleaner that does what it’s supposed to do which is suck up dirt – are labelled environmental terrorists.
According to the Eurocrats who approved the ban, every time we suck up some fluff we are killing the planet. Our behaviour is so bad that it’s been banned by the EU. One illegal flick of the “on” switch and we’ll be outlaws. But guess what? There’s no evidence to show that a ban will reduce energy consumption. None. Not even a smidgen of evidence that a ban will reduce global warming at all.
The ban, it turns out, is bonkers. Truly, madly, deeply bonkers. Because it will actually make things worse. You didn’t really need to be told that, did you? I bet you knew it the moment you found out about the ban. Because it’s par for the course with the EU.
Here’s why. The average vacuum cleaner on sale now is 1,800 watts. By 2017 the legal maximum will be 900 watts.
At a stroke, that will wipe out five of Which?’s seven Best Buy vacuum cleaners. That means instead of the efficient, powerful and useful vacuum cleaners which most of us have, we will be restricted to buying inefficient, weak and almost useless vacuum cleaners.
Read the full story
Even the EU couldn’t believe it would make the slightest difference to the environment could they
From September 1, it will be illegal in the EU for manufacturers to make or import vacuum cleaners with a motor of greater than 1,600 watts.
Until this week I had not the slightest idea of the wattage of my vacuum cleaner. Nor did my wife when I asked her. All we know – or care about – is that it does the job.
But it turns out that we – and you, too, if you have a vacuum cleaner that does what it’s supposed to do which is suck up dirt – are labelled environmental terrorists.
According to the Eurocrats who approved the ban, every time we suck up some fluff we are killing the planet. Our behaviour is so bad that it’s been banned by the EU. One illegal flick of the “on” switch and we’ll be outlaws. But guess what? There’s no evidence to show that a ban will reduce energy consumption. None. Not even a smidgen of evidence that a ban will reduce global warming at all.
The ban, it turns out, is bonkers. Truly, madly, deeply bonkers. Because it will actually make things worse. You didn’t really need to be told that, did you? I bet you knew it the moment you found out about the ban. Because it’s par for the course with the EU.
Here’s why. The average vacuum cleaner on sale now is 1,800 watts. By 2017 the legal maximum will be 900 watts.
At a stroke, that will wipe out five of Which?’s seven Best Buy vacuum cleaners. That means instead of the efficient, powerful and useful vacuum cleaners which most of us have, we will be restricted to buying inefficient, weak and almost useless vacuum cleaners.
Read the full story
Even the EU couldn’t believe it would make the slightest difference to the environment could they