A resourceful Scotswoman, Tanya Ewing, despite coping with a life-threatening disease, has invented a device which aims to change people's attitude to home energy consumption. She was inspired to create her monitoring device after becoming frustrated with hidden and difficult-to-read utility meters.

The 38-year-old from Perth, who suffers from Lyme disease, now has a global patent pending on her Ewgeco device, which shows water, gas and electricity consumption at a glance. Mrs Ewing came up with her idea after realising that utility bills were accounting for a larger slice of her monthly household outgoings.

She said she has been inundated with inquiries about her energy efficiency device from house builders, home improvement stores and councils ahead of it going on sale in late 2007.

The device, intended to provide a picture of a home's "carbon footprint", works by displaying electricity, water and gas use on an LCD display, with a bar of lights showing the level of consumption. Ewing hopes it will remind children as well as adults that leaving appliances such as televisions on standby costs money.

"The majority of the population are unaware of the true cost of appliances," Mrs Ewing told the BBC. "Ewgeco is straightforward to use to monitor the household's gas, electricity and water consumption. It will encourage them switch appliances off rather than leave them on standby which will result in lower energy consumption, lower utility bills, reduce the risk of debt, and, at the same time, do their bit to reduce the impact of climate change."

In July, the Government sponsored Sustainable Development Commission concluded that key environmental targets would be "undeliverable" unless households cut the amount of resources they consume. The UK's 21 million domestic dwellings are responsible for 27% of CO2 emissions, consume half of water supplies, and produce 8% of all waste.

Retrofitting existing technologies is the most cost-effective way to reduce households' impact, the study ssid. The efficiency of the current housing stock varies greatly because of a number of factors, including the age of the property, its size, and inhabitants' attitudes and habits. At least 75% of existing properties are still expected to be in use in 2050, the year by which the government hopes to have cut carbon emissions by 60% from 1990 levels.

That is why there is a need to focus on today's dwellings, rather than undertaking a widespread rebuilding programme, the report's authors said. In that context, a device which clearly shows levels of consumption and which will also show where successful savings are being made could become an essential in the war on carbon emissions.

Green Building Press