EU to ban high-energy hair dryers, smartphones and kettles

Bruno Waterfield, and Emily Gosden telegraph.co.uk The European Union is considering pulling the plug on high-wattage hair dryers, lawn mowers and electric kettles in a follow up to its controversial ban on powerful vacuum cleaners. The power of hairdryers could be reduced by as much as 30 per cent in order to be more eco-friendly, a draft study commissioned by Brussels suggests, threatening many of the models favoured by hairdressers and consumers for speedy blow-dries. New proposals are expected next spring to outlaw dozens of household electrical devices that European officials regard as using too much electricity, as part of plans to meet EU targets on energy efficiency. Current EU legislation covers televisions, washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners but not most smaller electrical appliances. to read more: telegraph.co.uk