The lights are on but no-one’s home
As the clocks go back and the days get shorter, a national survey by retailer ledhut.co.uk has found that more than 60% of us are leaving lights on when we go out – with an embarrassing one in ten admitting we do it “all the time.”
The most popular excuse for not switching off is to give the impression that someone is home, with 78% of us keeping lights on to ward off potential intruders. One in eight of us has no excuse at all – admitting that we simply forget. Other popular reasons for splashing out on lighting whilst we’re not at home included keeping our cats and dogs in comfort, wanting to be able see when we come home in the dark and creating a more homely ambience. Some even claim that turning off lights is too much effort, so they don’t bother if they’re “just popping out.”
Shockingly, even when we are at home, the majority of us are still wasting money and energy on lighting we don’t need, with a massive 70% admitting to leaving lights on in empty rooms.
Keith Scott, of ledhut.co.uk, says: “These results show that even with recent energy price hikes, the nation is still in the dark about the true cost of our wasteful behaviour. Just by choosing inefficient bulbs we could be spending ten times too much on lighting – and could easily save around 90% simply by switching to eco-friendly LED bulbs. In fact, a typical home using standard bulbs instead of LEDs could be wasting around £30 a month – that’s an enormous £8,250 over the bulbs’ lifespan!
“With lighting one of the biggest home power guzzlers, it’s time we all became savvier about the way we use it. As well as wising up about switching off, it also pays to choose efficient options when we do need to leave the lights on. As the days draw shorter, whether you’re leaving lights on for security, for your children or for pets, there are much savvier ways to do it – both for you and the environment.”
The research has been carried out as part of LED Hut’s Savvy Switch campaign – launched by property guru Sarah Beeny. The Savvy Switch is urging one million households to make the simple switch to eco-friendly, money-saving LED light bulbs this winter – a move that could see an incredible saving of more than £8bn on electricity bills and 5m tonnes of CO2.
Unlike traditional incandescent lights, which lose most of their energy through heat, LEDs are extremely efficient, using a massive 90% less energy. They are also far more durable, lasting 50 times longer than standard bulbs and providing an impressive 50,000 hours of consistent, quality light.
For more information about the Savvy Switch – including tips, advice and guidance on how much you could save by switching to LEDs – visit ledhut.co.uk/savvy-switch.