Cuddling up could save Brits £770m this winter

Now that the winter weather is on its way, many of us are already pulling our thick coats out of the back of the wardrobe and whacking the heating right up. But when it costs the average household £30 to turn the heating up by just 1 degree, cashback company Quidco.com is urging Brits to adopt cheaper, more romantic ways to keep warm.

As well as rewarding its members with hundreds of pounds for taking out a new utility package, Quidco has also found a way to keep energy bills low by encouraging people to cuddle up instead of turning up the heating. A recent poll found that one in five Brits already uses this method to keep warm – the same number as those who installed double glazing.

Hannah Green, PR Manager at Quidco, said, “While we shouldn’t need an excuse to cuddle up to our partners, the saving of potentially hundreds of pounds on energy bills makes for a good case! Saving money is easy once you know how. With keeping warm in particular, there are so many alternatives to turning up the heating which your bank balance will thank you for.”

Home alone? Try these options to keep the energy bills low:

• Over 40% of people would put on another jumper to keep warm rather than turning up the heating
• 66% of people unplug or switch off appliances when not in use
• 20% used a hot water bottle
• 18% invested in an energy monitor to identify energy intensive appliances/activities
• 55% only filled the kettle with the water they needed
• 20% of people changed the way they paid their bills i.e. switched to monthly direct debit
• 69% bought energy efficient lightbulbs.

* The cost of turning the heating up by one degree (Energysavingadvice.co.uk) x the number of households in the UK (Office for National Statistics 2009) = 30 x 25,700,000 = £77,100,000
** Survey conducted by surveypop on behalf of Quidco, July – October 2010