Warwickshire News Mine

Families need not worry that this will mean major building work, insulation or fitting solar panels, it just requires switching things off that are currently on stand by.

Videos, set-top boxes, televisions and even the clocks on microwaves are using surprisingly high amounts of power everyday in our homes. The average family spends £400 a year on electricity and 25 per cent can be slashed from this by switching off.

According to the Energy Saving Trust nationally 71 per cent of people regularly leave items on stand by in their homes, and 65 per cent of people leave lights on in rooms they are not using.

Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, Worcestershire County Council, and the Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, are leading the way with many other partners this year to drive home a ‘Switch it Off’ message.

The message that by doing a few simple things in your home you can not only prevent thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, potentially influencing global warming, but also save money.

If everyone in Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire stopped leaving appliances on stand by it would prevent 86,322 tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere through wasted electricity and save more than £20m (enough to pay the annual electricity bill for 71,953 homes).

This year’s Switch it Off campaign will be launched on Monday, October 29, culminating on Friday, November 2, when everyone in Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, will be asked to Switch it Off and use as little electricity as possible between the hours of 4.30pm and 6.30pm. 

The threat of climate change is a real concern in today’s world. Rising temperatures, increased risk of flooding and extreme weather patterns, are just some of the likely effects of climate change. 

Carbon dioxide is the main climate change causing gas. In the UK, the energy we use to heat and power our homes accounts for 27 per cent of our total carbon dioxide emissions and this continues to rise.

Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “It really doesn’t take a lot to think about saving energy. You are not only saving the planet from the comfort of your own home, but also cutting your own energy bill by up to 25 per cent.

”It’s interesting to see how people behave towards energy. Prices have gone up massively in recent years, yet the vast majority of people remain unaware of what they are spending on their energy. People will drive out of their way to get a penny off a litre of petrol, yet ask them what a kilowatt hour of electricity costs them and they won’t have a clue.”

For more information on taking steps to `Switch it off’ visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/switchitoff or call the energy advice hotline on 0800 512012.

Link to WCC