Many Brits to turn off Christmas lights in bid to save energy
Christmas is set to be a bit less sparkly this year with a massive upsurge in Brits not putting up Christmas lights to save energy.
The soaring cost of electricity means 16 per cent of UK households will avoid plugging in fairy lights on their tree and across their house, which light up many streets around the festive period.
New research from Go.Compare Energy found of those still putting up their lights, 27 per cent will be using fewer of them, and just than a fifth will put up the same amount as last year.
The number of people who won’t be lighting up their house has increased by a third since December last year, when just 12 per cent said they wouldn’t.
Surveying more than 2,000 people, Go.Compare, a fifth said they’d carry on as normal and weren’t worried about the bills, but it was still half of 2021, when 41 per cent said they won’t be cutting back.
“It’s understandable that more people will be thinking twice before they turn on the lights this year” said Gareth Kloet, of Go.Compare Energy.
“Rising energy prices have been hitting the British public hard throughout 2022, and with no end in sight, it makes sense that bill payers will be looking at how they use electricity throughout the home, and Christmas lights will be no exception to this.”
While the festive period is a time for friends and family, he said it can also “be a financial worry for many and with the turbulence of 2022 looking like it will continue into 2023, many of us will be thinking about cutting back this year even on decorations.”