One in five households won’t be turning on the lights this Christmas to save on energy costs
A further 23% revealed they will be putting up fewer lights this Christmas to save on their bills
New research from Go.Compare Energy has revealed that the number of UK households who won’t be putting up Christmas lights to save on energy costs has increased in 2023.
This year, 18% of people told Go.Compare they wouldn’t be lighting up their homes this Christmas - an increase from December 2022, when 16% of bill payers told the comparison site they wouldn’t be decking the halls.*
The data also revealed that a further 23% will be using fewer lights than in 2022 in a bid to save money on their energy bills.
Around a quarter (26%) of those who took part otherwise said that they aren’t concerned about their bills, and won’t be cutting back on how many lights they are decorating their homes with.
Gareth Kloet, spokesperson for Go.Compare commented on the new research: “This is the third year that we have asked people about their plans for Christmas lights, and even though the cost of energy has gone down slightly from 2022, it’s clear to see that it’s still a concern for so many.
“With the price cap increase announced just last week, the cost of energy bills is still far too high and it’s understandably impacting people’s plans to light up their houses.”
“Christmas is a really expensive time of year, so it makes absolute sense that people are looking for ways to cut back,” Gareth added.
“There are, however, some things you can do to save on the cost of Christmas lights – for example, buying timed lights or flashing lights to reduce energy usage could be a better option.”
Go.Compare has also launched an energy calculator which can help you see how much energy the appliances in your home are costing you to run - including Christmas lights - which can be found here: https://www.gocompare.com/gas-and-electricity/guide/energy-calculator/.
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For further information please contact:
Lynsey Walden or Kath Chadwick at Go.compare on lynsey.walden@gocompare.com or kathryn.chadwick@gocompare.com.
Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare
Contact Information
Lynsey Walden
Notes to editors
Notes to Editor
*Based on data from a Maru Public Opinion survey conducted by its data collection experts at Maru/Blue between October 6th and 9th 2023 of 1,957 people. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.2%. Maru Public Opinion is a member of the British Polling Council (BPC).
About Go.Compare
Go.Compare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
It does not charge people to use its services and does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. Go.Compare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. It is this approach to comparing products that secured the company an invitation to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) in 2008, and it is still the only comparison site to be a member of this organisation.
Go.Compare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest and works with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
Go.Compare is part of Future Plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
More information can be found here www.gocompare.com or here https://www.futureplc.com/brands/.