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Big savings during Switch Off Week
Posted on 09/11/2009
Community Services
Residents in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland cut the area’s energy consumption when they teamed up to take part in the Big Switch Off.
Energy equivalent to 66,000 100 watt light bulbs being turned off for a week was saved during the event which took place from October 12-18.
Central Networks recorded consumption as being 0.5 per cent lower for the week than expected across the whole area, amounting to a financial saving of almost £50,000 – this would add up to approximately £2.6 million a year.
In terms of CO2 saved, the week’s saving amounted to 195 tonnes - the equivalent in volume of 195 hot air balloons or 1,170 double decker buses.
And at around 4pm on Wednesday, October 14, demand on the network was as much as six per cent lower than usual.
At County Hall, in Glenfield, Leicestershire County Council cut its energy consumption by nearly five per cent per cent during the week, compared to the previous week. Over a year this would equate to a saving of £18,283.
Leicester City Council saw a nearly two per cent reduction across its buildings, which includes libraries, leisure centres and offices, saving nearly three tonnes of carbon dioxide - the equivalent to a return flight to Australia.
City libraries experienced an overall reduction of 6.16 per cent and city leisure centres 3.4 per cent. If the leisure centres kept this up for a year, the energy saved would be enough to power 15 average households for 12 months.
At North West Leicestershire District Council, in Coalville, there was a 4.3 per cent reduction in daytime units and a 1.5 per cent reduction in night-time energy use at council offices from Monday to Friday, compared to the week before.
Switching off paid off for Blaby District Council which made a three per cent saving compared to the week before, while an extra effort at Charnwood Borough Council saw a combined saving of 10.5 per cent at its offices and Loughborough Town Hall during the week.
Chairman of ENABLE (Environmental Action for a Better Leicestershire) Prof Mike Preston said: “I am pleased to see that so many people took part in this year’s Big Switch Off.
"It goes to show that energy, and money, can be saved by taking a few simple measures. The actions we took during Big Switch Off week to save energy can be made on a day-to-day basis.
"If people remember to take simple steps such as switching off standby buttons on TVs and computers, unplugging phone chargers which are not in use and switching off unnecessary lights in rooms that are empty, we will see a real difference."
Although this year’s Big Switch Off has now taken place, there are families and community groups who are taking part in year-long challenges to see who can save the most energy.
Last year the Bird family from Tilton on the Hill took part in the 12-month family challenge contest.
They have just received their final results and realised they managed to cut their energy use by more than 36 per cent, which equates to a saving of approximately £20 a month.
Julian Bird said: "We took measures such as switching the TV off standby, not using the tumble drier and only filling the kettle with as much water as we needed.
"I didn’t think we could save so much – it goes to who how much we were wasting before.
"I would encourage other people to do similar things. You really can save energy and money."
Another round of a 12 month family and community group challenge to reduce energy consumption has just started, with 16 families and five community groups taking part.
Businesses, schools, community and faith groups all took part in the Big Switch Off which is a partnership lead by ENABLE and local authorities across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland together with the Rural Community Council, Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire and Central Networks.
To find out more about the Big Switch Off visit: www.leics.gov.uk/bigswitchoff