Thursday 24 November 2022 06:59 PM JANET STREET-PORTER: Turn off the lights to save electricity? Who knew trends now
Jeremy Hunt has made an astonishing discovery he's keen to share: it's possible to save money on heating bills by turning radiators off and drawing the curtains at night! Who knew?
And - another amazing revelation speeds our way from the Chancellor: why not try turning lights off when you leave a room? Now that's a money-saving tip most of us probably hadn't thought of.
The government is planning to spend £25 million of taxpayers' money on a TV and social media campaign designed to show us - the dumb public - how to reduce our energy bills by up to £450 a year.
Lettuce Leaf Liz Truss vetoed this idea during her brief spell in office, describing it as 'nannying'. Now, levelling up mastermind Michael Gove is fully behind the 'how to turn off your lights all by yourself' campaign. He says the series of messages will not be patronising or nannying but will offer us 'authoritative sources of advice'.
Jeremy Hunt has made an astonishing discovery he's keen to share: it's possible to save money on heating bills by turning radiators off and drawing the curtains at night! Who knew?
Most of us have spent the months since energy prices soared thinking of NOTHING ELSE but how to reduce our bills. What magical advice can there be we haven't already thought of?
Can you heat the living room using discarded mince pie boxes? Warm the shower using fairy lights?
Where are the ways of using less energy that don't involve the bleeding obvious? The only way to reduce an energy bill is not to use any energy.
The government might dress this up as a patriotic gesture - plucky Brits showing evil Putin he can't control our lives by charging the earth for gas - but the reasoning behind the campaign is nothing to do with concern for our bank balances or our wellbeing.
Any reduction in our energy consumption is saving the government far more money than it will ever save us, because they have committed to capping our bills until April 2024, which could cost around the Treasury around £45 billion. At present, average bills are capped at £2,500 until next April and at £3,000 for a year after that. As the war in Ukraine shows no signs of ending soon, energy prices will not be shrinking for the foreseeable future.
Levelling up mastermind Michael Gove is fully behind the 'how to turn off your lights all by yourself' campaign
The government's media energy campaign will start running before Christmas. Between the TV ads for Christmas feasts featuring a ton of festive lighting, spreads of roast turkey, ham, sausages and all the trimmings, can we expect to see a government approved -celebrity mouthing off about taking shorter showers, only having a gas-guzzling bath when you truly stink (joking), washing your underwear in cold water, and only putting the heating on when you are actually in your home?
Of course, the best answer for this government - faced with soaring energy costs, and an expensive commitment to help us pay our bills - would be if we stopped washing except for our 'top and tails,' wore dirty clothes, wrapped ourselves in duvets and old newspapers, read by candlelight and only put the cooker on for a maximum for 30 minutes a day - so roast dinners are out.
Even better, we could move into the local Wetherspoons during the day, provided Tim Martin hasn't closed another couple of dozen over the weekend.
When a government hands out advice, the results can backfire and simply state the bleeding obvious.
Sure, the buckle up
