28 October 2010 15:57
Spooked Brits spend £138,000 a night sleeping with the light on

One in nine British adults still sleep with the light on because they are scared of the dark¹, research from leading energy company E.ON has revealed, suggesting that together these 1.9 million homes could spend £138,000 on Halloween alone by keeping a light on². 

In a survey of 1,000 adults, nearly one third (28%) admitted always or sometimes leaving a light on through the witching hour with the most popular reason given (31%) as being afraid of the dark.  A quarter of people who leave a light on do so in case they have to get up in the night and nearly one fifth do it out of habit, just because they always have.

With Halloween approaching, and darker evenings with the clocks going back, E.ON suggests the faint-hearted get ‘energy fit' and use an energy efficient alternative instead, saving both energy and money.  1 kWh of electricity will power a standard 60W bulb for around 17 hours, an 11W low energy bulb for around 90 hours and a 1W LED night light for around 1,000 hours.

Beverly Maguire, one of E.ON's Energy Fitness instructors, said: "I hate to admit it but there was a time I left my landing light on at night too.  We can't change people's fears and phobias - and we certainly don't want to leave them afraid in the dark! - but we would encourage them, like me, to switch to an energy efficient option like an LED night light instead." 

It's also the time to get your home energy fit for the winter, a good start is to set your heating timer so you only have it on when you need it and make sure your central heating system is checked over and serviced."

Visit the E.ON Energy shop http://www.eonshop.co.uk/ to see our range of energy efficient lighting or for more information on getting energy fit visit http://eonenergyfit.com/.

Ends

Notes to editors:

If any member of the media would like two free LED nightlights please reply by email with the best postal address.

¹ Based on a survey of 1000 UK adults

² Based on one ninth of the number of UK homes from 2001 Census and a standard 60w bulb on for 9 hours at 13.6p per kWh.

About E.ON

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies;
• E.ON's retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK with around 5.3 million electricity and gas customers, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON also offers central heating and boiler care;
• E.ON's target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity it generates by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• E.ON Group aims to spend €8bn between 2007 and 2011 on renewable generation and climate protection activities.

For further information please contact:

Louise Nottage on 02476 181 942 or louise.nottage@eonenergy.com or Cara Ponton on 02476 181 303 or cara.ponton@eonenergy.com