‘Don’t have your home as hot as Barbados...wear a jumper instead’
Goalie James’ energy saves
EX-ENGLAND goalkeeper David James is urging families to switch to sweaters to save on energy bills this winter.
His advice comes as experts say half of householders heat their homes to a sizzling 75F (24C) for six months of the year – as hot as Barbados.
And with bills set to rocket as prices soar, specialists say people should layer up before turning up their thermostats.
Research by gas and electric giant Utilita Energy showed reducing home heating by just three degrees saves consumers an average £174 a year.
They said millions of families should avoid heating their homes higher than 70F (21C) this winter to keep costs down.
Utilita has teamed up with environmentalist and Premier League legend James and clothing charity Traid to launch aWearWarm campaign.
They want households to stop being “T-shirt tweakers” and get cosy in jumpers instead, rather than recreating the Caribbean indoors.
The ex-Liverpool, Man City and
Portsmouth star said: “One of my personal bugbears is seeing people sitting at home in the winter, wearing a T-shirt, with the heating cranked up. “There’s absolutely no sense in it, and now we have the evidence to reveal the impact that this type of behaviour is having on the planet and the pocket.”
The 51-year-old, capped 53 times for England, added: “To offset the pollution generated by overheated UK homes, we’d need to plant 51 million trees, each year – enough to cover 392,000 football pitches.”
Fashion designer and green housing campaigner Wayne Hemingway, 60, called it “bloomin’ obvious” to add layers. He added: “And it makes sense on many levels; for the environment, for your health [cooler environments help prevent the spread of a number of illnesses] and your pocket. Why wouldn’t you?”
For more information visit wearwarm.co.uk