Everyone who returned their diary was entered into a free prize draw; this year the draw was for a Wattson device sponsored by DIY Kyoto and the lucky winner was Pam Reason of Bishops Itchington.
When presented with her prize, Pam enthused: “Taking part in the Family Challenge was fantastic. It was amazing to have an instant record of what I was using around the home. If I put the kettle on it jumped right up. The lowest I could ever get it down to was 0.5p per hour, and I guess that’s because of my alarm clock, Sky box and other things I just don’t turn off.
“The most it went up to was 94p per hour, which was when the electric shower was on, and even though the shower and kettle were expensive they were never on for long. But the oven sent it up to 30p per hour, and sometimes that would be on for an hour or more when cooking meals.
“It’s wonderful to have won the Wattson, a complete surprise, I’m looking forward to setting it all up now.”
Since taking part in the challenge Pam has also lowered her thermostat to 18 degrees, has put an article in her local parish magazine about saving energy, and given a talk to a WI group on the subject.
Last year the competition was for a week's accommodation in Cornwall and a family pass to the Eden Project, courtesy of Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (WEEAC). The lucky winner was Mike Beard of Leamington Spa.
David Jullien of WEEAC presents Mike Beard with his prize. Also present is Jacky Lawrence, Strategic Energy Officer at Warwickshire County Council.
“It was such a surprise to hear about the competition, I’d completely forgotten about it. I thought it would be interesting to have the Electrisave, and never thought we’d win the competition. We’ve never been the Eden project so we’re all looking forward to it.”
“We really enjoyed having the Electrisave and started working out all kinds of things. We even found ourselves telling friends `do you know your microwave costs you £5 a year just to run the clock!’
“We also found some other surprising things, like how we arranged the things in the freezer made a dramatic difference to its efficiency. We’ve now got energy efficient light bulbs and try and make savings wherever we can.
The Family Challenge forms part of the SWITCH IT OFF! Campaign, raising awareness of energy efficiency across Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire. We intend to continue running the 'Family Challenge' as an ongoing scheme.
If you live in Warwickshire and would like to take part, please e-mail climatechange@warwickshire.gov.uk |