English Living News & Trends
Brits are enforcing energy saving house rules as prices rise again, study shows
A study by Currys asked the UK to list which house rules they set in their homes and it may surprise some to find out many of the top rules had an energy saving theme.
The study asked 2000 participants to select, from a list of 52, all the household rules which were enforced in their homes.
The current news of rising energy costs and cost of living crisis are likely the reasons behind the rule “Turn the lights off when you're not in the room” coming in as the second most enforced rule in UK homes. This was selected by 47.6% of the survey respondents, very narrowly missing the top spot.
Although this is probably due to energy bills skyrocketing over the past 12 months, many Brits who grew up in the UK will likely remember the drama of their mums shouting “it is like Blackpool illuminations in here” when lights were left on. This rule was also found to be the number one rule in four UK regions: North West, West Midlands, Wales and South West.
Other energy related house rules found to be popular in UK homes were Turn the TV off when not watching, which 43% of Brits enforce, “Don’t turn the main light on unnecessarily” 32%, “Close inside doors to keep heat in” 31% and “Put a jumper on before turning the heating on” 27%.
When looking at the demographic split the concern for energy saving rules increases with age. For example, "Turn the lights off when you're not in the room" only 24.6% of 16-24 year-olds chose this as one of their top house rules, compared to 50.16% of 45-54 year-olds and 62.32% of those 55 and over. A similar pattern can be seen for the other energy related rules too.
No bad toilet etiquette allowed in the UK
When it came to the top rules however, it was the rules of the loo which dominated. The most enforced rule in British households was washing hands after using the bathroom with just less than half (47.7%) of respondents choosing this rule as one they have in their home. The third and fourth most popular rules were also toilet related, 46.2% chose “Replace toilet paper when it's finished” and 44.2% ask that people in their house “Always flush the toilet”.
