Published Thursday 29 February 2024 at 15:10
Residents across Blackburn with Darwen are being encouraged to take part in a brand-new challenge to reduce their heating bills and help save the planet.
By turning down their heating by just one degree, residents could save up to £100 a year on their bills.
It’ll help cut emissions too – in fact, research shows that if everyone in the country took the challenge, it would save as much carbon as eight million flights between London and New York!
The campaign has been developed by Blackburn with Darwen Council with the People’s Jury on the Climate Crisis.
This is a group of residents chosen to represent the borough who have been learning about the impact of climate change and what can be done locally to help make a difference.
Councillor Quesir Mahmood, Deputy Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council and Executive Member with responsibility for climate change, said:
The Council was recently awarded an A grade for its work on climate change – the same as the likes of Paris, Barcelona and Stockholm.
In fact, we were judged by CDP as being in the top 13% globally of cities and boroughs, which is something we are really proud of.
We declared a climate emergency back in 2019 with a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 and while we’re making good progress, we know we can’t do this on our own.
We’ve hosted the People’s Jury – a group that is representative of our borough – to teach them more about the climate crisis and asked them to look at what we can all be doing locally, including residents and businesses too.
One of their priorities was to improve education around climate change, including on the small changes we can all be making that add up to a big difference – this new campaign is very much part of that.
It’s recommended that heating should be set at the lowest comfortable temperature – typically between 18 and 21 degrees.
In fact, the World Health Organisation says that 18°C is warm enough for healthy adults, with slightly higher temperatures needed for those with specific health needs.
Councillor Mahmood added:
With the help of the People’s Jury, we were keen to look at something really simple that we can all be doing at home – the One Degree Challenge will help residents save money and the planet too.
As well as encouraging residents to reduce the temperature on their heating by just one degree – more if they can – we are also offering lots of tips on how residents can better heat their homes and we know this is more important than ever with the cost-of-living crisis.
We realise for some people right now, sadly, having the heating on can be a real luxury, but this will help reduce the cost for those who do and will help reduce emissions too.
Other top tips include turning the boiler flow temperature to 60 degrees, turning radiators down in rooms that aren’t being used and installing a smart thermostat to help control heating and set automatic schedules, again helping to reduce costs and emissions.
And, as part of the campaign, residents can be in with the chance of winning a smart thermostat plus £250 for taking part in a short survey – click here to take part.
For more on the One Degree Challenge, please visit: www.blackburn.gov.uk/climate
On the website, you can also find out more about the People’s Jury and the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan as well as more hints and tips on how you can help make a difference.