The festive faithful keeping the Christmas lights on despite spiralling energy costs

Traditionally it is the time of year when households begin getting the box of festive lights down from the attic, with the more ambitious ones preparing to deck the entire façade of their homes with dazzling displays.

With the cost of living crisis set to hit Christmas, one may expect to see this year's illuminations dimmed to cut back on spiralling energy costs.

But some have now vowed to defy the financial crunch to keep the festive home lights burning, even forking out extra cash to do so.

Paul Bibby, a carer who puts up a light display in Chelmsford for the Essex Air Ambulance, said he would not be deterred by cost of living concerns or criticisms.

He said he was anticipating paying as much as £350 this December, up from last year’s £250, to put his display of 101 lights up this year because of increased energy prices.

“Electricity wise I’m going into the unknown,” he said. “I worked out last year it was £250 for the whole month which is not bad considering you’re doing 31 or 32 days but this year I’ve just had a smart meter installed.”

His collection of lights will include inflatable Santas, snowmen and an eight-foot gingerbread man as well as six-feet dogs to be tied on the bonnet of his car.

Mr Bibby said there would be no fence up so that people could walk in “because last year the kids had their photograph taken with the lights”. He has put up the display for three years for charity and sixteen years overall, raising £850 in total last year.

“I think it will cost maybe another £100 more - I don’t know until we’ve got them all on.”

But he remains unsure whether people would donate as much because of the cost of living.

“That’s the million dollar question,” he said. “I’ve had a few people go past and say ‘How the hell can you afford to do this’ - I don’t take any notice of them really, I haven’t answered them back because it’s nothing to do with them.”

In Soham, Cambridgeshire, Helen Attlesey and her husband John said they had already put her annual lights display outside their home.

Mrs Attlesey said: “It’s for charity so if we didn’t do it they wouldn’t get any money this year, and I’m sure they are struggling too”.

She said money raised was divided between three charities who had helped her grandson who has epilepsy - Great Ormond Street Hospital; Dreamflight, which takes children in poor health to Orlando, Florida; and the East Anglia Children’s Hospice which gave his family and him respite at different times.

“We’ve got all the stuff already here so we might as well do it,” she said.

On average the couple raise £10,000 each year divided equally between the charities, she added.

Their festive defiance comes despite new research showing that one in six households will not be turning on their Christmas lights this year in order to save on energy costs.

A study by Go Compare has found that the number of people who will not be lighting up their homes has increased by a third since December 2021, when just 12 per cent of people said they would not be decking the halls with coloured displays.

The survey of 2000 households found that 16 per cent would not switch their lights on at all this year, while just over a quarter (27 per cent), said they would be putting up fewer lights this Christmas to save money.

The study found that a fifth (20 per cent) of households will still be putting up the same number of lights this Christmas, claiming that they won’t be concerned about the bills.

However, this number has almost halved since 2021, when 41 per cent of people said they wouldn’t be cutting back on their lighting plans.

Gareth Kloet, of Go.Compare Energy, said: “Rising energy prices have been hitting the British public hard throughout 2022, and with no end in sight, it makes sense that bill payers will be looking at how they use electricity throughout the home, and Christmas lights will be no exception to this.”

He added: “Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, but it can also be a financial worry for many. If people do decide to put up the fairy lights this Christmas, there are some ways in which you can reduce the amount of energy they use, including using flashing or timed lights which consume less energy.”