Christmas Switch-Off
Every year, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê runs a Christmas Switch-off competition to see who can reduce the most energy over the winter break.
27 November 2023
Help Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê reduce energyÌýand win pricesÌýby pledging by the 23rd December to switch off this Christmas!Ìý
In 2022, 488 pledges resulted in a combined saving of 107 tonnes of carbon – that’s equivalent to planting 1,783 trees!* This saved Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê an impressive £140,023 over the festive period.
It showsÌýsmall changes in our everyday behaviours, like switching off non-essential equipment can lead to a huge impact.
Campaign resultsÌý
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- Christmas switch-off 2022
488 pledges resulted in a combined saving of 107 tonnes of carbon – that’s equivalent to planting 1,783 trees!* This saved Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê an incredible £140,023 over the festive period.
WinnersÌý
The departmental winners of the 2022/23 Christmas Switch Off wereÌýThe Ear Institute!ÌýThey received £100 for their efforts.
Ìý
The Ear Institute was closely followed by the Institute of Neurology, Careers Team, Division of Psychiatry and Security and Crime Science.ÌýÌýAlthough we’ve mentioned a handful of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê departments, there were members of staff from a total of 71 departments across the university who took part, without whom we wouldn’t have reached our results. So, thank you all!Ìý
A similar message of thanks goes to the many students across Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê who pledged to switch off during the holidays. We gave Keep Cups toÌýthe first 100 students who pledged, which can be used at all the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê cafés where they can receive a discount on all hot drinks.
Saving calculationsÌý
- The holiday period was from 23.12.2022 - 03.01.2023.
- Electricity used during the holidays = 2,200,675kWh.
- Savings compared to term time = 555,588kWh.
- Average weekday energy use during term time = 289,096kWh.
- Average weekday energy use during holidays = 222,061kWh.
- Average weekend energy use during term time = 255,217kWh.
- Average weekend energy use during holidays = 217,077kWh.
*On average, one tree can consume approximately 60kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.
> read moreÌýChristmas Switch Off 2022ÌýResults: Your Impact!
- Christmas switch-off 2021
200 pledges resulted in a combined saving of 173 tonnes of carbon – that’s equivalent to planting 2,883 trees!* This saved Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê an impressive £114,374 over the festive period.
WinnersÌý
- Most pledges - Institute of Neurology and the Department of Mathematics.
- Most energy saved -ÌýBartlett School of Architecture reducedÌýtheir energy use by 56%.
Saving calculationsÌý
- The holiday period was from 23.12.2021 - 03.01.2022.
- Electricity used during the holidays = 5,057,789kWh.
- Savings compared to term time = 816,959kWh.
- Average weekday energy use during term time = 500,240kWh.
- Average weekday energy use during holidays = 435,247kWh.
- Average weekend energy use during term time = 468,207kWh.
- Average weekend energy use during holidays = 393,953kWh.
- Figures based on DEFRA carbon factors.
*On average, one tree can consume approximately 60kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.
> read moreÌýChristmas Switch Off 2021 Results: Your Impact!
- Christmas switch-off 2020
The switch-off did not take place due to the COVID pandemic.
- Christmas switch-off 2019
235 pledges resulted in a combined saving of 284 tonnes of carbon – that’s equivalent to planting 4,696 trees!* This saved Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê almost £110,000 over the festive period.
We saved 284 tonnes of carbon - 37 tonnes more than last year - which is enough carbon to fill 63 Olympic-sized swimming pools!Ìý
Winners
- 1st - Careers Team;
- 2nd -ÌýDivision of Psychiatry;
- 3rd -ÌýDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
Savings calculations
- The holiday period is from 21.12.2019 - 01.01.2020.
- Electricity used during this time = 2,134,419kWh.
- Gas used during this time = 2,128,650kWh.Ìý
- The control period is from 05.12.2019 - 19.12.2019.
- Average electricity used during this time = 2,843,116kWh.
- Average gas used during this time = 2,687,055kWh.
- Figures based on DEFRA carbon factors state that consuming 1kWh of electricity produces 0.26kg CO2 and costs £0.13 and consuming 1kWh of gas produces 0.18 kg CO2 and costs £0.03.
*On average, one tree can consume approximately 60kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.
- Christmas switch-off 2018
386 pledgesÌýsavedÌýalmost 900,000kWh – that’s enough electricity to run the lights on a Christmas tree for 1,538 years!* 9% more than last year.Ìý
The Switch-Off saved Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê £95k in total and £9.7k on Christmas day!
WinnersÌý
- Institute of Archaeology;
- Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Estates;
- Clinical Trials and Methodology.
Saving calculationsÌý
- *Total energy saved – closure period was 22.12.18– 01.01.19, variance compared to average of preceding 4 weeks (normalised for degree days for heating savings).
- *Electricity saved – average Christmas tree lights consume 1.2kWh in 24 hours.
- *Gas saved – warming up 24 mince pies at a time, for 6 minutes in a 2kW gas oven.
> read moreÌýThe Christmas Switch Off: your impact.
- Christmas switch-off 2017
Over 400 of you pledged, saving almost 823,000 kWh – that’s enough electricity to run the lights on a Christmas tree for 1291 years!*
Comparing Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's energy use over the holiday period with our normal operations, you helped save a huge 822,534 kWh of energy* (2% more than last year despite the campus growing). The gas we saved could be used to heat up over 24 million mince pies!*
Winners
- Division of Psychiatry -ÌýÌý79 students and staff pledging to Switch Off over the break!
- Geography - saving the most with a 64% reduction!
> read moreÌý
- Christmas switch-off 2016
Over 100 departments pledged to switch off over the Christmas Closure, thanks to all your efforts we saved enough energy to keep the lights on a Christmas tree running for over 1,800 years!
That's a 17% reduction compared to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's usual energy use[1].
The energy saving prevented 2600 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted, which would weigh the equivalent of almost 4,000,000 mince pies!
WinnersÌý
- Division of Psychiatry - 53 pledges.
Saving calculationÌý
- The holiday period is from 24/12/16 - 02/01/17;
- Electricity used during this time: 1,691,698 kWh;
- Gas used during this time: 1,722,411 kWh;
- The control period is from 28/11/16 - 23/12/16;
- Average electricity used during this time: 2,160,680ÌýkWh;
- Average gas used during this time: 1,940,813ÌýkWh;
- Figures are based on a mince pie weighing 65g and Christmas tree lights being 50W;
- Figures also assume that consuming 1kWh of electricity produces 0.41kg C02 and costs £0.12/kWh and consuming 1kWh of gas produces 0.18kg C02 and costs £0.035/kWh.
[1]ÌýComparing Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's energy use over the holiday period with the previous fortnight.
> Read moreÌý
- Christmas switch-off 2014
Comparing Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's energy use over the holiday period with the previous fortnight, you helped save a huge 509,593 kWh of energy. That's a reduction of 20% in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's usual electricity use and would be enough electricity to keep the lights on a Christmas tree running for over 1,000 years.Ìý
> Read moreÌý.
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