“Cuddle with the pet”
Horrible heating costs: energy supplier outraged with 10 absurd savings tips
Fight rising heating costs with the cat?
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What can be done against rising heating costs? A British energy company suggested a number of very strange savings tips to its customers – and had to apologize afterwards.
Many households are struggling with skyrocketing heating bills this winter – including in Great Britain. The country’s third largest energy supplier has now caught a shit storm there with a list of seemingly cynical savings tips.
In view of the high prices, the provider SSE, which belongs to the energy giant Ovo Energy, sent its customers a guide with “10 simple and inexpensive ways” to lower their heating bills. In normal times, this guide might have been considered funny, but in view of the precarious situation for many households, it sounds like sheer mockery to many.
Hula hoop contest and cats cuddling
The provider recommends that its customers simply put on one additional layer and move around the apartment a lot, “clean the house, challenge the children to a hula-hoop contest or do a few jumping jacks”. You should warm yourself from the inside with “healthy porridge bowls” and non-alcoholic drinks, because the “warm feeling of wine and whiskey is temporary” and you soon feel colder than before. Ginger is also great, but please no chilli because of the sweat you have to fear.
The suggestions under “Finding extra warmth” also read absurdly. In addition to the actual heating, there are “some lesser-known ways of drawing heat from other sources,” writes the energy provider. It actually says: “Cuddle with your pets and loved ones to be cozy.” In addition, one should open the curtains to let the sun in and leave the oven open after cooking – “but be careful when pets and small children are around”.
Company apologizes
The weird tips for overcoming the heating cost crisis sparked a wave of outrage. Several members of parliament sharply criticized her in public. Labor MP Clive Lewis called them “ridiculous and insensitive” and at the same time criticized the government’s lack of an energy strategy. According to forecasts, energy costs for millions of British households could rise by 50 percent by the spring.
Ovo Energy has now apologized for the less sensitive advisor. “We are ashamed and sincerely apologize,” the company said in a statement. You understand how difficult the situation is for many customers and will soon be in touch with “more meaningful information”.
Sources: BBC / The Guardian