Yahoo Finance Brits to spend £2bn on Christmas lights in 2020
Brits are predicted to spend more than £2bn on electricity for Christmas lights in 2020, research suggests.
Four in five (79%) people anticipate a higher electricity bill due to Christmas decorating costs in January, according to a survey by Estates Agents Douglas & Gordon.
This is compared to just 8% who plan on using battery-operated decorations to save cash.
To increase the festive atmosphere around the house, nearly seven in 10 (67%) people admitted they’re going all out on Christmas décor, with two in five spending up to £300 ($405) on decorations for every part of their home.
The average cost of electricity across the UK’s 27.6 million households is typically £58 per month.
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However, costs could be up to £20 higher over the festive season – jumping to almost £80 in households that plan on keeping lights on all month while continuing to do things like work.
This could equate to more than £2bn in electricity spend across the UK for Christmas.
Up until recently, no-one was entirely sure what Christmas 2020 would look like – whether people would be in lockdown or able to visit friends and family.
However, the government has allowed up to three households to meet between 23 and 27 of December – although this means get-togethers over Christmas will likely be much smaller than usual across the UK.
Some people started planning and shopping for their Christmas home décor as early as October to plan for a homebound festive season.
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According to Google Search data, online searches for Christmas home décor like lights, baubles, wreaths and trees jumped by a quarter in October compared to the same time last year, as more people started gearing up to decorate their homes.
Most Brits also revealed they’ll be adorning parts of the house they’ve never decorated before, like the hallway, the stairs and even the garden, as more people are expecting parents to take their children on Christmas light walks and drives in place of Christmas markets or events.
However, the tree takes centre stage, with seven in 10 people admitting decorating the tree is their favourite festive activity, followed by stringing up the lights and decorating the table for lunch.
Additionally, four in five (79%) Brits said they prefer real trees to artificial ones.
Google Searches for Christmas décor in 2020 compared to the year before, shows searches for outdoor Christmas lights more than quadrupling – shooting up a massive 413%.
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