Light Fantastic, Erewash Canal Festival

Erewash Borough Council

Light Fantastic, Erewash Canal Festival

6/9/2009

Visitors:                                                     approx 700

Bulbs distributed:                                        1480

PowerDown Units distributed:                      120

CO2 saved (lifetime):                                    212,303

Retained economic benefit (lifetime):             £81,553

Spread over a large area, it was hard to gauge numbers at this event, however we had a steady stream of interest and at times people were four deep at the trailer. The energy bike was again very popular, today we set them a challenge of lighting up five low energy bulbs including a very flash GU10 LED. The event turned out to be so busy that we had given away all the PowerDowns and bulbs by around 13.00.

It being a canal festival (but not a boat in sight!) we had a lot of interest from boat owners wishing to change lights over to LED and power their boats on PV. Interestingly the consensus was the wind turbines were not effective enough at such a low level to generate consistent electricity. One chap was even hoping to power his washing machine and dishwasher with a PV array…I suggested some alternative solutions!

We had a visit from the mayoral party who disappointingly did not want to jump on the energy bike, but were very interested in the PowerDowns and wider use of low energy lighting.

The biggest shock of the day was to find that a number of people in the borough appear to be incorrectly on Economy 7 metres, or have been mis-sold inappropriate tariffs by their suppliers. We were able to advise on how to seek out alternatives and switch their tariffs. 

Having given most of the energy efficiency items away in the morning we were able to concentrate on giving detailed advice to individuals and families.

Kay Kent was representing the council at the event and her assistance and grants advice was invaluable.