The Planet Switch Helps Switch Off When It Comes To Green Issues

The Planet SwitchTM can help us switch off when it comes to green issues…switch off lights, televisions, monitors and other household devices left ticking away on stand-by – idling appliances that gobble up an incredible 8% of the country’s electricity.

The Planet SwitchTM proves that steps that help save our planet do not have to be expensive gestures. Spending £13,000 on a wind turbine only to find out that at 9p per week saving the payback was going to be 2,778 years was a shock to one green minded person. With stories like this putting people off being green, the Planet SwitchTM has been developed as a simple and inexpensive way to get everyone to conserve energy.

The Planet SwitchTM, designed and patented by Jeremy Paxton, creator of the eco-responsible Lower Mill Estate, is innovative and fun and was conceived to turn all TVs and monitors from standby to off – this could save an incredible 8% of the nation’s electricity. In addition to this function, ultimately it has been developed to prick the conscience of the entire household, old and young alike, to switch to SAVE.

The Planet SwitchTM is a reminder that everyone can make a difference to the planet as well as their pocket. The Planet SwitchTM will prompt people to turn things off and these simple steps by individuals can combine to produce extraordinary energy savings, benefiting both the individual and our planet.

Essentially the Planet SwitchTM is an on/off switch, which has been simplistically designed to look like planet earth with the word SAVE, rather than OFF, as an integral part of the design. In new build homes this is done by installing a special circuit at a cost of around £500. The Planet SwitchTM is now going into all new homes built at Lower Mill Estate as standard.

For retro fits it will be used as an awareness booster not to waste energy; a way of making us think and then turn off lights and unwanted appliances - an earth-shaped reminder that the planet is in our hands. As a conscience reminder it is easy to install in place of an ordinary switch: 2 screws – 2 minutes and any electrician can install it – no specialists required.

According to the DEFRA’s Market Transformation Programme, the estimated CO2 emissions from devices left on stand-by in the UK are a whopping:

• 389,000 tonnes from stereos

• 328,000 tonnes from videos

• 78,000 tonnes from consoles

• 392,000 tonnes from DVD players

• 169,000 tonnes from satellite set-top boxes