‘It’s like we’re back in the 18th century.’
A dad has decided to take energy saving to a whole new level by introducing a ‘no electricity at home’ policy, meaning his family wear head torches at home and only have the heating on once a week.
Chavdar Todorov, 53, wanted his family to cut back on their energy usages when they saw their bill more than double in price to £320 a month.
So he came up with the genius idea to use head torches to avoid turning on their lights at home during the cost of living crisis.
Now he, his wife, Moda, 49, and their children – Teo, 14, and Nicole, 20 – hope to save as much as they can on their electricity costs by keeping their usage to a minimum to reduce their annual bill of almost £4,000.
The family is limiting their heating by only turning it on once a week, and keeping warm by wrapping up in coats and blankets.
The head torches, which turn on and react to movement, are used in the evenings to get around in the dark.
Moda, a yoga teacher, from Barnet, London, said: “We’re trying to think positive but it’s hard.
“I don’t put the heating on if I’m home alone and just keep my jacket on. My husband came up with the funny idea of using head torches.
“We keep the lights off and use our head torches but it’s scary and I don’t feel as safe.
“There have been a lot of burglaries in our area. We light candles and try and make it romantic.”
The family also hardly put the heating on in order to avoid the rising costs of her energy bill.
“We used to pay £140 a month and in June it shot up to £320,” Moda said.
“We don’t know yet what it’s gone up to again but we’re trying to do everything we can to keep it down.
“We wrap up in blankets and coats and only put the heating on about once a week just to get some heat through the house.
“Our back door isn’t very insulating and you can really feel the cold and wind.”
Chavdar, a banker and decorator, thought to buy £8.48 smart headlights to use instead of having their lights on at home.
“They respond to movement and are very handy,” Moda said.
“We use them at night to go to the toilet instead of putting the light one. I hope it’s not something we’ll keep having to do.”
Chavdar said: “It’s like we’re back in the 18th century.
“We don’t know what the bill is going to be like at the end of the month so we’re doing everything we can.
“I can now wear the head torch and get around without switching on the lights.
“We’re reducing our TV watching and only having it on sometimes. We can only do everything we can.”
