Switch it Off is an energy saving campaign covering Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, designed to show the electrical savings that can be achieved when a lot of people turn off unwanted lights and electrical appliances left on standby.

For 5 days, from Monday 20 October to Friday 24 October this year, people in their homes, factories, schools and offices will be encouraged to turn off all unnecessary lighting and electrical appliances.

The week will culminate in 'Switch Off' day on Friday 24 October, when Central Networks will monitor the region's electricity use between 4:30pm and 6:30pm - the period when peak daily consumption usually occurs.

Warwickshire County Council is co-ordinating the campaign with partners including Coventry City Council, Worcestershire County Council and WEEAC (Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre).

Sanctuary Group has once again been invited to take part by encouraging staff and residents to switch off and power down any non-essential electrical appliances.

Though the campaign officially covers Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, there is no reason why everyone cannot join in and Switch it Off.

Did we switch off last year?

Last year's campaign was a great success and the Big Switch Off was supported by thousands of people across Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire.

Everyone was encouraged to switch off items left on stand-by between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday 2nd November 2007 and, across the three areas, a reduction of 74 mega Watts (MW) of electricity was achieved, as monitored by Central Networks.

This is the same as switching off over 1.2 million 60 watt light bulbs for an hour. Or boiling 269,090 kettles of water. Or switching off the electricity in over 15000 three-bed detached houses for a year.