• Bookstore

As clocks went back and households started preparing for winter, the retailer ran a promotion selling 5 low-energy bulbs for just 40p. As a result, it sold more bulbs in October than it did in the whole of the last six months.

Nicola Goodricke, Climate Change Director said:
"With the economic situation as it is, the message that low-energy bulbs will save you money has really hit home. Our promotion made it even easier to take that step.

"Our customers bought 3.5 million energy saving light bulbs in October which could collectively save them a staggering £21 million on their energy bills over the coming year. And the good news for climate change is that it will also prevent the emission of over 35,000 tonnes of CO2 which is equivalent to 28,000 return flights to New York.

"Attitudes to low-energy bulbs have seen a complete turnaround and people now know that the quality of light is just the same - but will save them up to £6 on their annual energy bill."

Tesco has doubled the amount of shelf space given over to energy-efficient bulbs since this time last year, and stocks 40 different energy-efficient light bulbs.

From today, Tesco has reduced the price of its Value energy-efficient light bulbs to just 35p. It has also simplified its pricing so that all other stick bulbs will be £1 and all spiral bulbs will be £2.

Statistics compiled by Together, a climate change campaign, suggest there are still over 400 million light bulbs in the UK that could be switched to energy saving ones. Changing these would cut around 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 from the UK's annual footprint, equivalent to taking over 1.5 million cars off the road each year. It would also save nearly £1 billion on the nation's household energy bills.

David Hall, Campaign Director of Together said:
"For the second year running, Tesco has topped our survey of brands that are leading on climate change. This recent surge in sales of low energy light bulbs further demonstrates Tesco's commitment to helping consumers save money and energy in these tough times."