The Light bulb Challenge

Half of people could not spot the difference between traditional and energy saving ones - 2 out of 3 preferred the energy saving ones.

Brits can save themselves £1 billion and 3.9 million tonnes of CO ₂ (carbon dioxide)

New research shows that Brits could save themselves £1 billion a year by switching to energy saving light bulbs.

Brits think energy saving light bulbs are just as good as traditional ones and yet only half of households use them. And those that do use them only fit them in five places out of a possible 24.

We invited 761 shoppers to take the Light Bulb Challenge. The aim of the experiment was to see if they could spot the difference between traditional light bulbs and energy saving ones. Out of 761 shoppers, 53 per cent either got it wrong or could not spot the difference. For those of you who attended the event the energy saving lightbulb was in booth A.

Watch the video of the light bulb "Pepsi" challenge

Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: "The public have had a light bulb moment! They now realise that they can save money and help the environment but without compromising on the look and feel of their homes.

"It's true that a few years ago energy saving light bulbs were pretty ugly looking and didn't provide good light. That's certainly a thing of the past.

"If you changed all your remaining bulbs to energy saving ones over the course of their lifetime they will save you £600 and 2.7 tonnes of CO2?

For the experiment two identical booths were specially built each with a lounge - one lit with a traditional light bulb and one lit with an energy saving one.

Seven out of ten shoppers were confident that they would spot the energy saving light bulb before they did the test. The shoppers were not told whether they had guessed right but 64 per cent of people claimed to prefer the light produced by the energy saving light bulb.

The Light Bulb Challenge coincided with independent UK-wide research - 2, 000 interviews - which found that overall, 80 per cent of people who already have energy efficient bulbs in their home think they're as good as or better than traditional bulbs.

Sales of energy saving light bulbs have soared in the last year. From January 06 to December 06 the total number of energy saving light bulbs bought was just over 10 million compared to 21 million in 07.

• Find out more about energy saving lightbulbs
• Find Energy Saving Recommended lightbulbs

The research:

Research conducted by ICM among UK representative sample of 2138 adults aged 18+ conducted online in March 2008.

And research by the Lighting Association in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust conducted in home among 2039 household in October 2007.

The Light Bulb Challenge at Blue Water Shopping Centre, Kent took place on 16 & 17 April 2008. Each shopper was shown into two identical booths - one lit with an energy saving light bulb, the other lit with a traditional one. Before they took the challenge they were asked whether they thought they could tell the difference between energy saving and traditional light bulbs. Confidently, nearly 7 out of 10 (68%) believed they could.

761 then agreed to be put to the test. Slightly less than half (47%) got it right and 53% either got it wrong or couldn't spot a difference. With no real statistical difference showing, this means the energy saving lighting looks just like traditional lighting.

When asked which lighting they preferred, the majority - 2 in 3 (64%) preferred the energy saving lighting, or didn't have a preference. Only 36% preferred the lighting of the traditional bulb.