Hot water bottles are selling out around the UK with reports of six times sales as the cold bites the country while Britons attempt to save on soaring energy bills.
John Lewis said sales were up sixfold on last year with several popular models currently out of stock online including the department store’s own-label version with a fake fur protective cover, The Guardian reported.
A spokeswoman for John Lewis said: “Hot water bottles have been in very strong demand during the cold snap. Given their current popularity, we recommend customers to purchase soon to avoid disappointment.”
With Britons desperate to reduce their energy use by keeping their heating off for as long as possible or turning the temperature down, retailers have been tempting them with an array of items to help out.
A Nisa retailer in Walsall is offering hot water bottles for 99p and has reportedly sold more than 100 bottles over the weekend, reports stated.
It comes a week after the snapshot of high street and online spending, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), showed similar trends. According to industry data, Britain’s retailers benefited from a November sales boost fuelled by Black Friday discounts and colder weather as consumers hot water bottles and hooded blankets.
Campaigners have been calling on to insulating Britain’s draughty houses, overhauling the planning system, and preventing housebuilders from selling sub-standard homes so as to cut energy bills.
UK Green Building Council (UKGCB) has laid out a three-point plan for the government to consider, which would reduce energy waste and carbon dioxide. The charity has assessed current polices on buildings and judged most to be “red-rated”, meaning detailed policy frameworks are missing, flawed, or do not put the UK on track to meeting net zero.
