Homebase has been taken to task by the ad watchdog for misleading consumers over how much they could save on bills by buying LED lighting.
A direct mailing from the retailer stated that the average household could save up to £146 on its lighting energy bills by buying TCP LED light bulbs. It explained that the saving was based on replacing 25 standard bulbs with LED bulbs and using for an average of 2.7 hours a day for a year.

When someone challenged the figures, Homebase told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that it had made its calculations from information provided by the Energy Savings Trust. The retailer said the comparison was based on replacing Ecohalogen bulbs with LED bulbs and different bulb types and wattages being used throughout the home.

However, the ASA said the ad did not explain what was considered a standard bulb, and it had seen no evidence that the average household had 25 Ecohalogen light bulbs. Neither had it had evidence that the various bulb types and wattages were representative of those found in the average household.

It concluded that the figure of £146-worth of savings was misleading.