ASA Adjudication on Associated Newspapers Ltd

Ad

A reader offer, in the national press, showed a device that could be plugged into a mains socket. The ad was headlined “Save 10% on your electricity bill. Energy Wizard". Text continued “Get an actual saving of more than 10% on your electricity bill with this ingenious new product. It simply plugs into any mains socket in the home and, once in place, its intelligent technology will measure and adjust the voltage and current demanded of your appliances, most of which use more power than required. The tried-and-tested constant power correction will ensure that only the minimum required level of power is used throughout the home. The result is less power usage and lower electricity bills. The unit simply plugs into any available/spare three pin socket ... ”.

Issue

Two readers challenged whether the claim that the device could save users 10% on their electricity bill could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Maillife.co.uk (ML) sent a test report, which included figures related to energy saving for various home appliances; they said the average energy saving of all appliances tested was 12.6%.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the information submitted by ML, which stated that tests had been carried out on an "Electricity Saving Box" in September 2008. The report stated that the box had been used in the home and could save power. We noted the tests had been carried out on various home electrical appliances. The report said the tests were conducted for four hours each and measured against four hours normal use, without testing. We noted that the stated percentage of energy saving for some appliances was more than 10% but for other appliances there was no saving, or the stated saving was less than 10%. We were also concerned that the tests appeared to have been carried out only once per appliance. There was also no indication of the products performance beyond a four-hour period or its performance "throughout the home" when it was plugged into any spare socket. We noted there were no details on the make or model of the appliances tested or specific details of how the tests had been set up. We also noted that, because of the way in which some electricity tariffs worked, by charging different prices depending on the number of units used in a month, a 10% saving on energy used might not equate to a 10% monetary saving on electricity bills. We considered the evidence was not sufficiently robust to support the claim "Save 10% on your electricity bill ... ", which was likely to be interpreted as suggesting that consumers could make that saving in all instances, on their entire electricity bill, when the product was plugged into any socket in the home. We concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 11) clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told ML and Ecotek to ensure they held robust substantiation for future claims.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)