HOMEOWNERS will keep their TVs switched on for almost six hours on Christmas Day, a poll has shown.

With the likes of the King’s speech, Eastenders festive special, and final episode of Gavin and Stacey airing, Brits will be glued to their screens for an average of five hours and 41 minutes.

While the poll of 2,000 homeowners found one in five expect their telly to be in use for nine hours or more. In contrast, ovens will be busy for three and a half hours.

The research was commissioned by British Gas, which is offering customers half-price electricity between 11am and 4pm on 25 and 26 December via its PeakSave scheme.

A spokesperson for the utilities brand said: “For some, Christmas Day can mean hustle and bustle with guests arriving, decorations being switched on, music and TV playing, and new toys and gadgets to charge.

“The survey results show most people spend the majority of the day in their home or the home of their hosts, using ovens, dishwashers and everything needed to entertain their families and guests.”

The research also found an average of seven electrical goods are switched on throughout the day, including the TV (74 per cent), kettle (62 per cent), and oven (61 per cent).

The hours between 11am and 1pm see the biggest usage peak, with homeowners admitting they would struggle without the TV (42 per cent), kettle (38 per cent), and dishwasher (14 per cent).

It also emerged 26 per cent claim Christmas Day is the only time their energy usage peaks at lunchtime rather than in the evening.

Throughout December, decorative tree lights are on for an average of five hours and 19 minutes each day.

Other contributions to overall electricity use during the last month of the year were decorations being on (55 per cent) and watching more TV and films than usual (42 per cent).

Darker days mean more lights are needed (58 per cent), while cooking things in advance of the big day (34 per cent), and kids being home from school (18 per cent) were also factors.

To try and keep energy usage down during the festive period, 32 per cent have used LED decorations, while 22 per cent have relied on the air fryer for cooking rather than the oven.

And 22 per cent of those polled via OnePoll use timer switches for festive lights and décor to ensure they’re not constantly in use.

British Gas’ spokesperson added: “To add some festive cheer, we want to give back to our customers again. That’s why we’re rewarding them with savings when they use energy at off peak times, such as Sundays or holidays when there is a greater amount of renewables available in the UK’s energy system because of lower demand from business and industry.”