A panel charged with developing solutions to help achieve the net zero standard for carbon emissions has some cold words for British households.

The Climate Change Committee is calling for families to undergo a “behavior change” this winter and not to heat their homes in the evenings, saying that families should “pre-heat” their homes in the afternoon, when electricity usage is generally lower, according to the Daily Mail.

The panel, established in 2008 to advise the government on climate policy, said, “homes will still be warm but bills can be lowered.”

Homeowners with electrically powered systems, such as heat pumps, should turn off the radiators in the evening, the panel said, according to the Telegraph.

“There is significant potential to deliver emissions savings, just by changing the way we use our homes,” the panel said in a report.

“Where homes are sufficiently well insulated, it is possible to pre-heat ahead of peak times, enabling access to cheaper tariffs which reflect the reduced costs associated with running networks and producing power during off-peak times,” the report said.

The Daily Mail report noted that the panel said within the next 10 years, pre-heating will be a viable strategy for all new homes and up to 50 percent of those built after 1952.

Andrew Montford, the director of Net Zero Watch, ridiculed the idea to the Telegraph.

“The grid is already creaking, and daft ideas like this show just how much worse it will become. It’s clear that renewables are a disaster in the making. We now need political leaders with the courage to admit it,” he said.

Craig Mackinlay, head of the Net Zero Scrutiny group of conservative legislators, also poured scorn on the concept.

“This latest advice to freeze ourselves on cold evenings merely shows the truth that the dream of plentiful and cheap renewable energy is a sham. I came into politics to improve all aspects of my constituents’ lives, not make them colder and poorer,” he said.

The Telegraph noted that a representative of the committee defended the idea.

“Using electricity to heat a home opens the prospect of choosing a time when prices are lower, something that’s not possible with a gas boiler. Smart heating of homes like this also makes the best possible use of the grid and supports greater use of cheap renewable generation,” the representative said.

The proposed change comes as a new report said the number of what are called excess deaths linked to living in cold, damp homes rose last winter, according to the Guardian.

The death toll over last winter was 4,706, up from 3,186 in the previous winter.

Simon Francis, a coordinator at the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the number is likely to rise again this winter due to high levels of energy debt.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.