Saving energy in your own four walls - this is how you reduce costs by up to 80 percent

Created: 2022-09-04 04:56

By: Markus Hofstetter

If you know which household appliances consume the most electricity, you can reduce energy consumption in a targeted manner.

Here is an overview of possible savings measures.

Berlin – Germany is groaning under rising energy prices.

The federal government wants to speed up the energy saving process and is making corresponding specifications for private consumers, companies and local authorities.

However, consumers can also do a number of things to lower their costs without a stimulus from politics.

In private households, this can be done quickly and sustainably if you target the biggest power guzzlers.

Saving energy in private households: These are the biggest power guzzlers

According to the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), consumer electronics, including televisions and computers, consume the most energy, accounting for 28 percent of the average total electricity consumption in households.

The washing and drying sector accounts for 14 percent.

This is followed by lighting, refrigerators and freezers, cooking and washing up.

The largest energy consumers in private households

Information technology, TV, audio: 28 percent

Washing and drying: 14 percent

Light: 13 percent

Refrigerators and freezers: eleven percent

Cooking: nine percent

Rinse: eight percent

Other: 17 percent

But power consumption can be reduced.

It is not always absolutely necessary to purchase new equipment.

Saving energy in private households: TV and home office

Bigger isn't always better.

Because the more inches a television set measures, the greater the power consumption.

Old devices are real power guzzlers.

When buying a new device, it is advisable to pay attention to the EU energy label, which indicates the efficiency of a device.

Modern devices also offer the ability to adjust the screen brightness to the environment.

Because the brighter the picture, the greater the power requirement.

If the function is available in the settings, you should switch off the standby mode.

If this is not possible, you can use a power strip that can be switched off instead.

In private households, you can save electricity quickly and sustainably and thus reduce the bill (symbol image) © Wolfgang Maria Weber/imago

When working from home, a laptop uses less power than a desktop PC.

Tablets that are even more energy-efficient are often sufficient for private use.

If the computer is not used for more than 30 minutes, it should be shut down.

The screen saver should also be switched off, as it wastes a lot of unnecessary energy.

Instead, the screen should go straight to sleep mode.  

Saving energy in private households: washing and drying

Here, too, it is true that outdated washing machines and dryers consume much more electricity than modern devices.

These automatically adjust the required amount of energy and water to the wash load.

Nevertheless, a washing machine should only be switched on with a full load.

The hotter the laundry is washed, the more electricity the machine needs.

That's why you should wash normally soiled laundry at 30 or 40 degrees.

For slightly more heavily soiled laundry, stains should be pretreated or a 60 degree program should be selected.

You forget these spots all the time when cleaning

View photo gallery

Saving energy in private households: lighting

Old incandescent and halogen lamps should be replaced with new LEDs.

This saves up to 80 percent of the energy consumption.

Rarely used rooms such as warehouses or storage rooms can be taken with you

motion detectors

equip.

Depending on how the room is used, this results in savings of between 20 and 80 percent.

Saving energy in private households: refrigerators and freezers

According to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), Germans cool their refrigerators down to an average of 5.8 degrees.

Seven degrees are completely sufficient.

Switching up a degree reduces electricity costs by six percent.

Minus 18 degrees is perfectly sufficient for the freezer compartment.

In addition, the right location should be chosen for the refrigerator.

The device should not be left in the sun during the day or near heat sources such as heaters or ovens.

From time to time you should check the seal of the refrigerator door.

If this is broken, it should be replaced, otherwise the power consumption is higher.  

Saving energy in private households: stove and oven

If you put the lid on the pot when cooking, you can reduce energy consumption by up to two thirds.

Switching off the stove earlier and using the residual heat also saves energy, but this does not apply to induction stoves.

If you use the circulating air function of the oven, you can save up to 15 percent.

Even doing without preheating can save up to eight percent of electricity.

It is also helpful to use several levels in the oven at the same time.

Saving energy in private households: dishwasher

Dishwashers are more sustainable than washing dishes by hand.

This saves up to 50 percent energy and 30 percent water.

Here, eco-programs are more efficient than short programs.  

Like the washing machine, the dishwasher should be filled as full as possible before it is started.

It is important that this is not overfilled, otherwise the dishes usually do not get properly clean.

In addition, the strainer should always be clean so that the service water can be pumped out unhindered.

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