Fan heater boom: Stadtwerke in Hessen warn of power outages
Created: 04/08/2022, 16:20
By: Constantin Hoppe
Because of the impending gas shortage, electric fan heaters are selling like hot cakes.
But the Hessian municipal utility warns that operation could lead to power outages.
Frankfurt - It's a bit like an upside-down world: In the middle of the summer heat wave, sales of fan heaters and radiators in Germany increased by 35 percent.
Instead of using fans to cool down, many customers in electronics stores are currently thinking more about winter and how they can heat their homes despite the impending gas shortage - also in Hesse.
However, the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and the Federal Network Agency warn consumers not to rely on electrically powered heaters for fear of gas shortages in winter, as reported by fnp.de.
Due to the expected gas shortage, many people are currently relying on fan heaters.
However, this could cause problems.
(symbol image) © Imago
Gas shortage: nationwide, people rely on fan heaters
Because of the impending gas shortage as a result of the Ukraine war, opportunities are being sought throughout Hesse to reduce energy consumption, particularly that of gas.
By November, the German gas storage facilities should be 95 percent full in order to get through the heating period well - despite the reduced gas deliveries from Russia.
A report by the market research company GfK shows that the trend towards fan heaters is correct: it reported to the
Tagesspiegel
that 600,000 such devices were sold throughout Germany in the first half of 2022 alone - an increase of almost 35 percent compared to the previous year.
Hesse: Too many running heaters could lead to power outages
"Electronic heating devices such as fan heaters, radiators and convectors are not made to replace a heater and should therefore only be used with caution," said a BDEW spokeswoman.
Because of their very high power requirements, the devices could greatly increase a household's power consumption, she said.
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Fan heaters require about three times as much energy for the same heat output as gas heating.
This could not only drive up household electricity costs, it also poses a problem for the power grid: due to the heavy load on the grid, operating too many fan heaters at the same time could lead to widespread power failures.
Fan heater boom in Hesse could lead to problems and dangers
Energy suppliers in Hesse are also critical of the current trend: "In Frankfurt, in areas with a predominant gas supply, there is a risk of failures in the power grid if too many households operate electrical heat sources," said a spokeswoman for the Frankfurt energy supplier Mainova to
HR
.
In addition, the use of fan heaters also poses a risk to the domestic electricity network, which can be overloaded by the operation of electrical heating sources.
This could lead to fires.
Stadtwerke Wiesbaden also warn of an overload of the power grid in winter: In this case, immediate protective measures would lead to grid areas being automatically switched off, explained Managing Director Peter Lautz.
That leads to power outages.
With the exception of a few, many of the gas storage facilities in Germany are already up to 80 percent full.
However, gas should continue to be saved.
© Waltraud Grubitzsch/dpa
Consumer center advises against the operation of fan heaters
Stadtwerke Kassel, on the other hand, is a little more optimistic about the situation: Basically, the network is designed for such loads, but it is advisable to save energy now so that no fan heaters are needed in the winter, said a spokesman there.
The consumer centers still advise against using fan heaters as an alternative to gas heating.
The consumer advice center recommends that people in Hesse generally lower the room temperature in order to save gas and money.
(con with afp)
The feared shortage of gas is also causing problems in other areas: firewood has to be rationed in the Wetterau district.