Electricity and energy prices continue to climb, causing the running costs of many private households to almost explode. Especially for homeowners, high power consumption can quickly lead to a significant cost increase.
Currently, at around 35 cents per kWh, a household with a consumption of 4,000 kWh quickly pays up to 1,440 euros in electricity costs per year. A look at the power consumption is therefore worthwhile in most cases. This way, potential power guzzlers can be uncovered – and electricity costs can be significantly reduced.
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Why should you save electricity?
There are many ways to reduce electricity consumption in your home effectively. But what are the most common reasons for reducing consumption?
Save money
Of course, saving money is the most obvious reason to reduce power consumption. The cost of utility power continues to soar, making many homeowners sweat. It’s no wonder, given the current electricity cost of 35 cents per kWh. With every kilowatt hour of electricity, you don’t use, you’re easy on your wallet and won’t experience any nasty surprises when you bill your electricity bill.
For the sake of the environment
The second important reason for saving electricity is the environmental factor. Because a large part of the electricity you consume comes from fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas. On the one hand, these raw materials are finite. On the other hand, burning them produces carbon dioxide, which increases the greenhouse effect. If you reduce your power consumption, you protect your wallet and the environment.
Saving energy in the household – our tips for saving electricity
Where can you save the most energy? It is best to start with you at home. Because unlike in the office, in the restaurant, or other areas of life, you have power and energy consumption in your own hands and you can make a big difference with small changes.
In addition, many electronic devices in the home unknowingly contribute to high power consumption. Therefore, we list the biggest power guzzlers in your household and show you how to reduce your power consumption with our 8 power-saving tips easily.
- Buy energy-saving devices
The first step in saving electricity is to purchase energy-saving electrical appliances. The largest electricity is usually generated during cooking, cooling, and entertainment. Devices like your refrigerator, stove, or kettle are the biggest power guzzlers next to televisions, computers, or other entertainment devices. If you use your electricity to generate hot water, the electricity consumption increases further.
So if you want to save household energy, consider upgrading. Although this initially entails investment costs, it promises you high savings in the years to come. If you don’t want to replace all your electrical appliances at once, at least make sure that you always prioritize the more energy-efficient models when you buy new ones. Otherwise, you will use up energy unnecessarily.
The energy consumption is always indicated on the efficiency label of the respective device. So you can compare it directly with other models. Don’t be misled by the efficiency classes on your old devices, because these have changed constantly in recent years. Do not just decide based on the purchase price. Rather choose a model that saves as much energy as possible. This is the only way you can save electricity and money in the long run.
- Save electricity in the home office
More and more employees are taking advantage of the opportunity to work from home. Unfortunately, working from home results in significantly higher electricity and heating costs. You can still take some precautions to make your working day more economical in terms of your electricity bills.
First of all, if you have the choice, you should use a laptop instead of a desktop PC. Because laptops often consume only a fraction of the power that stationary computers require. Also, make sure your screen brightness is not set too high. In addition, you can do it without setting a screen saver. Because this also draws electricity unnecessarily.
If you are taking a longer break or after work, you should always switch off your devices completely. Because if you leave your devices in standby mode, they draw power permanently. We recommend switching off the majority of devices completely. In addition to laptops and PCs, this also applies to printers and scanners.
But what to do if your devices, as is often the case today, no longer have a power button? This is where switchable power strips come in handy, into which the devices can be easily plugged in and disconnected from the mains at the push of a button. The strips are suitable for all devices that do not have to be permanently connected to the power supply.
Alternatively, the power plugs of the individual devices can, of course, also be pulled out. Although this is more cumbersome, purchasing power strips save money. No matter which option you choose – you save money anyway.
You can also save on lighting. It is best to get a suitable desk lamp with LED bulbs that will illuminate your workplace well. So you can leave other light sources in the room switched off during your working hours.
- Save on lighting
But not only at the workplace, but it is also worth checking the lighting in terms of power consumption. In general, you should always switch off the light as soon as there is no one in the room. Take a look at the efficiency label when buying new lamps. As a rule, lamps with an output of 6 or 12 watts are sufficient to illuminate a room sufficiently. Also, use energy-saving lamps or LEDs with high luminosity and low power consumption.
Consider installing an automatic switch-off in your stairwell to reduce electricity costs further. Another point that many homeowners neglect is the choice of the wall color. However, choose the lightest possible wall paint, as the light is reflected better than on dark walls. In this way, you can increase your savings even further.
- Operate refrigerators and freezers correctly
Fridges and freezers are among the biggest power guzzlers in every household. To avoid negatively influencing the devices’ performance, you should operate and maintain them accordingly. Do not leave the devices open for too long and do not put hot food or drinks in the devices. This leads to the formation of water and ice, increasing the devices’ energy consumption.
For this reason, regular defrosting of the devices is recommended so that they run as economically as possible. In this context, ensure you never place your refrigerator near devices that emit heat. This could hinder the device from reaching the cooling capacity, hurting the power consumption.
- Save electricity when cooking and baking
There are also a few things to consider when baking and cooking that can affect your energy consumption. When cooking, you should first choose the right pots. Make sure that these fit exactly on the corresponding hotplates and that the lid always remains tightly closed. Without a lid, a large part of the heat generated flows out of the pot, which increases electricity consumption by around a third.
It would help if you also switched off the hotplates a few minutes before the end of the cooking time. The residual heat of the plate lasts for some time and can be used without further power consumption. This tip also applies to baking: switch off the oven about 10 minutes before the end and do not preheat to save money.
By the way: the assumption that the oven has to be preheated is widespread but wrong in most cases. Because the time saved is usually minimal, the waste of energy is all the greater. Preheating is only necessary in a few exceptional cases, such as with biscuit and choux pastry or soufflés. Most other dishes can be put in the oven without preheating without any problems. In this way, you can save up to 20 percent of energy.
- Operate the washing machine and dishwasher correctly
The washing machine and dishwasher can also increase your electricity consumption. The top rule is, therefore: always make sure that the devices are always fully charged and – if available – select the energy-saving program. If you have a solar thermal system, you should connect the washing machine to it. As a result, it has to heat up less water and uses correspondingly less energy.
The lower the washing temperature, the lower the power consumption. Therefore, choose a lower temperature and turn off the prewash to avoid unnecessary energy consumption. Modern detergents are usually designed for low temperatures, so the classic 60-degree wash is no longer necessary.
Operate the washing machine with photovoltaics
Would you like to exploit your power-saving potential even further? Then run your washing machine with green solar power. It is not only sustainable but also cheap. With your PV system on the roof, you can wash your laundry in an environmentally friendly way.
Thanks to intelligent energy managers, your washing machine only washes when the sun shines, and your PV system produces enough electricity to cover the appliance’s consumption.
- Buy a solar system
This brings us to the 7th power-saving tip. Your solar powered generator produces inexpensive and environmentally friendly solar power, which you can use directly in the household. You can count on annual solar power generation of 900 to 1,100 kWh per kilowatt peak (kW) of installed system output – depending on the roof’s location, orientation, and pitch.
In this way, a PV system can only cover an average of 35 percent of your electricity requirements. As soon as the sun shines, your wallet will be happy because photovoltaics has long since become the most cost-effective energy source. The converted kilowatt hour costs you 10 cents per kWh, compared to an average of 35 cents per kWh from the public power grid.
This was made possible by the increasing demand and the resulting falling prices for the components of a solar panels system. Since the EEG feed-in tariff has also fallen sharply, the photovoltaic system has become less important as a pure yield object. Today, the goal is to have as much self-consumption as possible. Because the more cheap solar power you generate, the less power you have to draw from the public grid – and you save money.
- Install an energy storage device
Consider buying an electricity storage system if you want a solar system because this makes it possible to store the generated solar power and use it later temporarily. So you can also use electricity when the solar system is not producing any – for example at night. This increases your self-consumption by up to 85 percent.
But a PV storage system has even more advantages. Many models today are designed for emergency power operation and can supply the operator with electricity even if the public power grid should fail. This protects you from temporary power failures and doesn’t leave you in the dark until the solar storage tank is completely discharged.
Some devices go even further. This way, power storage units with an island power function can separate your solar system from the public power grid and set up an off grid solar system. In this way, your solar system can continue to produce solar power in the event of a power failure, which you can then use or store in the power storage. It doesn’t get more independent of the power grid.
You can further increase your self-consumption if you also have a wall box installed for your electric car. This way, you use even more of the generated solar power and “fill up” your car with 100 percent sustainably generated electricity.
How much electricity can be saved with a solar system?
Let’s assume a household with an annual electricity consumption of around 4,000 kWh. With the current electricity price of 35 cents per kWh, a household of this size pays electricity costs of up to 1,440 euros per year.
If you decide to install a solar system, you can significantly reduce these electricity costs. Because a kilowatt hour of electricity from your own solar system only costs you 10 cents per kWh. That’s a whopping 26 cents per kWh you save per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed.
Because even if you have to make a larger initial investment first, you can save money on your electricity costs from the first month. With self-consumption of 22 percent, you can already save up to 1,136 euros in electricity costs per year with your solar system. Suppose you also install an electricity storage device, increasing your self-consumption by up to 85 percent. In that case, you can increase your annual electricity cost savings to up to 1,136 euros per year.
In addition, you can feed in the unused electricity from your solar system and thus benefit from the EEG feed-in tariff.
Conclusion
The tips presented here help you to become aware of your energy consumption and thus save on electricity costs. This is just a selection, there are many ways to save energy. Think about when and how you use energy. You might see other potential savings.
A solar system is often the first step toward savings. Because by using self-generated solar power, you have to draw less power from the public grid and save money. With an additional power storage unit, up to 85 percent and more of your power requirements can be covered. By aiming for the highest possible level of self-consumption, wasting energy can actually be a lot of fun.