Status: 4/4/2023 2:08 p.m
A current study shows that consumers in Germany have been motivated to save because of the drastic rise in electricity costs. Electricity consumption fell significantly in 2022.
Significant savings were made in electricity consumption in German private households last year. According to the current survey by the non-profit consulting company CO2online, the decline was eight percent. This has reversed the trend of previous years. Because consumption in 2020 and 2021 had increased by six percent overall.
Lockdown in the home office drove consumption in previous years
The average per capita consumption of electricity was 1174 kilowatt hours. After the start of the corona pandemic, previous years were affected by extensive restrictions such as lockdowns, which may have tended to increase energy consumption in our own four walls, for example due to home office or business closures.
Last year, the dramatic increase in energy prices after the outbreak of war in Ukraine had a clear impact on the consumption behavior of German citizens. As a result, suppliers had significantly increased the prices for natural gas, but also for electricity.
Consumption in the entire network is also declining
The decline in consumption in private households was therefore also higher than in the German electricity grid as a whole. The Federal Network Agency had determined a drop in electricity consumption of 4.0 percent to 484.2 terawatt hours (TWh). Of this, 48.3 percent came from renewable energies (previous year: 42.7 percent).
According to CO2online, the savings of the past year can still be significantly increased. With simple measures, every household can save an average of around 240 euros in electricity costs over the year. “The savings potential is calculated from the difference between the average power consumption and the power consumption of class A,” it said. In this class, the consumption for an average two-person household in an apartment building with a central hot water supply is a maximum of 1400 kilowatt hours.
Shower heads and LED lamps
According to the company, the use of energy-saving shower heads achieves the greatest savings, especially if the water is heated using an electricity-powered instantaneous water heater. The measures mentioned also include the replacement of the heating pump, the use of LED lamps or the purchase of new energy-saving electrical appliances.