Electricity is an unavoidable expense, unless you live on love and fresh water in the middle of Alaska. Essential, and increasingly expensive. So everything is good to try to save the slightest kilowatt. And for that, we must recognize that the readers of 20 minutes lack neither common sense nor imagination. Quite a few have entrusted us with their plans to reduce, if not lower, at least stabilize the bill. Selected pieces.
Aces of common sense
It may seem silly, but stopping our bad habits can save us a lot. “Since it’s not Versailles here, we turn off the lamps behind us, we unplug the devices that we use occasionally. All this requires rigor but it helped reduce the bill,” assures Adeline.
Many also hunt for devices left on standby. Jean-Yves, 50, uses “Linky’s instant consumption to identify all devices that consume power while on standby”. As soon as he is away or sleeping, he turns off or unplugs everything: “desktop PC, washing machine, hob, oven, TV box”. Same thing for Yves, 56, who leaves it to connected sockets to do the job. Less high-tech but just as efficient, Hervé plugs everything into multiple sockets equipped with switches that he activates when he is not using his devices.
Also logical, Philippe relies heavily on his off-peak hours contract: “I optimize off-peak hours by recharging not only the devices requiring it but also my external battery which can be used if necessary during peak hours,” explains the sixty-year-old. The same goes for Adeline, whose washing machine and dishwasher run at night.
Savings geeks
To save in the long term, you need to know how to invest. “Little by little, I changed the washing machine, the fridge and I equipped the whole house with programmable electrical outlets,” explains Didier, 57 years old. Jean-Luc, Geoffroy and Eymeric fell for photovoltaic panels. “I invested 6,000 euros, all on credit over five years. Each month, I repay approximately the amount I save on my EDF bill,” explains Eymeric. At 38, Albert even went further by equipping himself with twenty solar panels, four 250 amp batteries and four small wind turbines. “An investment of 5,000 euros over five years for my electricity production which now allows me to no longer have a subscription to any energy supplier,” he says happily.
Mathieu, 35, is more of a handyman. He insulated his cumulus and connected the washing machine and dishwasher to the hot water supply to avoid using the resistance of these appliances. Conversely, Quentin moved his freezer to his garage. “We saw a contradiction in keeping equipment that produces cold in the same room as the boiler. With the temperatures at the start of the year, we noticed that the freezer compressor starts less often than before,” he says.
The resigned
If optimization is no longer enough, some people give up. “For hot water, it’s the old fashioned way. The pots of water on the wood stove,” explains Albert. “I’m turning off my electric water heater! I only run it two nights a week and it’s enough to have hot water for my week! », continues Olivier. Fabienne, 66, lights up with a candle. “I adapt my activity to the light of each season,” she tells us. Hervé abandoned his dryer and freezer, Guy his dishwasher, Albert his TV.
Many also make sacrifices on heating. “If I heat more than 15 degrees, the bill goes up,” laments Philippe. For Pierre, it’s 12 degrees in the house. “Given the cost of heating I no longer turn on the radiators, it’s 8 degrees at home,” adds Christine, 69 years old. Angélique covers herself in sweaters and allows herself 19 degrees in her living room only when she is “really too cold”. Only Wilfried, 50, pushes his thermostat to 22 degrees throughout his house without it costing him a cent. On the other hand, his “trick” is absolutely not legal.