Faced with the energy crisis, Emmanuel Macron urged the French to be at the “meeting of sobriety” and achieve 10% energy savings. This winter, the energy equation is complex and could force the manager of the French electricity network to cut the current, punctually, in private individuals.
Main cause of this crisis expected this winter: the unavailability of a large part of the French nuclear fleet, due in particular to the maintenance of many reactors. However, when nuclear power is lacking and – or – the demand is too high, gas-fired power stations are used, but Russia having cut off the tap, gas is rare and expensive. If we add to energy prices, which are reaching peaks, the absolute need to limit our greenhouse gas emissions, everything converges towards the need to reduce our consumption.
Heating, lighting, cooking, leisure… How much leeway do we have in our homes to limit our consumption and our bills? The “simple gestures” encouraged by the President of the Republic have a real impact? Is it decisive to equip yourself with high-performance devices? To what temperature do you have to heat up to make a difference?
To carry out an inventory, we relied on the ElecDom study, conducted by the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) and RTE, the electricity transmission network manager. The latter measured the uses of a representative sample of 101 homes and more than 80 types of electrical appliances. We completed it with the Odyssey databasewhich tracks energy consumption item by item at European level.