Target clearly missed
Home residents will hardly save any energy in 2022
October 7, 2023, 1:16 p.m
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The turned off gas tap from Russia initially caused a lot of excitement in Germany, then led to major savings efforts. According to a current study, this is minimal in single and two-family homes. The reason for colder heaters is different.
Private households in Germany hardly actively saved heating energy in 2022 – despite high oil and gas prices and urgent warnings of a supply crisis. This is shown by an evaluation of consumption in almost 4,000 residential buildings carried out by the non-profit consulting company Co2online, reports “Spiegel”.
The households, mostly single- and two-family houses, required a total of 10.6 percent less heating energy, but that was almost entirely due to the mild winter. If you subtract the temperature effect, you get an active saving of only 1.4 percent. In households with gas heating it was 3.5 percent. The Federal Network Agency actually set a savings target of 20 percent for gas consumption in the summer of 2022. After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia gradually turned off the gas supply to the Federal Republic.
Because of the lower deliveries there was a threat of a supply crisis last winter. “The deeper data analysis shows that savings appeals alone are not enough,” says Tanja Loitz, managing director of Co2online. Experts see several reasons for this. The German gas storage facilities were well filled until the end of 2022 – which countered the urgent warnings of the Federal Network Agency.
Hardly any recognition for saving energy
In addition, consumers receive little recognition for saving energy, and the effect of their actions on the bigger picture is hardly visible. This dampens the motivation to change one’s own behavior.
In addition, it is difficult to use less heating energy, especially in energy-inefficient buildings – because the houses simply cool down too quickly. For buildings with a medium-low efficiency class, consumption even rose by up to 3.4 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Co2online therefore recommends state minimum efficiency standards and renovation requirements. Tenants could be protected from high heating costs, it said. Energy-efficiently renovated houses with new heating and thermal insulation saved between 50 and 80 percent of energy. Experts recommend educating consumers more actively about energy saving measures and supporting them in their implementation.