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Energy saving tips

Saving energy pays off twice

For the climate on the one hand and for your wallet on the other. With electricity and gas tariffs that are marked with the Grüner Strom-Label or Grünes Gas-Label, you have already taken an important step toward protecting the climate.

By taking simple measures in everyday life, you can additionally reduce your energy consumption and thus also relieve your household budget.

Electrical appliances show great differences in energy consumption. For example, an energy-efficient refrigerator saves around 500 euros over the course of its life compared with a conventional appliance.

By the way, the EU energy label and eco-labels such as the Blue Angel help you choose energy-efficient appliances.

We have compiled some practical tips below. You can find more savings tips at co2online.

The best energy saving tips at a glance

Within your own four walls

Install electronic thermostats
The use of programmable thermostatic valves with night setback ensures energy-efficient heating and reduces CO₂ emissions.
Do not set the thermostatic valves to the highest level, but always to the desired temperature. The thermostat automatically opens the line until the desired temperature is reached in the room. Valves turned up too far result in short heating intervals with high heating temperature - even heating with moderate temperature is more energy efficient. On average, the CO₂ emissions by approx. 405 kg a year.
 
Here are some guidelines for temperature and heating level in different living spaces:
 

- Hallway and corridor rooms: 13 to 16 degrees; corresponds to level 1-2
- Bedrooms: 16 to 17 degrees; corresponds to level 2
- Play and work rooms: 18 to 20 degrees; corresponds to level 2-3
- Kitchen: 18 to 20 degrees; corresponds to level 2-3
- Living room and living rooms: 20 to 22 degrees; corresponds to level 3-4
- Bathroom: 22 to 23 degrees; corresponds to level 4

Do not block radiators
Due to paneling, furniture or curtains in front of the radiators, heat builds up. The heated air cannot circulate properly and warm the room. Make sure that radiator coverings have generous ventilation slots.
 
Regularly vent radiators
If radiators heat up only slowly or partially, or gurgling noises can be heard during heating, there is usually air in the water circuit. The air can be released independently with a bleed wrench. If necessary, water must be added to the heating circuit if the pressure is too low. In a rented apartment, this can save an average of 35 € per year save.
Attention: Place a towel under the vent valve - after air comes water...
 
Lower room temperature
Lowering the room temperature by 1 °C reduces heating costs and gas consumption by around 6 percent.
 
Perform hydraulic balancing
Have a specialist carry out hydraulic balancing to optimize the heating system. This optimizes the provision of the appropriate amount of heat per radiator for the desired room temperature in the heating circuit. In a single-family house, this can save up to 20 percent heating energy and costs can be saved. The one-off costs for a single-family house are around 300 to 600 euros. This measure pays for itself mainly after three to a maximum of six years.
 
Replace heating pump
Heating pumps are suitable for almost 20 percent of a home's total electricity consumption. Replacing an old heating pump with a high-efficiency model saves a lot of CO₂ per year. The use of a modern, high-efficiency pump can often pay for itself within just a few years - simply contact your trusted heating engineer for the replacement.
 
Reflective foil for radiator niches
The outer walls on radiator niches are usually very thin - a lot of heat is lost. Self-adhesive reflective film reduces heat loss. With a little skill, it can be attached behind the radiator itself.
Shock ventilation
Tilted windows hardly provide fresh air, but cool down walls and rooms. Proper shock ventilation, 2 to 3 times a day for about 4 to 5 minutes, with wide open windows and doors in all rooms, on the other hand, provides the necessary air exchange. Do not forget: Turn down the thermostatic valves at the same time.
 
Keep blinds, curtains and roller blinds closed at night
Close shutters, curtains and window blinds when night temperatures are cool. The greatest heat losses occur in glass, window and door frames. Closed shutters alone can reduce heat loss by more than 20 percent reduce. Closed curtains enhance this effect.
 
Avoid secret continuous ventilation
Seal leaking window and door frames and gaps. In this way, you avoid 'secret' continuous ventilation and the associated heat loss. Sealing profiles can be purchased at any hardware store and easily installed yourself.
 
Insulate roller shutter boxes.
If your roller shutter boxes are embedded in the masonry and are not insulated, most of the heat energy will certainly be lost at these points. Insulating panels and foils installed in the roller shutter box provide a remedy. But be careful: You should have some manual skills.
Insulate heating pipes
Especially in the (unheated) basement can uninsulated heating pipes run. Insulating hoses can be purchased at any hardware store and are easy to install. This greatly reduces heat loss and the heat is better transported to its destination.
 
Insulate basement ceiling
Many basements are unheated and serve as storage or utility rooms. When the entire house is heated, the building envelope also heats up, including the floor on the first floor. The unheated basement literally extracts the heat from the building. Self-adhesive insulation panels can be purchased at any hardware store and applied independently.

In the kitchen

Refrigerators and freezers are among the most power-hungry household appliances - in the worst case, they are responsible for One quarter of your electricity consumption. The potential for saving electricity is therefore very high.

Choose energy saving refrigerator

Compared to a modern device the energy efficiency class A+++ consumes an older device up to 50 percent more power.

As a guideline for the right size of a refrigerator is: about 100 liters for one to twoPerson households, 50 liters for each additional person.

If you are unsure whether replacing a refrigerator is really worth it, you can do a refrigeration check on the Internet to see your savings.
Many households have an extra refrigerator in the basement. Most of these are older and oversized. Here it should really be weighed up whether these devices are really necessary. The disposal of a second device saves about 185 €.

Defrost the refrigerator and freezer

If a thick layer forms on the inside walls of the refrigerators and freezers Layer of frost or iceyou should defrost the appliance. Even 5 millimeters of icing increases the power consumption of a refrigerator by about 30 percent.

Tips for defrosting the refrigerator:

  • Take advantage of outdoor temperatures in the winter - While your refrigerator defrosts, food stays fresh on the balcony or windowsill.
  • Against freezing: Store your food only sealed in the refrigerator. Unpacked, they give off moisture and allow a layer of ice to form more quickly.
  • Refrigerators are usually set too cold. The optimum temperature in the Refrigerator is at 7 °C and in the Freezer at -18 °C.
  • Do not place your refrigerator near the stove or heater and do not expose it to direct sunlight. Keep the ventilation slots clear.
Close refrigerator door quickly

Think ahead about what you want to take out of the refrigerator and open the door only briefly - because every time the refrigerator door opens, cold escapes.

The items in the refrigerator store cold - and give it off to their surroundings. That's why: The fuller the refrigerator, the less cooling power the appliance has to provide itself after an opening.

Cooking with lid

Use a lid and make sure that the size of the pots and pans matches the size of the stove top. This way you can reduce your energy consumption by half. 

Heat water rather with the Kettle than with the stove - especially with the electric stove this offers itself, because so less energy is used and it goes faster, especially with smaller quantities.

From a cooking time of 20 minutes is also worth a Pressure cooker. This saves about half the cooking time and 30 percent energy.


Cook without preheating and with residual heat

As a rule, it is sufficient to turn on the oven only when the desired dishes go in. In this way, the energy used is used efficiently. In addition, hot or circulating air is up to 20 percent more energy-efficient than top and bottom heat.

Both electric stove and oven can five to ten minutes before the end of the cooking time smaller or completely switched off be made in order to Residual heat to exploit.

Pay attention to the filling capacity of the kettle

Do you cook more water than necessary in your kettle, not only does the Energy demandbut also your CO₂ emissions unnecessary.

Since some kettles often only many seconds after boiling To avoid wasting energy senselessly, you should turn off the stove immediately after cooking. Switch off yourself - and at the Next purchase at one faster reacting kettle pay attention.

Load your dishwasher as much as possible full and use the Energy saving or environmental program.

Disclaimer with modern dishwashers on the Pre-rinse for normally dirty dishes.

In the bath

Washing machines and dryers are the biggest power guzzlers among large household appliances. Saving electricity is therefore worthwhile!


Washing without prewash

Load your washing machine as full as possible and do without the prewash - your laundry will still be clean and you will still save money amounts of electricity, CO₂ and money.


Wash at 30 °C

Washing machines, as well as dishwashers, use the largest part (more than three quarters) of the energy for heating the water - Therefore, choose a washing temperature as low as possible.

Let laundry dry on a clothes horse

The cheapest and most climate-friendly way to dry laundry is the Clothesline. Once there is no way around a clothes dryer, then pay attention to the efficiency class A+++, previously good spun laundry and a full load of the machine.

 
Use ecoprograms

Despite the longer runtime consume Eco programs less energy - The water is heated significantly less than with shorter programs and even less water is used overall. Likewise, longer spinning ensures hygienically clean laundry due to washing and rinsing water.

However, every three months you should check the machine at 90° Celsius hot run through to kill germs.

However, green electricity is not a legally protected term, so an energy supplier can also call such electricity green electricity that does not result in any additional benefit for the environment or even (strictly speaking) is none at all.

Install economy shower head and flow restrictor

When you heat your water with electricity, it just helps to use less hot water. Thereby help Flow limiter in the bathroom and kitchen:

  • Economy shower heads for bath or shower and
  • Aerators for taps

Flow restrictors mix air into the water stream so that effectively Less water per minute runs out of the tap or shower head - this Water saving technology leads to a massive reduction in the cost of hot water.

 
Omit hair dryer

Especially in the summer hair can be super in the warm weather air drying. However, if you can not do without the hair dryer, then make sure when buying a energy efficient Hair dryer. This produces 30 percent less greenhouse gases than a conventional hair dryer.

 
Shower instead of bath
The energy costs for a full bath are approximately three times as high as for showering.
Turn off tap
Don't let the faucet run unnecessarily, such as when soaping up in the shower (Saves approx. 30 percent water) and when brushing teeth.
 
Wash hands with cold water
Cold water is perfectly adequate for hand washing and also saves up to 70 kg of CO₂ per person - soap already develops its cleaning power in cold water and removes almost all pathogens when thoroughly cleaned. To kill all germs, you would have to wash your hands not only with warm, but with boiling water.
 

If the possibility exists, then you should replace hot water tanks with electronically regulated Instantaneous water heater replace. Instantaneous water heaters heat the water only when it is really used will and are therefore energy efficient than the frequently heating storage tanks.

 
Lower hot water temperature

The lower the better. 60 degrees Celsius for the hot water in the bathroom and kitchen are quite sufficient. In this way, electricity consumption can be reduced by approx. ten percent can be reduced. Another advantage of the reduced temperature - The device calcifies less quickly.

Have hot water circulation switched off

A circulation pump circulates the hot water between the boiler and the taps - so hot water comes out of the shower and faucet immediately. However, due to this convenience around the clock Electricity and heating energy consumed. So pass with a Timer the circulation pump to your individual daily routine.

In the living room

Laptop instead of PC

Because laptops use less energy to ensure the longest possible battery life, they're better than computers - for your carbon footprint and your wallet.

Use the Energy saving management of your tablet, cell phone and co., so in case of inactivity it is automatically switched to the Energy saving mode changed and you can save power and a longer battery life is guaranteed.

Exploit the useful life of computers, tablets and smartphones

From an environmental point of view, use computers, laptops and cell phones for as long as possible. In contrast to refrigerators and washing machines, the use of these devices causes the Manufacturing the bulk of the environmental impact - and not the use.

Turn off electronic devices completely

Devices in your household that are supposedly turned off are, for average ten percent of your electricity consumption.

So avoid Standby. Make sure that TVs, stereos, etc. are switched off properly or disconnected from the mains. This can be done easily with power strips that can be switched off, or simply unplug chargers after use.

Use LED lamps and energy-saving lamps

A simple and very effective way to save electricity in the house is to switch from incandescent lamps to energy-efficient LED or energy-saving lamps.

LED lights are more expensive to buy than conventional light bulbs or energy-saving lamps. But the electricity costs are Low and they have a multiple Longer life.

 Do without air conditioners

Air conditioners are not only true Power guzzlersbut they also significantly harm the climate. In addition, the operation of air conditioning, due to the large temperature differences between outdoors and indoors, not infrequently causes sniffles and also dries out the mucous membranes.

Tips for the warm days:

  • Keep windows and blinds closed during the day - this prevents warm air from coming in.
  • At night or on early morning the cooler air use - open windows to get fresh air into the house.
  • Use a Fan.

What else can I do?

Change now!

With an electricity or biogas tariff with our seals of approval, you are doing something good for the climate in the long term and can be sure that you are really getting green energy.

This is what we have achieved together

By choosing a certified green electricity or biogas tariff, you are directly supporting the energy transition. For every kilowatt hour consumed, a fixed amount flows into the expansion of renewable energies - that's sustainable thinking.

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Switch to a certified electricity or biogas tariff now

There are already several online comparison portals for electricity and gas rates. So what's the point of another one?

At the comparison portal of the environmental associations, consumers can compare high-quality and exclusively certified green electricity and biogas tariffs.

 "vergleich-dich-gruen.de" offers you the opportunity to actively participate in an energy transition that is nature-friendly, decentralized, citizen-oriented, public welfare-oriented, fair and pollutant-free through your purchase decision.

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Energy saving tips

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