Check your home's lighting setup
Traditional incandescent light bulbs consume electricity worth €0.006–0.009 an hour while energy-saving bulbs and led only cost €0.002–0.003 an hour to use. Therefore it is a good idea to replace your old bulbs with led or energy-saving ones.
Depending on how many light fittings and bulbs you use, you may save €5 per light when the light is on for a thousand hours a year. Remember also to switch lights off. When you switch the lights off in rooms you are not in, you will save around the same amount of energy that is consumed by the light fittings in 200 hours.
Use the cooktop and oven economically
Select the right-sized pan for each ring to avoid wasting heat. Using the oven consumes twice the amount of electricity as the cooktop, so avoid cooking in the oven if you want to save energy. Fast food that requires a hot oven, such as chips and frozen pizzas, takes a lot of energy. Prepare many dishes at the time in the oven and utilise the heat still remaining after you have switched the oven off.
Another way to save in the kitchen is to use less water. Washing dishes by hand takes less hot water that the dishwasher. Only wash full loads in the dishwasher and select the short cycle whenever you can.
Defrost your fridge and freezer regularly
Do not pack your fridge and freezer totally full. Cool food down on the balcony or other location before freezing or putting in the fridge. You can cut 10% of the annual energy consumption of your fridge and freezer by using them properly. Depending on the appliance, this means an annual saving of €20–100.
Renew home electronics
New home electronics meet the ecodesign requirements, which means their energy consumption is regulated. For example, they may only consume 0.5–1.0 watts of electricity on standby. Older appliances, such as a ten-year-old cathode ray tube TV set, consume 3–5 watts on standby, which means an extra bill of €5 every year. Desktop computers consume five times more electricity than laptops and tablets. It is a good idea to switch the appliances off at least for the night instead of leaving them on standby.
There are home electronics devices in the market that cannot be switched off the mains without losing their settings and adjustments.
Remember to check that the device can also be switched off when getting a device.
Switch off electricity-hungry devices
The energy efficiency requirements do not apply to all home electronics, for example broadband modems, gaming devices and digiboxes. A gaming device may consume tens of watts on standby, and so may modems even with no-one surfing on the internet. TV digiboxes also consume 15 watts a day on standby, meaning around €20 a year. By switching them off you can save tens of euros every year.
Plug the devices into a multi-outlet socket with a switch and you can switch the power off in one go.
Stingy in sauna
An apartment sauna is a huge electricity guzzler. So we recommend bathing in lower temperatures, and also using less water.
Also remember the communal areas
Switch the lights off when you leave a communal area.
Set the laundry drying room fan correctly and switch it off after use.
