Interesting to see it really seems like everyone across the board used less and less energy.
What did you all change? Any specific tools or tricks?
Personally I didn’t even change my heating level but just used the timers a lot more with sharper cutoffs. And I did use smart plugs between my media appliances and my pc to make sure they are off when I leave the house, as well as being less casual about turning off the lights in rooms that I’m not in. Compared to 2019 (so before more WFH) that’s like a 20% savings on gas, and 15% on electricity for me.
Washed clothes cooler and used a lower centrifugal rpm.
Also replaced the standard thermostatic timer on the heating with a smart thermostic timer that gets activated or not depending on my location.
Was that last one easy to do? I am extremely bad with DYI stuff and don’t want to fuck up my thermostat since it does just work. Yet on the other hand a smart thermostat would be convenient and I love graphs.
Which one did you use?
I used Tado which seems to have solutions for most types of central heating systems whether you have your own independent boiler or supplied by the building.
It’s fairly easy to do, just remove your old one and follow the installation guide on the app. Check out the info on their website you can look up your boiler to have an idea if it’s compatible, but it most likely is.
Thanks for the tip. Looks subscription based though and with an insane price as well.
Yeah, forgot to mention that, although the subscription is fairly cheap ATM for 25€ per year which more than makes up for the savings. The devices are definitely on the more expensive side but have always worked flawlessly and the interface is well designed and polished with some very nice features to help you forecast costs.
Oh, than I seem to have misread or misinterpreted the €8 per month advertised on their site.
Yeah, just checked and it’s 3€/month or 25€/year, that is if you need the geofencing, which let’s be honest it’s half the interest in a product like this.
Hi, old small house from 1950 here. My monthly payments had been increased from 180 EUR in 2015 for gas + elec to 1100 EUR at the peak of the crisis last year. I could not afford paying that much and as I did not know how much it would last, I went to the bank and subscribed a 12 years loan. Here is what I improved during last year, with contractors :
- New roof with 12cm exterior insulation
- Solar panels on the new roof
- Battery 5kWh
- New gas boiler in replacement of 20yo gas boiler
- new thermodynamics boiler for water heating with PV energy in the summer
- New pellets stove in order to have a second source of heating.
Thanks to those, I’m 99% self sufficient in the summer.
On my own I DIY interior isolation in the sleeping room upstairs (low cost but high comfort addition as the walls are not super cold anymore).
What I regret not doing, because too big , complex, and afraid of humidity / moisture : exterior isolation of all the walls and/or between the two layers of bricks.
Great job!
Nice, was that 1100 per month or per year because that’s insanely high per month.
1100 per month. To be honest we were invited to pay that insane amount by Luminus but never agreed to. We then switched to Engie. Current monthly invoice is 300, since it’s the first year with PV I don’t know what to expect. My elec and gas consumption are at zero for a few week but they still show some daily amount in the application. What is also insane is the price they buy the kWh (~10 cent) from the PV vs the price we buy the kWh (~ 40 cent?)
Monthly from the way the sentenced is phrased I would say
Made my thermostat hours a bit more conservative and also lowered the temperature. Installed a few timers for stand-by appliances. Also bought a master-slave powerstrip for my pc (so that all my peripherals would shut down when my computer isn’t in use) but it doesn’t work ffs. Washing clothes happens at low temperatures mostly.
I’ve only moved to my new place at the start of the energy crisis and had no reliable idea of what my usage would be, but I started following it up so I have some reference for the future. And measuring is the first step in taking more action!
I don’t have a smart thermostat or anything like that but I was really cautious with heating and energy consumption this winter. I just got a mail from Engie suggesting I adjust my my monthly provision from 307€ to… 10€.
I guess I managed to reduce my consumption…
Nice ! That is almost 0 kWh daily, isn’t it ?
I think it’s mostly Engie being assholes and covering their ass during the energy crisis this winter by overestimating the provision they charge.
I mean last summer I was still on a fixed plan with a provision of 90€. I left my thermostat between 18 and 20° and only in the evening but still…
Well, that worked out for you! I had a bill of 250 euro a month, and now they lowered it to 50 euro a month. I have an automated system. This was the first winter that all the rooms warmed to 19 degrees (except the bathrooms). Did not really notice it. Especially since at my work they also lowered it to 19 degrees.
Yeah, that’s pretty much what I did too. Good for you!
