Electricity prices are sky high at the moment and during the evening they reach their peak.
This means that a ten-minute hot shower between 5 and 6 pm tonight can cost up to SEK 50.
But there are tips to avoid the electricity bill from skyrocketing.
– Not charging the electric car, not taking long showers, maybe turning off the bathroom floor. Everything that gets hot usually draws quite a lot of electricity, says Jens Berggren, climate coach at Vattenfall.
Between 5 pm and 6 pm tonight, the spot price for a kilowatt hour (kWh) is over eight kroner in electricity price areas 3 and 4, according to figures from Nord Pool. This means that villa owners with variable electricity prices in the areas will have to pay between SEK 40 and 50 for a ten-minute hot shower during said hour, provided that the shower consumes approximately 0.5 kWh per minute.
But it is not only the hot shower that is an energy thief in the home. There are also other things that you as a consumer should watch out for. The tip is therefore to take a quiet moment on the sofa after work.
– To save money and electricity, you should avoid everything that draws electricity, says Jens Berggren, climate coach at Vattenfall.
– Not charging the electric car, not taking long showers, maybe turning off the bathroom floor. Anything that gets hot usually draws quite a lot of electricity, he adds.
Push the chores
What uses the most electricity is the heating of the house itself, after that hot water.
– We heat water in washing machines and dishwashers, and we heat away water in tumble dryers.
The tip is therefore to avoid washing, drying, dishes and vacuuming, between 5 and 6 pm – and postpone the chores until later in the evening when the price has had time to drop. Then there is a lot of money to save, says Jens Berggren.
– If instead you do it sometime around 9 p.m. when the price at Nord Pool is below one kroner, and the price with the consumer ends up around kroner 1.30. Then you can earn 25 kroner by moving your tumble dryer from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., he explains.
“Not entirely wrong to turn on the TV”
But everything that can be seen and heard does not draw large amounts of electricity. Much of the electricity consumption takes place in the background and there are things in the home that most people can afford to have running even between 5 and 6 p.m.
– Having the lights on usually draws very little if you have LED lights, so you can absolutely have the light on when you read a book. It’s also not completely wrong to turn on the TV, it draws around 70 watts, which in the context is little, says Jens Berggren.
Is the heating simply the culprit?
– Yes, if you live in a villa and are responsible for your own electric heating. If you have district heating, it doesn’t matter, because then you get the heat from somewhere else. Then maybe it’s more that you shouldn’t use the hair dryer all the way during that hour.
– You can also avoid vacuuming, but the fridge and freezer should be on, says Jens Berggren.
This is spot price
The spot price is the electricity companies’ purchase price. It is the basis for the price at which the electricity is resold to electricity users. However, the price for consumers is higher because it also includes the cost of electricity certificates, surcharges, energy tax and VAT of 25 percent. In addition, Swedish electricity consumers pay a separate electricity grid fee
Since the 1990s, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark have had a common electricity market where prices are set on the Nord Pool electricity exchange. Almost all electricity trading in Sweden goes through Nord Pool. The electricity prices set at Nord Pool are called spot prices. The spot price varies from hour to hour based on supply and demand.
Sweden is divided into four electricity areas. The electricity producer receives the spot price that applies to the electricity area where one’s installation is located and the electricity buyer pays the spot price that applies to the electricity area where consumption takes place.
In northern Sweden (electricity areas 1 and 2) more electricity is produced than is demanded, in southern Sweden (electricity areas 3 and 4) it is the opposite. Large amounts of electricity are therefore transported from north to south, which leads to often higher electricity prices in the southern parts of the country.
Source: Waterfall