With the introduction of the electricity price brake, especially a few single-person households in the country are inclined to save on gas or district heating by using electric radiators. As tempting as that sounds, it’s not a good idea, reveals energy expert Christoph Dolna-Gruber of the Austrian Energy Agency.
The average annual electricity consumption in Austria for a single person household is 1000 to 1800 kilowatt hours per year. With the electricity price brake introduced as a result of the energy crisis, up to 2900 kWh is now secured by the state at a price of 10 cents.
temptation deceptive
While there are still no support measures for gas or district heating and many will probably play with the idea of fencing themselves in the winter with an electrically powered heating system (mind you, with a simple electric heating system and no heating pump), the temptation deceptive.
The reason for this: Such electric heaters are cheap to buy, but expensive to use. “There are 251,000 households in Austria that mainly heat with direct electricity,” explains Dolna-Gruber on Twitter. This means storage heaters, infrared heaters and the like.
Very high consumption of electric heaters
The energy expert has calculated that it is known from the network analyzes that these households consume an average of 12,385 kilowatt hours per year. Since the current market price has to be paid for consumption above the brake of the electricity price, this variant is hardly worth it. “With a few exceptions, it’s really not advisable for anyone to do that,” says Dolna-Gruber.
Pure electricity heating will not get you “very far” – in addition, there are also consumption-independent fees – which have a very high share in district heating, for example – that still have to be paid.
Some would even pay twice
In addition, the consumption of district heating customers is measured with, for example, evaporation meters. “They measure the heating of the apartment and not the use of district heating. In other words, in such a case you would have to pay twice: for the electric heating and for the district heating’, warned Dolna-Gruber.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
