Energy consumption of households for housing
Destatis, 16 December 2008
Households consume energy in various areas of life: Directly in housing and by using vehicles, indirectly by consuming goods and services. This article deals with energy consumption and energy costs in housing, that is for heating, warm water, lighting and the operation of household appliances and communication equipment.
Energy prices increasing sharply, consumption nearly constant
Energy consumption for housing
Expenditure of households on housing energy (electricity, gas, liquid and solid fuels, remote heat) rose by just under 61% from 1995 to 2007. There was a particularly sharp increase since 2000. Above-average price increases were recorded for gas and remote heat. The share of expenditure on housing energy in total consumption expenditure of households was up from 3.7% (1995) to 4.7% (2007). In absolute terms, this is an increase from EUR 86 to EUR 130 spent per household every month on housing energy.
However, the quantities of housing energy consumed remained nearly constant between 1995 and 2007. This applies in particular to warm water production and lighting. Things are different for heating.Lower energy consumption for heating
Energy consumption for room heating
Within the consumption area of housing, energy consumption for room heating accounted for the largest share (74%) in 2006. Energy consumption of households for heating is subject to strong annual fluctuations which are mainly due to different weather conditions. Weather influences can be eliminated by adjusting the results for temperature variations.
In the area of room heating, consumption markedly decreased in temperature-adjusted terms by 11.2% compared with the peak consumption in 2000.
Energy intensity, energy demand per square metre of living floor space, decreased by 14.4% from 1995 to 2006. Improvements in terms of both building and heating technology as well as changing habits of households – saving by lowering room temperatures – have had an effect here. Between 1995 and 2000, energy demand per square metre of living floor space rose by 2%, before it fell sharply by 16% between 2000 and 2006. This indicates that households reacted by marked saving to large price increases for heating energy.
Increase in living floor space reduces saving effects
Energy consumption for room heating
Total energy consumption for room heating would have decreased even more if the saving effects were not reduced by the trend towards smaller households and the rise in total living floor space. The latter increased by 13.8% from 1995 to 2006. Between 1995 and 2006, the total number of households rose by 6.4%. Especially the number of one-person and two-person households was up, whereas that of larger households was down. The share of one-person households increased from 34.9% in 1995 to 37.9% in 2006. That trend had an upward effect on the stock of living floor space. Living floor space per capita in small households is higher than in multi-person households. Per capita energy consumption for room heating in a one-person household is by nearly 60% above the average. So the trend towards smaller households has led to higher demand for living floor space and, consequently, to higher demand for heating.
Higher consumption for electric appliances
The area of “mechanical energy” – comprising energy consumption for the operation of equipment for entertainment, information and communication – showed a high increase of 25.4% between 1995 and 2006. For “other process heat” (energy for cooking and washing), too, an increase in consumption is recorded. The reason is the larger equipment of households with – partly new – electric appliances ( microwave ovens, coffee machines, dryers) and the purchase of second appliances ( refrigerators, freezers, personal computers, sets). That trend is accompanied by a sharp increase in electricity consumption, which was up by 11.5% between 1995 and 2006.
Table: Temperature-adjusted energy consumption of households
Altogether, the consumption development by energy sources shows quite different trends. Especially the consumption of coal, remote heat and mineral oil (heating oil and liquefied gas) fell sharply, while consumption of natural gas increased until 2005.
For further information on energy consumption of households please refer to the accompanying documentation for the press conference of 5 November 2008, both of which are entitled “Energy consumption of households – Housing, mobility, consumption and environment”. The publication also deals with the consumption area of transport and the indirect energy consumption caused by the consumption of goods and services.
Author:
Christine Flachmann - Federal Statistical Office
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