news, strength | These energy-saving measures do not affect practice

[Nettavisen:] High electricity prices prompted Norwegians to consider saving electricity.

to me electric axle Electricity consumption by households in southern price zones has fallen by up to 16 percent compared to 2021, and 21 percent with 2020.

An important reason for the decline in consumption is the hugely increased demand for heat pumps, many of which are equipped with solar cells – and energy savings in general.

Some energy-saving measures have almost zero effect

But there are many who have taken the concept of energy savings to a new level.

When electricity prices started rising a year ago, many stores were able to report an increased demand for electricity meters that could be plugged into the socket. Using these meters, you can find “energy thieves” of electrical appliances.

Among other things, there are many devices that have a standby mode, in which it is not completely turned off. In some cases, they can draw approximately the same amount of current as when they are turned on.

Turning off products completely, pulling out cell phone chargers, and actively turning off lights in rooms are always highlighted as possible ways to save a little extra electricity.

What many people don’t think about is that removing these energy thieves has no effect on energy consumption. In any case, not in most months of the year when heating with panel furnaces and heating cables is necessary.

First law of thermodynamics

The reason is that all electrical devices – whether they are light bulbs, computers, televisions, game consoles or wireless routers – directly or indirectly convert energy consumption into heat.

There is a good reason to equip computers, for example, with cooling fans.

For home electronics, power input = heating.

note! This does not apply, for example, to electric motors, where the majority of current is mainly converted into kinetic energy.

– It’s not so important

In practice, turning off these products has no other effect than tablet ovens working harder.

– If you use electricity for heating, it won’t be so important with energy-saving measures during the period when you need heating, Sintef’s lead researcher, Petter Nekså, tells Nettavisen.

He emphasizes that the situation is completely different if you have a heat pump – and when you don’t need heating.

The Head of the Renewable Energy Department in the Department of Engineering at the University of Agder, Associate Professor Tori Sandnes Vehus, sorts through the picture a bit:

– “inflow = heat out” can be reformulated to “inflow = function + excess heat”. Ideally, for a product that doesn’t convert energy, you want the portion of excess heat to be as small as possible, says Viuss.

A good example of this is the transition from incandescent lamps to LEDs, where you can still get light, but with much less heat loss.

He also points out that in many cases, panel ovens are best placed in a room, often below windows where they can be used. volcanic crater of windows.

Heat pumps change equation

It is important to note that the calculation changes if the home you live in has a heat pump.

A normal air-to-air heat pump typically generates 2 to 5 times more heat than a regular plate furnace with the same amount of electricity consumption, depending on the outside temperature and the type of plate furnace.

This means that if it is the heat pump that takes over the heating from the discontinued electrical products, this is a clear gain.

Another point is that electricity thieves like to use the same amount of electricity throughout the year:

– You don’t need heating all year round – then it comes down to using as little electricity as possible, Nixa points out.

What is the real problem?

If you want to save on electricity consumption, you should focus on the main sources of consumption. In Norway, this means that the heating itself is what you should focus on.

Heat pumps, additional insulation, heating in unused rooms or parts of the home, and smart energy management will have the greatest impact for most people.