How can you tell if your energy consumption is high?
It’s not always easy to tell whether you’re using a lot or a little electricity. Comparing yourself to your neighbors, family members, or a general average isn’t enough, because every household has its own unique characteristics.
Your consumption actually depends on several factors:
- your lifestyle habits: how often you use the oven, laundry temperatures, appliances you use every day, etc.
- the number of people in your household: generally speaking, the more people in a household, the greater the energy needs.
- Your type of housing: For the same number of residents, a single-family home often consumes more electricity than an apartment. This is due in part to the presence of more or larger appliances, as well as the building’s specific design.
The PERLAS tool, supported by SuisseEnergie and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) , enables Swiss households to receive an initial personalized energy consultation based on an analysis of their electricity consumption data.
Through intelligent calculations and analyses, consumption data is broken down into different categories and presented in detail to users. PERLAS uses available electricity consumption data and compares it to that of users with similar profiles.
Comparing Your Consumptionto That of Typical Households
To estimate your consumption without using a web platform, you can compare your usage to that of "typical households." These are households with characteristics similar to yours.
Using the charts below, identify the household type that best matches your situation based on your living situation and the number of people living there.
You can then compare your annual energy consumption with that of households similar to yours and get a better sense of where you stand.
You can view your annual consumption in your personal account on the SEIC customer portal.
Ways to Save Energy
Electricity is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). What does that mean?
What can I do every day to save energy?
Looking for advice for businesses? Check out the current offerings on SuisseEnergie.
What can you do with 1 kWh?
One kilowatt-hour (kWh) represents the consumption of 1,000 watts of energy over the course of one hour.
The kilowatt-hour (kWh) is therefore the unit used to measure the amount of energy over a period of time. It is used to measure electricity consumption —the price of electricity is given in cents per kilowatt-hour —but also for other forms of energy, such as the combustion of wood or fuel oil.
Use electrical appliances efficiently
From the freezer in the cellar to the lamp in the attic, today's household can hardly function without electricity, and offers enormous potential for energy savings. By following our tips, you'll consume less electricity and cut your bills.
Small gestures & big savings
Optimize the heating in your facilities
- Set the right temperature: 23°C in the bathroom, 20° in the living room, and 17° in the bedrooms and hallways are the standard settings.
- Ventilate your home smartly and efficiently: open the windows 2–3 times a day to create a draft for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat loss is minimal, and the air is refreshed more effectively than when leaving the windows ajar.
- Allow warm air to circulate freely throughout the room (for example, avoid placing curtains or furniture in front of radiators).
- Close the blinds and shutters at night to keep the heat inside.
Unplug your appliances
- Switch off Wi-Fi when not in use.
- Switch off appliances completely, without leaving them on standby. A power strip with a switch can simplify the complete shutdown of several appliances.
- Unplug chargers after use.
- Switch off the coffee machine immediately after use.
Choose LED lighting
LED lamps consume less energy than older bulbs. Equip your home with LED bulbs to save money, but don't multiply them as this will reduce the benefit.
Efficient use of oven and hob
- Put a lid on the pans.
- Prefer the kettle to the saucepan for heating water.
- Avoid preheating the oven, as this saves around 20% energy.
- Use the oven's rotating heat function and save up to 15% electricity compared with the top and bottom heat functions.
- Switch off your glass-ceramic hob or oven 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time and enjoy the residual heat.
- Check the hood filter once or twice a month, and clean it if necessary to facilitate extraction.
Keep appliances cold
- Keep cooling appliances (such as refrigerators) away from heat sources (hobs, ovens, radiators, etc.).
- Allow food to cool before placing in the fridge.
- Avoid opening the refrigerator door too often or for too long.
- Defrosting food in the fridge cools the interior of the appliance, using less electricity.
- Defrost your appliances regularly.
Wash more economically
- Run the dishwasher only when it is full.
- Choose the "economy" program without rinsing the dishes first.
- Clean it regularly, as 1mm of scale on a heating element leads to a 10% increase in electricity consumption.
- Wash your clothes at the lowest possible temperature (20-30°C) and use your appliance's energy-saving programs to save water and electricity.
Air-dry your laundry
- Air-dry your laundry. However, if you dry it indoors, be sure to air out the room regularly to prevent mold from forming.
- Use the tumble dryer with a full drum and well wrung clothes.
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