HEATING uses up the most electricity in the average Spanish home, followed by refrigerators – which consume more energy than the washing machine and TV put together, says a recent study.
The Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE) monitored home electricity use for a year and have just released their findings, which include some surprises.
Television sets use more power than washing machines, which drink more electricity than ovens, whilst an average desktop computer costs more to run than a freezer or dishwasher.
And out of all electrical appliances, tumble-driers use the least power – less, in fact, that lightbulbs.
The average household in Spain uses 10,521 kWh (kilowatts per hour) in a year, of which 47 per cent goes on heating and 21.7 on appliances.
Hot water boilers account for 18.9 per cent of the total consumption, cooking 7.4 per cent, lightbulbs and flexible cables 4.1 per cent, and air-conditioning a lower-than-expected 0.8 per cent.
However, given that this is the annual average and the summer months on the southern and Mediterranean coasts, the central plains and the islands are only punishingly-hot for two to four months of the year, whilst the north of Spain generally sees brief, cool summers, the actual proportion of electricity used may be higher – although the study does not break down power usage by seasons.
Of all electrical appliances, the refrigerator uses the most power, at 30.6 per cent of the total, although it is said to be more efficient to run when full.
This is a higher electricity consumption than the television and washing machine combined, since these drink 12.2 per cent and 11.8 per cent of the power used to run white and brown goods.
Electric ovens use 8.3 per cent and computers, 7.4 per cent, whilst freezers and dishwashers use 6.1 per cent each.
And those who avoid doing the laundry on a wet day so as not to have to use the tumble-drier will be pleased to note that of all appliances, this uses the least: 3.3 per cent, less than half that used by a computer and around a quarter of the power consumed by the TV.
Leaving the goggle-box on stand-by rather than switched off altogether uses up nearly seven per cent of the total power consumed by household appliances, more than the freezer or dishwasher, and over twice as much as the tumble-drier.
Energy saving: A postcode lottery?
Electricity consumption and its related cost varies drastically according to where you live in Spain, says IDAE, even though rates are the same for the entire country.
The Institute monitored 200 households in three different areas with three very disparate climatic conditions and saw a wide variation.
Residents in the Mediterranean part of Spain – the Balearic Islands and the east coast of the mainland – use more power than those on the Atlantic coast, mainly because of the high levels of humidity which increase the sensation of heat in summer and cold in winter, leading to greater use of heating and air-conditioning – whilst the northern part of Spain with its Atlantic winds tends to be cooler in summer and the homes better-equipped to ward off the freezing winter climates than those in the hotter provinces.
But residents in the central plains – the regions of greater Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León – use between a quarter and a third more power than anywhere else in the country.
Although a much drier climate with considerably less rain than the coasts and islands, the centre of Spain is scorching in summer and freezing in winter, frequently presenting the highest and lowest extremes of temperature at either end of the year.
For this reason, the overall electricity consumption is 27 per cent higher than the average for the rest of Spain, and 55 per cent of this goes on heating and air-conditioning.
The IDAE's findings have come at an opportune moment, since the fixed tariff for electricity has just increased by 18 per cent.
Although this is independent of energy usage levels and forms part of the 55 per cent of bills made up of taxes and charges payable to the government, the research may help householders to reduce the remaining 45 per cent by keeping the refrigerator temperature as high as healthily possible, switching to energy-saving lightbulbs where possible, and being stringent with use of the television and computer – whilst at the same time relaxing their self-imposed restrictions on using the tumble-drier and dishwasher a little.
