Electrical appliances consume less and less electricity
Electrical appliances are becoming more and more efficient. Although the total number of appliances has increased by more than 46% over the last thirteen years, their electricity consumption has fallen by 455 GWh per year (- 5.9%) over the same period. This is shown by an analysis of electrical appliances sold in Switzerland carried out on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
The Study is based on data from the Swiss Association for Household and Commercial Electrical Appliances (FEA) and the Swiss Business Association for Information, Communication and Organization Technology (Swico). It shows that there are around 17.33 million large household appliances in use in Switzerland, 28% more than in 2002 (13.57 million). However, these cause energy consumption to increase by only 1.7% (5.33 TWh in 2015 compared to 5.24 TWh in 2002). The largest electricity consumers in the category of large household appliances are electric stoves/ovens (1.39 TWh), refrigerators (1.01 TWh), and, with an increasing trend, clothes dryers (832 GWh).
The differences are even greater in the consumer electronics/IT sector. The number of devices used increased from 20.1 million to 33.6 million (+ 67%) in the last 13 years, with the strongest increases in notebooks (+ 4.9 million), tablets (+ 3.9 million) and set-top boxes (+ 2.9 million). Despite the sharp increase in the number of devices, their overall electricity consumption fell by 610 GWh (- 24%), with the biggest savings achieved by PCs (- 330 GWh) and monitors (- 280 GWh).
Large household appliances: efficiency gains through minimum requirements and energy labels
In 2015, according to FEA statistics, about 327`200 refrigerators were sold, which caused an energy consumption of 52 GWh. The consumption per liter of cooling volume was 0.72 kWh, in 2003 this value was 1.31 kWh/a (- 45%).
The heat pump made high efficiency gains possible in tumble dryers. For example, tumble dryers sold in 2015 consumed an average of 133 kWh per year. In 2008, when mainly condensation dryers were still sold, the figure was around three times higher (407 kWh).
As a result of the efficiency gains achieved, the energy consumption of large household appliances in 2015 was 1.48 TWh (or 21.7%) lower than the extrapolated consumption of the same number of appliances with 2002 efficiency.
A general sales trend toward better-quality appliances is discernible. This is due not only to technological developments but also to the establishment of the energy label, steadily increasing minimum requirements, efforts by the industries, and accompanying measures by the federal government (EnergieSchweiz).
The efficiency regulations are continuously adapted in Switzerland. In order to avoid trade barriers and the associated additional costs for manufacturers, retailers and consumers, Switzerland coordinates its content with EU law in particular. In individual cases, however, the federal government has issued more stringent requirements for electrical appliances than the EU (e.g. refrigerators, tumble dryers).
The energy label is currently being revised in the EU. The SFOE welcomes the EU's proposal to reintroduce energy labels with an A-G rating. This is the only way to ensure that the energy label remains a relevant decision-making factor when purchasing electrical appliances.
IT, office and consumer electronics equipment: electricity consumption reduced by 25% in 15 years
In the case of TV sets, a trend toward sets with LED technology has been discernible for some time. Thanks to this now widespread technology, the power consumption of TV sets is falling (- 9 GWh compared with 2000). This is despite an increase in the number of sets (+ 39%) and ever larger screen areas (+ 286%).
Personal computers (specific consumption 2015: 66 kWh/year) and monitors (26 kWh) have slowly been replaced by more energy-efficient notebooks (20 kWh) in the past. Recently, fewer notebooks have been sold and more tablets (4.4 kWh).
Despite the increase in unit sales of IT, office and consumer electronics and longer useful lives, energy consumption was reduced compared with previous years. One reason for this is probably the introduction of minimum requirements for standby consumption.
The specific consumption per appliance averaged over all appliances has decreased from 124.4 kWh in 2000 to 56.3 kWh in 2015. Higher usage times and increased comfort requirements are taken into account here.
Thanks to the efficiency gains achieved, in 2015 the energy consumption of all IT, office and consumer electronics devices was 1.79 TWh (or 48.6%) lower than the extrapolated consumption of the same number of devices with 2000 efficiency.
It is expected that the efficiency of electrical appliances will continue to improve in the future, but probably not at the same pace as in the last 15 years.
Source: SFOE
