While we should always be looking to save energy, this winter, saving energy, even here in Switzerland, has never been more critical. The current European political situation has led to an energy shortage. With rising heating and electricity costs, we all will be looking at ways to reduce our electricity bills and keep the grid online.

To ensure we all come through the winter without power and gas cuts, the Swiss federal government has released several energy-saving recommendations we can all implement to help the situation. With relatively simple and quickly implemented measures, so much can be achieved.

But as most of the tips shared in Switzerland are not in English, I thought it would be helpful to summarise the important energy-saving points. 

So I’ve done a little research and translated a summary of how the Swiss Government, local newspapers, and my friends and family suggest we save electricity this year. 

Hopefully, these tips will help reduce your electricity bill while reducing the pressure on the electricity grid. 

22 Ideas to help reduce your Energy Costs this Winter

1. Keep taps turned to cold. Having your temperature-regulating taps consistently positioned in the middle (like I have been doing) always uses a bit of warm water – even if you don’t need it. So keep taps positioned either completely cold or, when required, completely hot to reduce unnecessary heating costs.
2. Don’t tilt windows in winter. Tilting windows in winter is like letting money fly out the window. Instead, when wanting fresh air, fully open the windows for 10 minutes a couple of times a day. 
3. Use the dishwasher instead of hand washing. Running a full dishwasher, especially without pre-rinsing and using the ECO cycle, is actually more economical than washing your dishes by hand. 
4. Reduce your heating temperatures. Swiss apartments can be so hot in winter, so why not have a reason to get all cosy and reduce your heating temperature? Even reducing temperatures by just 1 degree can help. The current recommendation is 20c. But please note if you are in a rental apartment, the cost is often divided equally between all apartments, so discussions as a community will be needed to see monetary savings. 
5. Turn off coffee machines. Having your coffee machine on standby always keeps its boiler hot, so turn it off between brews and save some electricity. 
6. Use electrical boards with on/off buttons. Especially useful for electronics that are difficult to turn off or use standby mode, like TVs. A small purchase with a big effect. There are also smaller adaptors with the on/off button too. 
7. Keep an eye out for power boards with an individual on/off switches too. Great for charging stations that charge devices at different times. 
8. Use the kettle to boil water for cooking. We even go as far as boiling water in the kettle and using the residual heat to warm up hot dog sausages. If you use the stove, ensure the pot has a lid when boiling water and only cook the amount required.
9. Keep your radiators free of furniture and curtains. This help with the efficient circulation of heat.
10. Prepare for an efficient winter heating period and “bleeding” out your radiators. This website has a step-by-step guide. 
11. Turn off the lights. A simple tip, but if your kids are like mine, they need constant reminders to turn the light off in their bedrooms. 
12. Take a shower over a bath. This uses less water which in turn reduces heating costs.
13. Only turn on full machines like dishwashers, washing machines etc. But be careful not to overload.
14. Dry your clothes on a line instead of using a dryer. This also helps increase the humidity of the apartment too. I haven’t used my dryer for almost two years, so it’s possible! 
15. Experiment with washing with cold water and using the energy-saving programs built into modern washing machines. 
16. Swap your lights for LED bulbs
17. When new electronics are needed, purchase energy-efficient versions.
18. Turn down the temperature of your fridge and freezer. The government suggests a temperature of 7c for fridges and -18C for freezers. 
19. Stop preheating ovens. You can save as much as 20% of energy by not preheating your oven. Also, think about using residual heat after cooking too.
20. Clean the filter of the Extractors and use the lowest setting for most cooking. 
21. The website nicht-verschwenden.ch is a helpful resource for more energy and money-saving tips. If you don’t speak either German, French or Italian, use Google translate to help you read more. 
22. nicht-verschwenden.ch is also the place to keep up to date with Switzerland’s Energy supply status and the current measures the government is implementing.

Do you have any more energy-saving tips for us to add to the list?