Cautions to turn down the heat to save money – VG

– It may be tempting to save a few kroner, but it can lead to very high costs later on. It’s important to have enough heat so the tubes don’t freeze, says injury prevention Therese Nielsen at insurance company Fremtind.

Recently, there has been a record hike in electricity prices, and Europe is in an energy crisis. This is partly due to higher gas and coal prices, as well as higher CO2 quotas. Here in Norway, people lived in the south Electricity prices were highest ever on Tuesday last week.

6 in 10 Norwegians would like to lower the temperature to save money, shows a recent survey by Response Analysis for Fremtind, the insurer for SpareBank 1 and DNB. 1,271 people between the ages of 18 and 90 participated in the survey.

Last winter, Fremtind recorded a record number of water damage – more than 1,600 due to frost, to a total compensation amount of more than 46 million kroner.

– If you do not have enough heat in wet rooms and rooms with pipes, you may have to take a portion of the bill even if you get freezing or water damage. Don’t forget enough heat in the cabin, if you have it, you might be more exposed, says Nielsen.

– Potentially very dangerous

Nielsen is concerned that people are following the advice to use electricity when it is cheaper, which is often at night.

– This could be very dangerous. Most of the fires we record start in electrical appliances and utilities, Nielsen says.

One contributing reason is that more and more people have their own electric bikes and are charging them at home, says Nielsen. The insurance company has recorded several cases of batteries exploding during charging, as well as cases in which batteries exploded even when not being charged.

In the past three years, Fremtind has recorded nearly 3,000 burns to electrical tools or installations, totaling 62 million NOK in compensation.

– We strongly encourage you not to use electrical devices, and not to charge your phone or spare electric bike when you are not awake and present. That can have consequences beyond a damaged battery, Nielsen says.

Do you find electricity prices confusing? Here’s a quick introduction.

Tips to avoid frostbite

To avoid frostbite at home or in the cabin, Nielsen offers some tips:

The different rooms in the house should be sufficiently heated. You do not have to stay at a temperature of 20 degrees in all rooms, but there should be sufficient heat sources capable of keeping the rooms frost-free.

A good rule of thumb is to calculate 60-70 watts per square meter, says Nielsen.

This means that if you have a room of 10 square meters, the stove should be at least 600 watts. If the room is very large, it is a good idea to have several stoves, so that the heat is distributed well in the room, she advises.

– In addition, all rooms where water leakage can occur must have water sensors on the floor. If it is very cold, it can be an advantage of up to 70-85 watts per square meter.

Big controversy in the European Union

A week ago, EU leaders met to discuss measures to solve the energy crisis. Most member states have already taken their own measures to help those hardest hit by the price hike, among other things by cutting taxes and subsidies and supporting poor families.

On October 13, the European Commission published «Toolbox“With measures that Member States can introduce at the national level, in addition to considering long-term joint measures for all Member States.

But there is significant disagreement over what measures should be taken: Spain, Italy and Greece are among the countries that want the EU to make changes to their regulations and have a common procurement plan, according to the news agency.

On the other hand, countries such as Germany and Belgium, are skeptical about changing existing regulations in response to a short-term crisis, according to Reuters. According to the European Commission, gas prices are expected to stabilize at a lower level by April next year.