Do you have a high electricity bill? This could also be due to your impatience. A recent survey and study show how you can save more.
According to the electrical appliance manufacturer Miele, only five percent of consumers use the eco mode on their washing machine. Almost 30 percent use it on their dishwasher. This result comes from an anonymous survey of data provided by hundreds of thousands of networked Miele household appliances. The data is available exclusively to the magazine “Spiegel”.
Miele explains that consumers could easily use the eco program on washing machines six times more often and on dishwashers twice as often. The small measures could save Germany 1.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity every year, according to the company.
But why are consumers less likely to use the Eco program on their appliances?
Economic researchers at the University of Kassel have investigated this question. The result: Most consumers are too impatient. They would rather accept the increased costs than the extra time.
“We are trying to explain this by saying that patient people are also more likely to invest in energy-efficient measures. This is because these people are more likely to consider that the higher investments today will pay off in the long term,” explains study leader Dr. Elke Groh.
A study by the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn confirms that patient people are also much more frugal in other areas than impatient ones. So take a deep breath if you want to save money.
