BERLIN: Europeans have dialled down their heating this winter, apparently heeding government calls to conserve energy amid the Ukraine crisis, with some delaying switching it on by almost a month and setting the temperature lower, data shows.

The data, from hundreds of thousands of smart thermometers installed in households across the continent by Munich-based company Tado, shows that as temperatures dropped, households responded to dire warnings about higher heating costs.

People and businesses across Europe are increasing their use of such smart thermometers to keep an eye on how much gas they are using. These are sometimes linked to an energy provider’s tariff structure to smooth demand and reduce peak costs. Germany has made them obligatory in new buildings.

In this winter season, the proportion of homes with heating switched on across Europe passed 90 per cent on Nov 28. In the previous three years, that threshold was passed weeks earlier, on Nov 7, 12, and 5 respectively, according to data from Tado, which is one of many companies active in the fast growing smart thermometer market.

German public authorities reduced temperatures in their offices to a chilly 19 degrees Celsius. At the university in Frankfurt an der Oder on the Polish border, staff were given blankets to wrap themselves in.

Tado’s data shows how households also cut back.

Home heating settings averaged almost a degree lower this winter than in previous years, based on the data.

After a hectic time, energy regulators are more relaxed about Europe’s gas supply prospects.

“With savings, gas inflows, good storage levels, we are very, very optimistic that we will no longer have to worry about a gas shortage this winter,” German network regulator Klaus Mueller said on Tuesday, after previously having told consumers to make deep cuts to prevent serious disruption.

The European Union imports 80 per cent of its gas and gas represents 22 per cent of Europe’s energy consumption and meets 32 per cent of households’ energy needs, according to the EU.

But there have been huge efforts to reduce reliance on Russian gas and increase imports from European gas producers like Norway and the Netherlands, while Germany has quickly built LNG terminals.

Gas prices in Europe have fallen sharply from a peak in August, as a rush to fill storage pushed the market higher.

Tado’s data, based on readings from 340,000 cloud-linked smart thermometers around Europe, is relatively resistant to varied weather conditions over the four winters it measured, since it records the target temperatures households set.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2023