They asked five thousand energy payers last June and then in January this year and compared the individual numbers. “The Czechs are managing the crisis better than they expected. Previously, 38 percent of people were worried about how energy prices will handle, now it was only 11 percent.” said Ipsos analyst Michal Straka. The reason is that people started looking for ways to save. “Before, they were interested in what a kilowatt-hour is, now they are actively looking for specific measures to reduce consumption,” said Tomáš Kadlec, director of ČEZ Sales.
Already 55 percent of people have approached them. What are they like? They most often replaced old light bulbs with energy-saving ones (26%), or made building modifications (21%), or installed a heat pump (5%). But it is clear that many people do not have the money to invest. You can still save money. Many people shower instead of bathing (43%), do not cover radiators (38%), set the refrigerator correctly (35%), or lower the temperature at night or when no one is home (29%).
Saving even for little money
According to the director of the energy advisor TZB-info, there are many ways to save your wallet. “There is a lot of potential for savings in the house. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money either. A little something is often enough. In addition, people stopped wasting unnecessarily and thanks to that they saved money,” said Dagmar Kopačková.
Credit is the wrong way to go
The energy crisis forced many people to go to the bank and take out a loan. “But it’s definitely not a good way. Many of our clients have realized that they can save a lot thanks to small changes,” said David Šmejkal from Financial Crisis Counseling. People often do not have the money to invest in austerity measures. “Their path is measures that are free or have minimal costs,” Šmejkal said.
Advisors and courses on how to save
In order for people to know how to save on energy, ČEZ has already created a guide for them in the form of the website www.setrim.cz. Now it goes even further. “We organize free courses where people learn specific measures,” said ČEZ Sales Director Tomáš Kadlec, adding that 16,000 customers had already signed up for the first course »How to save on heating«.