You don’t need a thick sweater to heat your house climate neutrally.

“Put on warm clothes.” The “Thick Sweater Day”

“Put on warm clothes,” one says colloquially in German, as a warning to “watch your back”, perhaps even with a slightly threatening undertone, if one or the other would like to prepare for the fact that it will soon become uncomfortably cold. Watch out! Be careful! The metaphor is easy to understand. Warm clothing prepares you well for the cold spell. Nothing to object to a thick sweater.

In the last weeks the “Dikke Truien Dag”, on February 12, 2019, also went through our media (e.g. ARD Weltspiegel) and has triggered a lot of discussions. In Flanders and the Netherlands, people dress warmly on “Thick Sweater Day” to fight climate change. And that’s not the first time they’ve done this, it’s several years now. The action is not a private initiative, but is also strongly supported by the authorities. Schools, universities, town halls, public authorities – everyone is turning down the heating on this day. To remind them of their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change of 2005. And to draw attention to the consequences of global warming.

Directly in 2006, the Flemings in Belgium started to put on their thick sweaters, and since 2007 people in the Netherlands have also been wearing them to draw attention to the fact that the heating of buildings also leaves a very large CO2 mark.

Small experiment. Great effect

Climate experts have found that it saves about 6% on energy costs and greenhouse gases if you turn down the heating by 1 degree. In fact, heating is the most important factor when it comes to the energy consumption of buildings. And if fossil fuels that cause CO2 emissions are burned, this unfortunately contributes to climate change. For the Netherlands, in concrete terms, this means that if the whole country turns down the heating system by 1 degree in just one day, this corresponds to an estimated saving of 3.6 million cubic metres of gas, or 3.2 million euros, or 6.4 million kilograms of CO2.

You don’t need a thick sweater to heat in a climate-neutral way

In fact, the “thick sweater” just quoted is a good reason to reconsider your own heating habits after all. Where do you get by with less heating energy? How can your own home be optimised in terms of heating costs? If it should not always be a thick sweater, there are in this field also further meaningful possibilities. Because you can select your energy supplier. And also the type of your electricity or natural gas.

We have decided very consciously for 100% green electricity from 100% renewable resources (sun, wind, water), and for “climate-neutral natural gas”. By opting for an energy supply from 100% renewable resources and climate-neutral natural gas, we are not saving the universe. We know that, and we do not presume to. We are convinced, however, that burning fossil resources is definitely not sustainable, but a depletion of our planet. And that every single step towards sustainability is effective. And by each and every one of them.

Green electricity. From “Greenwashing” to “As Green as can be”

It certainly makes sense to take a closer look when deciding on the type of power supply. In fact, there are also “green electricity” offers which, on closer inspection, are actually not, at least not that “green”. It is important in the sense of a truly sustainable environmental concept that it is not “only” about energy from renewable sources, but that green electricity suppliers also invest in new technologies and plants. And the environmental balance is not only “nicely calculated” with the waste heat from combined heat and power plants. That they are also demonstrably actively committed to funding programmes and research projects for renewable energies.

At first glance, the large number of offers seems a little confusing. Utopia.de offers a rather comprehensive overview of the different providers in comparison.

The simple proof of origin is not sufficient, in order to make sure that the allegedly “green” energy does not actually come along nevertheless rather “grey”? A large number of different test seals and certificates does not necessarily contribute to transparency and orientation. The consumer advice centre (German “Verbraucherzentrale”), for example, gives good ideas as to how to navigate the “thicket of electricity”. It is also worth taking a look at the ok-Power label or the TÜV test seal. A look at the respective criteria catalogues and the regularity with which a seal awarded is checked is revealing.

Energy supply and consumption. The two ends of a line

Of course, especially the energy which is simply not consumed in the first place has a great environmental benefit. As a hotel business, however, we are not necessarily among the declared energy savers. Especially since we are actually never quite among ourselves, but have always guests in the house. And a friendly, bright environment also helps our guests to feel at home. Even those who arrive late or only come home at night are welcomed with a cosy light. No, no “holiday lighting”, but it is never completely dark with us.

With regard to sustainability, we are working intensively on how to combine this comfort with sensible energy management.
No, we do not distribute thick sweaters among our guests. But we regulate the heating in the rooms during the day when there are no guests in the house. We work with energy-saving lamps and energy-efficient machines, regardless of whether they are refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers or computers. We also take a critical look at our suppliers. For example, it is important to us that our web host guarantees 100% energy supply from renewable sources.

The energy turnaround can only succeed if each individual actually moves. Every step counts. And that each and every one of us “stays tuned”, ans is attentive to his or her needs and energy consumption. And for this you don’t necessarily always need a thick sweater and warm socks. This is also possible in a T-shirt.