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Electricity Bill for a Retired couple at home all day in Germany (2026)
Two people at home most of the day. The TV, kettle and lights run for many more hours than in a working household, and the house is kept warmer.
A retired couple at home all day uses about 2,700 kWh of electricity a year. At Germany prices of €0.37 per kWh (source: BDEW Strompreisanalyse August 2026, 2026-08), that is €83.25 per month, or €999.00 per year.
Benchmark: Stromspiegel für Deutschland (co2online, with the Federal Ministry for the Environment), average consumption by persons and building type: 2 persons, house. Data as of 2024. It covers appliances and lighting; 'with hot water' variants add electric water heating; electric space heating is excluded.
Where the electricity goes
- TV, computing & network 29%
- Other appliances 26%
- Washing, drying & dishwashing 13%
- Lighting 12%
- Refrigeration & freezing 10%
- Cooking 10%
| End use | Per year | Cost | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigeration & freezing | 270 kWh | €99.90 | 10% |
| Cooking | 270 kWh | €99.90 | 10% |
| Washing, drying & dishwashing | 351 kWh | €129.87 | 13% |
| TV, computing & network | 783 kWh | €289.71 | 29% |
| Lighting | 324 kWh | €119.88 | 12% |
| Other appliances | 702 kWh | €259.74 | 26% |
End-use shares: BDEW / Stromspiegel 2025: information & communication technology 29%, washing & drying 13%, lighting 12%, refrigeration 10%, cooking about 10%, remainder other. Electric hot water, where present, is the difference between the with- and without-hot-water Stromspiegel values. These shares are official. This benchmark excludes heating & cooling and water heating, which are on gas or counted separately in this country's statistics.
Through the day
What drives this household's bill
- Hours, not devices, drive this profile: a TV on for eight hours costs as much as a family's console habit.
- Daytime heating in winter is the largest cost if it is electric.
- An electric blanket and a heated throw are far cheaper than heating the room in the evening.
Appliance by appliance
Each end-use bucket above is spread over this household's appliances in proportion to their typical use, never at more than twice that use. What the listed appliances cannot account for appears as "not listed" rows, so the table still adds up to the official figures. Hours are implied, not measured.
| Appliance | End use | Typical | Hours/day | Per year | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Blanket ×2 | Other appliances | 100 W | 7.8 h | 567 kWh | €209.89 |
| Television ×2.5 | TV, computing & network | 100 W | 5.2 h | 477 kWh | €176.65 |
| LED Light Bulb ×14 | Lighting | 9 W | 4.8 h | 219 kWh | €81.21 |
| Refrigerator | Refrigeration & freezing | 150 W | 3.7 h | 202 kWh | €74.92 |
| Clothes Dryer ×0.5 | Washing, drying & dishwashing | 3,000 W | 20 min | 182 kWh | €67.17 |
| Laptop | TV, computing & network | 45 W | 10.5 h | 172 kWh | €63.59 |
| Dishwasher ×0.7 | Washing, drying & dishwashing | 1,500 W | 20 min | 127 kWh | €47.02 |
| Outdoor Security Floodlight | Lighting | 30 W | 9.5 h | 105 kWh | €38.67 |
| Vacuum Cleaner | Other appliances | 1,000 W | 15 min | 89 kWh | €32.80 |
| Wi-Fi Router | TV, computing & network | 10 W | 24.0 h | 88 kWh | €32.41 |
| Induction Cooktop ×1.5 | Cooking | 1,800 W | 5 min | 85 kWh | €31.55 |
| Electric Oven | Cooking | 2,500 W | 5 min | 79 kWh | €29.21 |
| Chest Freezer ×0.5 | Refrigeration & freezing | 100 W | 3.7 h | 68 kWh | €24.98 |
| Slow Cooker | Cooking | 200 W | 42 min | 51 kWh | €18.69 |
| Electric Lawn Mower (Corded or Battery) | Other appliances | 1,200 W | 6 min | 43 kWh | €15.74 |
| Washing Machine ×0.7 | Washing, drying & dishwashing | 500 W | 20 min | 42 kWh | €15.67 |
| Electric Kettle ×3 | Cooking | 2,000 W | 1 min | 28 kWh | €10.52 |
| Phone Charger ×2 | TV, computing & network | 10 W | 2.6 h | 19 kWh | €7.07 |
| Coffee Maker (Drip) | Cooking | 1,000 W | 3 min | 16 kWh | €5.84 |
| Microwave | Cooking | 1,000 W | 1 min | 8 kWh | €2.92 |
| Garage Door Opener | Other appliances | 500 W | 1 min | 4 kWh | €1.31 |
| Toaster | Cooking | 1,000 W | 1 min | 3 kWh | €1.17 |
| Other screens, chargers, standby | TV, computing & network | – | – | 27 kWh | €9.98 |
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The same household in other countries
| Country | Official benchmark | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (average) | 10,648 kWh | $1,917 | $159.72 |
| United Kingdom | 2,500 kWh | £650.00 | £54.17 |
| Germany | 2,700 kWh | €999.00 | €83.25 |
| France | 4,287 kWh | €857.40 | €71.45 |
| Australia | 5,237 kWh | A$1,833 | A$152.75 |
| Canada (average) | 10,750 kWh | C$1,505 | C$125.42 |
Each row uses that country's own regulator benchmark and average price, in local currency. Differences reflect climate, heating fuel and appliance ownership as much as price.