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 €0.370 per kWh (source: BDEW Strompreisanalyse August 2026, Aug 2026), 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. Germany statistics do not separate this household from couple in a house, so they share the same official figure.

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

Refrigeration & freezing 10%
Cooking 10%
Washing, drying & dishwashing 13%
TV, computing & network 29%
Lighting 12%
Other appliances 26%

Illustrative shape of a typical day: each band's area equals that end use's share of 7.4 kWh a day, peaking around 18:00. The timing is a standard household pattern, not a measurement, and it changes with season and habits.

What drives this household's bill

The largest share here is tv, computing & network at 29% (€289.71 a year), followed by other appliances at 26%.
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 or more hours than the appliance can realistically run. 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
Television	TV, computing & network	100 W	13.1 h	477 kWh	€176.65
Electric Blanket ×2	Other appliances	100 W	8.0 h	240 kWh	€88.80
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	Washing, drying & dishwashing	3,000 W	10 min	182 kWh	€67.17
Laptop	TV, computing & network	45 W	10.5 h	172 kWh	€63.59
Dishwasher	Washing, drying & dishwashing	1,500 W	14 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	91 kWh	€33.76
Wi-Fi Router	TV, computing & network	10 W	24.0 h	88 kWh	€32.41
Induction Cooktop	Cooking	1,800 W	8 min	85 kWh	€31.55
Electric Oven	Cooking	2,500 W	5 min	79 kWh	€29.21
Chest Freezer	Refrigeration & freezing	100 W	1.8 h	68 kWh	€24.98
Slow Cooker	Cooking	200 W	42 min	51 kWh	€18.69
Washing Machine	Washing, drying & dishwashing	500 W	14 min	42 kWh	€15.67
Electric Kettle ×3	Cooking	2,000 W	1 min	28 kWh	€10.52
Electric Lawn Mower (Corded or Battery)	Other appliances	1,200 W	6 min	22 kWh	€7.99
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	€1.35
Toaster	Cooking	1,000 W	1 min	3 kWh	€1.17
Small appliances, standby and items not listed	Other appliances	–	–	346 kWh	€127.83
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	$1,953	$162.74
United Kingdom	2,500 kWh	£658.00	£54.83
Germany	2,700 kWh	€999.00	€83.25
France	4,287 kWh	€857.83	€71.49
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.

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