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Electricity Bill for a Single person in an apartment in Germany (2026)
One adult in a one or two room flat. The fridge runs all year, cooking is quick, and a laptop and TV cover the evenings. Nothing runs long enough to dominate.
A single person in an apartment uses about 1,200 kWh of electricity a year. At Germany prices of €0.37 per kWh (source: BDEW Strompreisanalyse August 2026, 2026-08), that is €37.00 per month, or €444.00 per year.
Benchmark: Stromspiegel für Deutschland (co2online, with the Federal Ministry for the Environment), average consumption by persons and building type: 1 person, flat. 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 | 120 kWh | €44.40 | 10% |
| Cooking | 120 kWh | €44.40 | 10% |
| Washing, drying & dishwashing | 156 kWh | €57.72 | 13% |
| TV, computing & network | 348 kWh | €128.76 | 29% |
| Lighting | 144 kWh | €53.28 | 12% |
| Other appliances | 312 kWh | €115.44 | 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.
What drives this household's bill
- The fridge is usually the single largest item because it never switches off.
- Cooking with the oven instead of the microwave or air fryer is the easiest cost to cut.
- Standby draw across router, TV, console and chargers can reach a fifth of the total.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washing Machine ×0.4 | Washing, drying & dishwashing | 500 W | 2.0 h | 146 kWh | €54.02 |
| LED Light Bulb ×5 | Lighting | 9 W | 8.8 h | 144 kWh | €53.28 |
| Television | TV, computing & network | 100 W | 3.7 h | 134 kWh | €49.71 |
| Laptop | TV, computing & network | 45 W | 7.4 h | 121 kWh | €44.74 |
| Refrigerator | Refrigeration & freezing | 150 W | 2.2 h | 120 kWh | €44.40 |
| Hair Dryer | Other appliances | 1,800 W | 9 min | 99 kWh | €36.46 |
| Wi-Fi Router | TV, computing & network | 10 W | 22.1 h | 81 kWh | €29.83 |
| Induction Cooktop ×0.5 | Cooking | 1,800 W | 13 min | 70 kWh | €25.78 |
| Vacuum Cleaner ×0.5 | Other appliances | 1,000 W | 15 min | 46 kWh | €16.88 |
| Electric Kettle | Cooking | 2,000 W | 2 min | 23 kWh | €8.59 |
| Microwave | Cooking | 1,000 W | 3 min | 19 kWh | €7.16 |
| Toaster | Cooking | 1,000 W | 1 min | 8 kWh | €2.86 |
| Phone Charger | TV, computing & network | 10 W | 1.8 h | 7 kWh | €2.49 |
| Streaming Stick or Box | TV, computing & network | 4 W | 3.7 h | 5 kWh | €1.99 |
| Small appliances, standby and items not listed | Other appliances | – | – | 168 kWh | €62.10 |
| Extra loads or older machines not listed | Washing, drying & dishwashing | – | – | 10 kWh | €3.70 |
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The same household in other countries
| Country | Official benchmark | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (average) | 7,184 kWh | $1,293 | $107.76 |
| United Kingdom | 1,600 kWh | £416.00 | £34.67 |
| Germany | 1,200 kWh | €444.00 | €37.00 |
| France | 1,905 kWh | €381.00 | €31.75 |
| Australia | 3,109 kWh | A$1,088 | A$90.68 |
| Canada (average) | 6,583 kWh | C$921.62 | C$76.80 |
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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