Stromspar-Check (energy-saving check)

National project

Stromspar Check (SSC) advisers consult low-income households in their homes all over Germany free of charge on how to save energy and water and on further issues like heating and how to include climate protection actions in their everyday life. Participating households not only save money but also contribute to climate protection and the energy transition.

SSC advisers are formerly long-term unemployed people, who completed extensive training; they fully understand the difficult financial and social situation of the clients and are able to credibly advise them as equals. SSC advisers visit households that signed up for a check, a database calculates potential savings. SSC advisers then give practical tips on how households can save energy simply by changing their behaviour and installing energy and water-saving devices (“immediate aids”) such as LED lights, time-switches, water-saving shower heads etc.

The SSC includes 150 local projects, which are geographically balanced and involve different local welfare organisations. The pilot project was developed by the city of Frankfurt in 2005. Thirty (30) local projects also established the neighbourhood approach in which a physical space in a residential area is set up and residents can get information on energy savings and the SSC before a home visit. The local projects offer and conduct training in energy savings for the advisers (training concept, training manual and materials plus an online training platform) and regular workshops for mutual exchange and learning from each other (best practice etc). Socio-technical and energy-related project standards, as well as the database, are continuously developed due to project requirements, such as monitoring the desired changes, refrigerator exchange or neighbourhood-related consulting.

For the consulting itself, the installation and procurement criteria are constantly under revision and the new consulting focus on climate protection in everyday life is being implemented. In order to better reach rural areas, the SSC develops and implements new offers based on experience gained from networking in the neighbourhood approach and extends the use of channels for consultations, such as online and telephone counseling.

The German Energy Saving Check is a successful cross-sectoral project between welfare organisations and energy and climate protection agencies. Long-term unemployed people are qualified as electricity saving advisers. They then advise low-income households on potential energy and water savings. More than 382,000 households have been advised since 2008. The cost savings per household are between 100 and 250 euros per year.

With a budget of over 1 million euros the project has reached and consulted more than 380,000 people, save 300kg of CO2 per household after consultation, employed about 7000 electricity saving advisers and conducted 20,000 focus consultations on climate protection and resource conservation in everyday life.

Main beneficiaries: the elderly, energy poor, low income, national/local authorities.