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Local Germany
13-08-2025
- Climate
- Local Germany
Six ways to keep your German home cool without air conditioning
As of 2024, only 19 percent of German households were using air conditioning (AC), according to price comparison website Verivox. The proportion of German households with cooling systems is rising rapidly - just 13 percent of German households had AC a year before. Still, most of those living in Germany this summer don't have it. You'll find AC in some shops and offices, but it's far from standard - even many hospitals and nursing homes still lack it. If you're living here you could try and install AC, but this can be complicated (not to mention expensive) and if you're renting you will need to get permission from your landlord. If you have bought a home then you have more freedom, but there are still rules and restrictions on installing AC units, especially if your new home is old or in a historic area. READ ALSO: What are the rules around installing air conditioning in your home in Germany? There are, however, alternatives that will also keep you cool when the Hitzewelle (the heatwave) hits. 1. Ventilate strategically The first thing to understand is that German homes are generally pretty well insulated - they are designed to stay warm in the winter and therefore also to stay relatively cool in the summer. So contrary to what some may think, opening your window to let in a breeze in the middle of a summer day can actually raise the temperature inside. The best practice in most cases would be to open up windows at night - or in the early morning and late evening hours when the outside temperature is cooler - and then keep them closed through the hottest parts of the day. However, some homes - especially rooftop apartments ( Dachgeschosswohnung ) or those with lots of big windows - heat up more than others. If the temperature inside your home rises to be the same as or more than the temperature outside, then you'll want to open all the windows - and probably also head outside to your nearest lake or shady area. Advertisement If you live in a small apartment it's better to keep internal doors closed too so that any heat generated from cooking or other appliances doesn't move into the bedroom, which you ideally want as cool as possible so that you can sleep. 2. Shutters Shutters are common in German homes, although not ubiquitous. Used correctly, shutters do a great job of keeping the interior cool - the trick is to keep both the windows and the shutters shut during the day, in order to keep out the hot air and the sunlight. Then open up shutters along with the windows in the evening or the early morning when the air outside is cooler to ventilate the room. If your place doesn't have shutters then it's worth looking at installing them - home improvement stores sell them in a variety of sizes or with a made-to-measure option if you don't have standard size windows. If you don't have shutters, closing blinds or curtains will also help a bit by blocking out some sunlight. Venetian blinds - especially those with aluminium or wooden slats with a light finish - will help reflect sunlight when closed. There are also thermal curtains - or curtains with thermo-insulating textiles designed to keep your home cool. For a cheap, temporary fix you'll also see people putting reflective foil over their windows in summer. 3. Fans Fans - both ceiling fans and free-standing electric fans - circulate the air, helping to keep things a little cooler (with a welcome side effect that mosquitoes don't seem to enjoy the draft from a fan). In summer, some people put a bowl of ice or a cool damp towel in front of the fan in order to generate some cool air that is then circulated around the room. It's well worth buying a fan at start of the summer as they can sell out rapidly when heatwaves strike. Advertisement 4. Heat bridges Did you know about the concept of a 'heat bridge'? Basically it means that if you have a balcony or patio area that is covered in heat-sucking concrete, and you have a glass door or window directly next to it, then this will effectively funnel heat into your home. Therefore keeping outdoor spaces that are directly connected to your home cool, will keep the interior cooler too. The easiest way to do this is to keep your balcony or outdoor space well shaded with a parasol or awning. If you have a balcony solar panel , try to place it in a way that provides the most shade during the midday. In the longer term, you may also consider replacing concrete with grass (or fake grass) or wood panelling. Plants also have a role to play here, and can help keep the area around your windows cool. The greener your outdoor space, the better. Consider leafy plants that block sunlight in the summer, but lose their foliage in the winter (and thus give you more sun during the cold seasons). READ ALSO: From nudity to BBQs: What you can (and can't) do on your balcony in Germany 5. Insulation It might sound counter intuitive to think about insulation when its scorching outside, but good insulation also works to keep cool air in and hot air out. Advertisement As we mentioned above, German homes tend to be pretty well insulated, but if you notice parts of your home that tend to heat up rapidly in the summer (and probably also get cold in the winter) it's worth considering what you can do to improve the insulation in these areas. A good place to start would be checking the seals around windows and doors. Replacing older windows with double- or triple-pane windows can make a big difference, or, more cheaply and simply, you can install insulating glazing. If you're a tenant there are limits on the amount or work you can do, but minor and removable fixes such as adding sealant strips or window glazing may be fine. Of course you should check your rental contract, and inquire with your landlord before taking on alterations. When buying or renting a place, check out its energy rating score - a place that has a D rating or below is likely to be cold in winter and hot and stuffy in summer. Advertisement 6. Heat pumps It may not be immediately obvious, but don't forget that as well as keeping your home warm in the winter, a heat pump will also keep it cool in the summer. Heat pumps are not a cheap option, and are probably not practical for renters, but for homeowners seeking a long-term solution they are a good fix and may save you money in the long term. Although the initial installation is expensive, running costs - for both heating and cooling - are very low. It acts as a one-stop-shop, meaning that all your heating and cooling needs are met with a single machine. The other great advantage is that it does a lot less environmental damage than an air conditioner - heat pumps are famously energy-efficient and they don't have the nasty coolant chemicals that AC units rely on. There are also grants available to help residents of Germany to install heat pumps. READ ALSO: Who can apply for Germany's new renewable heating grants for homes?
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Survey shows Germans losing taste for US goods under Trump
More than a third of consumers in Germany are increasingly avoiding American products and services due to the policies of US President Donald Trump, according to a survey conducted released on Saturday. In the survey, conducted by the opinion research institute Innofact on behalf of the Verivox comparison portal, 34.3% of respondents said they are already using fewer US goods and services. More than 17% said they want to limit their consumption further. Consumers are particularly concerned about smartphones, with more than a third wanting to or having already reconsidered their purchasing behaviour. Around 30% of those surveyed do not want to use US computer hardware and intend to scale back or stop their usage of social media services like Instagram and X. However, just under 17% of respondents said they could see themselves using an alternative to the messenger service WhatsApp. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of survey participants doubted whether a boycott of US goods made sense, while 36.3% believe that US services such as WhatsApp and Amazon are already so prevalent that they are indispensable. The survey was conducted online between April 30 and May 2, 2025, with a total of 1,015 participants aged 18 to 79. Verivox says the survey is representative of the population in terms of age, gender and geographic distribution across Germany.
Saba Yemen
21-04-2025
- Business
- Saba Yemen
Sharp Rise in Heating Costs for Gas Consumers in Germany
Berlin - Saba: Heating costs for gas consumers in Germany have surged by nearly a quarter this season compared to the previous heating season, according to an analysis by the comparison website "Verivox." The analysis, published on Monday, revealed that gas heating expenses rose by approximately 23% due to weather-related factors and price increases. Meanwhile, heating oil costs saw a 1% rise. A separate analysis by the energy services company "Techem" showed that the average consumption of oil, natural gas, and district heating systems across Germany increased by 23.6% compared to the previous year. Matthias Hartmann, CEO of Techem, noted that efforts to reduce energy consumption in recent years have weakened. "If energy prices remain high, many consumers will face an additional burden in their upcoming heating bills," he added. According to a study by the German Energy and Water Association (BDEW), three-quarters of home heating systems in Germany rely on gas and oil as energy sources. Efforts to phase out Russian gas have contributed to rising fuel prices in Germany, impacting the competitiveness of the German economy, which has long depended on competitively priced Russian gas. Last week, a Reuters report, based on interviews with senior officials at European companies and experts, indicated that some European firms expressed readiness to resume cooperation with the Russian gas company Gazprom. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Survey finds German banks steadily raising their charges
German banks are steadily raising their charges, according to a recent survey of bank customers. The survey of 1,003 adults conducted in March for the Verivox comparison site found that 22% of bank customers had seen a rise, whether in account charges or fees for the issuing of a new card, direct debits, standing orders or cash withdrawals. In 2021, the federal court set stricter conditions when it came to requiring banks to seek the approval of customers when changing their terms and conditions, including raising charges. The survey found that around a half of all bank customers enjoyed free services or had to pay annual fees of less than €50 ($57). Free banking is usually linked to regular deposits by the customer. Some 22% of customers faced annual fees of between €50 and €99, while 21% had to fork out more.
Local Germany
28-03-2025
- Automotive
- Local Germany
REVEALED: Where SUVs are most - and least
Cars are getting bigger in Germany, as they are also across Europe and in the US and pretty much everywhere. Sometimes referred to as "car bloat" or "autobesity", the average size of passenger vehicles has grown as the popularity of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) has grown. The average new car weighs 1,632 kilograms, according to a recent report by Der Spiegel , which is almost a fifth more than 20 years ago. This is largely due to the fact that the market share of SUVs has increased significantly. Around 40 percent of new German cars on the market are SUVs today. But monster-sized cars are not popular everywhere. In fact, their large size seems to be the primary limiting factor that has kept them (mostly) out of many German cities. Here's a look at where in Germany you'll find mores SUVs, and where you'll find far less. Where are the most SUV drivers found in Germany? A study by the comparison portal Verivox, which analysed more than 400,000 car insurance policies, has revealed where in Germany the majority of SUVs are registered. According to the analysis, the strongest SUV hotspots are the towns of Suhl and Sonneberg in southern Thuringia, some southern Bavarian districts, and districts in the northeast. On the state level, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has the highest SUV quota overall at 19 percent, followed by Brandenburg, Thuringia and then Saxony-Anhalt - all of which were formerly part of East Germany. The cities with the highest rates of SUV ownership were: Bottrop, Ingolstadt, Munich, Wiesbaden, Jena, Bergisch Gladbach, Remscheid, Lübeck, Krefeld and Paderborn. Advertisement Where are fewer SUVs found? The strongest correlation to be found, according to a report by Der Spiegel , was that the share of SUVs tends to be lower in most of Germany's major cities - about 11 percent lower than the national average. Even cities in the aforementioned eastern states, like Dresden, Leipzig or Potsdam, had rates of SUV ownership closer to cities in western states. Verivox found that the ten cities with the lowest rate of SUV drivers were: Minster, Acquire, Salzgitter, Osnabrück, Dresden, Bremerhaven, Gelsenkirchen, Kassel, Braunschweig, and Aachen. The major city states of Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin all have rates of SUV ownership well below the national average as well. Why are SUVs less popular with urban drivers? It would appear that dense urban areas, with limited parking spaces and higher traffic, naturally make larger cars less appealing. "In cities, drivers often don't do themselves any favours with a large traffic is denser and the risk of accidents is increased," Wolfgang Schütz, Managing Director of Verivox told Der Spiegel . Cars sit in traffic on Unter den Linden in Berlin during a two-day BVG strike. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Gollnow Especially for cities that already lack parking spaces, or which have many narrow roads, SUVs can pose a number of logistical problems. For these reasons a handful of German cities - such as Koblenz, Cologne and Tübingen - have enacted higher municipal parking fees for SUV owners. One the other hand, people living in rural areas, who are more likely to have their own driveway and spend more time on motorways and less-busy regional roads may not mind the extra space. READ ALSO: Could Germany also introduce parking fees for SUVs? An object of controversy SUV drivers often say they appreciate the extra space the vehicles have. Others say it makes them feel safe, as their vehicle is more likely to be the larger one in the event of an accident. But SUVs have been criticised by environmentalists for their hefty fuel use, and by urbanists for the added danger they pose to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of smaller cars. Advertisement According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) , global SUV use amounts to more climate harming emissions than most countries in the world: "If SUVs were a country, they'd be the world's fifth largest emitter of CO2". READ ALSO: Why an anonymous group has been deflating tyres of SUVs across Germany Interestingly, Verivox also was able to determine the profile of the average SUV driver. As opposed to how the vehicles are often marketed - as a family vehicle or for young people who like to go out for outdoor adventures - the vehicles seem to sell the best with pensioners. Verivox found that the group that owns the most SUVs was males over the age of 50, and the proportion of SUV owners was even a bit higher for those over 70.
