Standing By in Central Europe: A Survey of Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian Residences

In recent years, several developed countries have launched a concerted effort towards reducing standby electricity losses in household appliances and information technology (IT) equipment. Unnecessarily consumed electricity poses a special burden for the residents of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Electricity prices have risen drastically during the past decade in these countries, with incomes stagnating or losing their value, thus paying utility bills has become a major problem for a wide group of consumers. In addition, the old and often obsolete appliance stocks in these countries are in dynamic turnover. Thus, early policy action to reduce standby consumption of newly purchased appliances in these times of dynamic market changes can have a major long-term impact.

However, to the knowledge of the authors, no comprehensive studies have been conducted exploring the extent of the problem in CEE yet. A team at the Central European University (CEU) has attempted to establish the baseline for standby electricity consumption in the region. The research included measurement of appliances and IT equipment in 99 households in 3 countries – Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria –, and interviews about residents’ awareness of the standby problem and possible mitigation measures. The results of the measurements have been used to develop national indicators related to standby losses for these countries. Our findings show that the current figures used internationally (e.g., by the IEA) are underestimates. The interviews show that there is a very limited awareness of the problem and possible solutions among consumers, while most of them would be willing to modify their behaviour in order to cut electricity bills.