how do you live?
“I live with my wife in a terraced house on the outskirts of Utrecht. We live in a very popular neighborhood and street. We have a front garden and live near Wilhelminapark. Our house was built in 1906 and measures 142 square metres.

We live great. I bought the house when I was 26 and just graduated. At the time, friends and family were very sorry that I had taken on such a huge debt. Now I’m squeezing my hand. Although I had to do something about it. She was very old. With coffered ceilings and sliding doors. I loved him, but there was no such thing as solitude. There are no cavity walls, just one thick brick wall. Later I placed drywall in front of it, without insulation in between. The flat roof has sandwich panels six centimeters thick under a forty-year bitumen roof covering.

There was also only glass. That has now been replaced with HR++ glass. This makes a difference in heat retention. Furthermore, we don’t have solar panels or a heat pump, but “just” a modern four-year-old central heating boiler.

What kind of power contract do you have?
“We’ve had a variable contract with Clean Energy since February. We pay 447 euros a month upfront. Over the last 12 months we’ve used 997 cubic meters of gas and 1,981 kWh of electricity. A year before that, we used twice as much. That was because it was still We have one glass in the living room at the time and because we were living there with two families.My daughter, her husband and the newborn twins lived here for a year and a half.

We used to have a 3 year contract. Now we are very satisfied with our current power company. Especially with regard to communications. I get a quick and comprehensive answer when I have questions. We also recently got a smart meter, so I can easily see our consumption in the app.”

What do you do to lower your energy bill?
“We take showers for a much shorter period of time. Previously, for example, I could relax in the shower for ten to fifteen minutes. Now we keep it about five minutes. We no longer have a bathtub. Radiators only open in the living room and bathroom. This is it. Sometimes in the hall or sometimes in the attic to get rid of dampness. Not necessary in the bedroom.

We also lowered the thermostat for heating. During the day it is around 20-20.5 degrees and in the evening it is now 21.5 degrees. hot? The temperature was between 22 and 23 degrees. Then we had a lot of heat loss. We really notice that the HR ++ glass does a lot. I also wear a jacket or jacket during the day, but 19 degrees would be too cold for me. Fortunately, we can afford it, because if we have problems with the wallet, we will lower it.

“For a while we only ran the dishwasher and washing machine during off-peak hours, but that’s a really small difference these days. We don’t use the dryer anymore. In fact, you could go. This one’s probably fifteen years old and we’ve got drying racks for laundry. A washing machine.” The dishes run once every two days.

I have an appointment to get a quote for solar panels. This seems to be useful for the future. Because we might want an electric car in a few years. Then I would like if we could generate that electricity ourselves.”