How do Finnish homes use energy?
Most of the energy goes to heating the home, but cooking, heating water and saunas, lighting and appliances also consume good amounts of power.
In 2018, the energy consumed in housing amounted to close on 66 terawatt hours (TWh). Consumption fell by around one TWh from the previous year, according to Statistics Finland. The main reason for this fall was that the weather was warmer than in the previous year, which decreased the need for heating energy.
The figures show that housing accounted, on average, for 20% of the final energy consumption. In this sense, housing includes also free-time residences for example cottages. Heating of residential buildings amounted to close on 68% of the total energy consumption in housing. Heating of domestic water amounted to 15% and heating of saunas to 5%. The share of electrical equipment, cooking and lighting was 13%.
One-third of energy consumption in housing was electricity in 2018. Nearly one-third of consumption was district heat and good one-fifth wood. Close on 23 TWh of electricity was consumed, which is more or less the same amount as in the previous three years. 47% of electricity was used to heat indoor areas and 36% to household appliances. The remainder of electricity was used to heat domestic water and saunas.
Heating of residential buildings consumed 44 TWh of energy in 2018. In this section, consumption decreased by 3% from the previous year. The most common sources of energy for heating indoor spaces were district heat, wood and electricity, the share of which was 82% of the energy consumption for heating indoor spaces. The next most common energy source was heat pump energy.
Growing use of heat pumps
The use of heat pumps for heating has grown significantly from the start of the millennium. This is visible as growth in both heat pump energy and electricity use of heat pumps. Heat pump energy refers to the energy extracted with heat pumps from the environment. The electricity use of heat pumps is included in electricity consumption of heating in the statistics on energy consumption in households.
In addition to the area to be heated and the energy efficiency of the building stock, the need for heating energy is also affected by the outdoor temperature. Its changes are monitored with heating degree days. The year 2018 was warmer than 2017, although both were clearly colder than the record warm year 2015.
Saunas and household appliances
Around 3 TWh of energy was used for heating saunas in 2018. Nearly two-thirds of energy were wood and good one-third electricity. The energy consumption of heating domestic water was 10 TWh.
The energy consumption of household appliances, that is, cooking, lighting and other electrical equipment, was good eight TWh in 2018. Appliances accounted for close on 13% of the entire housing energy. One percentage point of this was used on cooking, that is, using cookers and ovens, and good two percentage points on lighting.
The remaining good nine percentage points were used in other electrical equipment. They include small appliances for cooking, refrigeration equipment, washing machines, tumble dryers, televisions and computers with their accessories, lifts, and car interior heating.