Cold weather raises energy consumption in 2016

The electricity used in housing amounted to 66 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2016, which is eight per cent higher compared to the consumption of previous year, according to Statistics Finland.

The year 2016 was clearly colder than 2015, although the heating demand during the year was still lower than the long-term heating demand.

Compared to the previous year, consumption of heating energy in indoor spaces rose by ten per cent. The energy consumption of household appliances went up by five per cent, which was mainly due to the grown heating demand of cars.

Heating of residential buildings amounted to sixty-eight per cent of energy consumption in housing, heating of domestic water fifteen per cent and heating of saunas five per cent. The share of electrical equipment, cooking and lighting was close on 13 per cent. Housing accounted, on average, for 20 per cent of the final energy consumption.

In 2016, electricity used on housing amounted to close on 23 TWh. Consumption of electricity rose by eight per cent from the previous year. Forty-seven per cent of electricity was used to heat indoor areas and 36 per cent to household appliances. The remaining share of electricity was used to heat domestic water and saunas. District heat and wood were the next most used energy sources in households.