© RTL
Some have decided to switch off street lights, others reduce temperatures, and others yet have taken away hot water boilers.
The Luxembourg government expects that municipalities save a minimum of 15% of energy over the coming winter. Ever since the request was made, towns have announced their plans to achieve this ambitious goal, and it seems as though there are many different strategies on how to get there.
In Rumelange, for instance, the municipality saves energy by switching off street lights. However, Mayor Henri Haine also revealed that there are other ways to keep bills low: "We wanted to set an example for our residents, which is why we turned heating down by one or two degrees. Public toilets tend to have warm water for the washing of hands, which we thought is not really a necessity. We took away a number of boilers, some of which even as large as 150 litres."
Ambitions are high. The municipality now also intends to add motion sensors for most of the lights in public buildings. Mayor Haine elaborated: "With all our adaptations and accelerated investments, notably the replacement of street lights with LEDs, I believe we can reduce gas and electricity consumption by 35% compared to last winter."
In Préizerdaul, municipal officials intend to save up to 20% of energy by reducing street and Christmas lights. The town is also one of the first in Luxembourg to participate in a new Enovos initiative, which provides households with so-called 'energy kits'. 30 households are to receive one during an initial phase.
Mayor Marc Gergem explained: "We were contacted and are now one of the municipalities participating in the project. We expect that it will help raise awareness that energy can also be saved at home. The kit includes three LED bulbs, isolation material for windows and doors, as well as tools to save water."
Switching off lights after leaving a room is a practice that was already preached back in the 1980s. Emile Eicher, president of the Union of Cities and Municipalities in Luxembourg (Syvicol), thinks that energy-saving practices should be maintained even beyond the unfolding crisis: "Even if the situation on the energy market will calm down, we remain in the midst of a climate crisis. It always makes sense to save energy, no matter what. And that must be the path forward if we want our municipalities to protect nature."
