Now the home office quickly costs thousands of NOK’is

Heating is a big expense with today’s electricity prices in southern Norway. Some have their home office in a cabin, others in the living room. If, on average, we assume that people’s home office is a separate room of 10 square meters, the heating costs for it will be at least NOK 500 a month with an electricity price of over NOK 5 per kilowatt hour.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

THE FOSSIL CAR COSTS MORE THAN THE PANEL OVEN

By using the office instead, the domestic heating expenditure can be reduced by lowering the temperature during the day. Strøm.no has looked at the power consumption of a panel oven and calculates that a 1200 W oven that is used for 5 hours, with an electricity price of NOK 5 kW, the saving with 2 fewer home office days a week will be just over NOK 1,000 a year after deductions for electricity subsidies, if we assume that you turn off the panel oven for 5 hours on the days in question. The calculation works out best for those who anyway have a fixed price (monthly pass, walking and cycling) for transport to work. NAF (Norges Automobil Forbund) operates in its calculator with a charging requirement of 1.7 kW per mile for electric cars and 0.6 liters per mile for fossil cars.

If you travel more than approximately 17 km each way, the charging requirement for the electric car will exceed the power consumption of the panel oven. With diesel, the average price is NOK 20 per liter, with a 3-kilometer journey you will be better off using the panel oven at home than driving. But if you have such a short distance, you can perhaps walk or cycle to work?

CHANGED PREFERENCES

The employees’ preference for a home office this winter will probably depend on the economic effect: − Those with fossil-fuel cars and long journeys will particularly want to utilize home office more often than when energy prices were low − Those with a monthly pass/electric car and a short journey, as well as those who have a home office in their own room that can easily be lowered in temperature, will want a smaller home office, or work more at the office buildings. If you in addition have the possibility to shower at work, this can also tip the balance in the office’s favor.

We do have an insight into how employees travel to work, we will now be able to make forecasts on how the dramatically increased energy prices will affect the degree of home office during this autumn.

“Energy prices come in as a new factor compared to when the use of home offices took off in 2020. Back then, energy prices were very low, and it was primarily a question of infection control, the need for social interaction and the transfer of skills, decided whether you used home office or not. But times are changing.”