Germans are turning away from modern luxuries fueled by oil or natural gas in the hope that today’s restrictions will help avoid power outages tomorrow when a harsh winter comes without Russian gas.

Some residents say they prefer to take cold showers, hang clothes outside instead of using a dryer, and install LED light bulbs to deal with the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We don’t use the dryer, take cooler, shorter showers, and plan to only heat two rooms in our house this winter,” the 39-year-old Berliner said in a recent poll by a local news agency.

Of all the EU member states, Germany is the most dependent on Russian oil. The dangerous position provoked an energy conservation campaign that spanned both the individual and federal levels. One Berlin resident said he was taking a cold shower as a “small gesture against Putin.”

Some German companies are also introducing energy restrictions as a cost-saving measure. Electricity prices in Germany have risen by more than 600% this year as a result of a sharp rise in gas prices.

Vonovia, a German real estate group, told Business Insider that it will reduce heating for tenants at night from 11pm to 11pm. and 6 a.m. to “save as much natural gas as possible” and reduce heating costs by about 8%.

In Diepoldiswalde, a city in the German state of Saxony, some residents were banned from taking hot showers from 8:00 am. until 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and after 9 p.m., according to a July Facebook post by a local housing association. In Hannover, it is no longer possible to take hot showers in public pools.

Before the war, more than half of Germany’s natural gas was supplied from Russia, and now it is up to 35 percent. But officials fear there could be a dire oil shortage this winter if Russia cuts off supplies of remaining oil to Europe in response to Western sanctions.

Source: Business Insider