Germans may resort to heating with electric radiators in winter, which will overload the electricity grid to avoid gas, utility companies have warned, Reuters reported, citing news.ro.

Households have been hoarding electric fan heaters, including portable ones, sales data show, amid fears that Russia may cut off or limit gas supplies after the war in Ukraine.

The CEO of the German association of energy and water companies BDEW told the daily Handelsblatt that customers could face even higher electricity bills if they do not use the devices sparingly.

“And they can overload the electricity grid, for example when many households in the same part of the city turn on their radiators at the same time on a cold winter night,” said BDEW director Kerstin Andreae.

She said she understands people’s fears about the cold in their homes, but some coping mechanisms can backfire.

Radiators can cause power outages

Germany, along with other European Union countries, is trying to support households and industry, which are burdened by further increases in energy prices after Russia cut off supplies through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

The German government has promised that industrial consumers will be the first to receive rationing in the event of shortages, while private households will be exempt from any cuts.

According to an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper, the head of Germany’s Federal Grid Agency also said that the use of radiators could cause local blackouts.

Klaus Müller added that even with “very high” gas prices, electric heaters will still cost users more than gas central heating, which is the most common type of residential heating in the country.

According to the research company GfK, Germans bought 600,000 electric heating devices in the first half of the year, which is almost 35% more than a year earlier.

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