"Completely ineffective": Netzagentur warns against buying energy-saving boxes

Energy-saving boxes are intended to stabilize household electricity and thus keep costs low.

"Completely ineffective": Netzagentur warns against buying energy-saving boxes

Energy-saving boxes are intended to stabilize household electricity and thus keep costs low. According to experts from the Federal Network Agency, this advertising promise is not being fulfilled. Rather, consumers are advised to use other methods of saving.

The Federal Network Agency has called on consumers to be careful when buying so-called energy-saving boxes on the Internet. The energy-saving effect of such devices, which is claimed in advertising, is "questionable" given the state of the art, explained the head of the authorities, Klaus Müller. Experts from the network agency have also discovered defects and violations of legal requirements in numerous products.

According to the Federal Network Agency, the electrical components inside were "often unprofessionally connected" or soldered connections were missing. In addition, there were formal defects such as the lack of a CE safety mark. The operation of such defective devices is not permitted in Germany. When the authority intervened as part of market surveillance, online platform operators had already had to remove more than a million corresponding products.

According to advertising, so-called energy-saving boxes or energy-saving devices promise to stabilize the flow of electricity in the household after connection to a socket and thus supposedly reduce the electricity bill. Before the Federal Network Agency, the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center had already warned against these devices. These are "entirely ineffective".

They are usually distributed via sales platforms on the Internet. The Federal Network Agency advised consumers to buy energy-saving lamps, energy-saving thermostats and similar products. These enable "actual energy savings" and correspond to the requirements applicable in the EU. In general, only products from "reputable and well-known sources" should be ordered on the Internet, the authority added.