Reference News Network reported on September 25 (Text / Liu Feng Jiang Tao) For Europeans, the coming severe winter may not be easy.
According to a report by Hong Kong Dagong.com on the 24th, natural gas is a key fuel for heating in Europe in winter, but European countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, which has led to Russia's repeated reduction of natural gas supplies to Europe this year.
According to data released by Eurostat, the EU's annual energy inflation rate reached 41.1% in June, a new high since statistics began in 1997; among them, natural gas rose the most, with an inflation rate of 51.4%. According to data from the European Power Exchange, the average price of the European power system at the end of August increased by 6 times compared with the beginning of the year.
According to reports, in the face of skyrocketing energy bills, more and more Europeans are looking for "affordable alternatives" to keep out the cold without turning on the heating system at home - to buy domestic heating equipment made in China with good quality and low energy consumption. Exports of heating equipment such as electric heaters, electric blankets and air source heat pumps from China have exploded this year.
Data from the General Administration of Customs of China shows that in July this year alone, 27 EU countries imported 1.29 million electric blankets from China, an increase of nearly 150% month-on-month. For heaters exported to the EU, the sales season has also been extended by about a month. Many importers placed additional orders for heaters, which brought a wave of "replenishment orders". Not only electric heaters, but in the "world supermarket" Yiwu Small Commodity City, merchants dealing with heating products such as hot water bottles also felt the unusualness of this year's orders.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China exported 419,000 electric blankets to Germany in July, rising to 632,000 in August. Britain imported 582,000 Chinese electric blankets in August.
In addition, Chinese air source heat pumps are also selling well in Europe. In the first half of this year, China's air source heat pump exports to Bulgaria, Poland, Italy and Spain increased by 614%, 373%, 198% and 71% respectively year-on-year. An air source heat pump is a device that converts the heat contained in the air into usable heat energy, which is more energy efficient than traditional heat pump technology.
So, do electric blankets really save money? The British "Daily Mail" reported on the 22nd that an electric blanket with a rated power of 100 watts will only cost 0.42 pounds for a whole night (8 hours), which is much lower than the price of heating.
"I know it will save me some heating bills. A warm bed is a luxury now," wrote a customer who bought an electric blanket on an online shopping platform. Another said the electric blanket is perfect for cold nights .
It can be seen that the Europeans, who have always been generous, rarely "planned for a rainy day" this time.
Data picture: This is the "Nord Stream" natural gas pipeline terminal in the northern German city of Lubmin. Xinhua
The fact that sales of electric blankets and portable heaters in Europe have surged was mentioned in an August 25 report by Business Insider.
In particular, the report noted that the surge in sales of heating equipment came amid a record heatwave that hit Europe, with temperatures reaching around 40 degrees Celsius in some areas.
According to the report, a British company that sells household appliances said that just over half of August, the number of electric blankets it sold this year has reached nearly 13 times that of the whole of 2021, and some varieties of electric blankets have already been sold out. "It can be seen that people are preparing for higher energy prices," a spokesman for the company said.
A spokesman for a Swiss appliance seller said: “In Switzerland, we are currently anticipating gas shortages in winter. Therefore, some people and some businesses may be preparing for a period when it is necessary to switch to alternative energy sources for winter heating. , just in case."
Although electric blankets can indeed save money, they are not a little less effective than heating. Europeans can still deal with it this winter, what about later? (Translation/Ma Dan)
