With winter just around the corner, several nurseries find themselves having to lower the temperature to be able to pay their electricity bills.
– We lowered the temperature in all our nurseries between 19 and 21 degrees.
This was stated by the general director of the Kanvas Kindergarten Foundation, Robert Ullmann. They run a total of 66 crèches across Norway.
Due to the high electricity prices, they have chosen to turn down the heating in the nurseries to overcome the high costs.
The decision was made in September. The Norwegian theater also lowered the temperature by one degree. Read more below in the case.
– Understanding of the crisis is well established
This is the first time the nursery foundation has lowered the temperature as a cost-cutting measure, says Ullmann. He says the measure was not met with strong reactions from parents.
– I think the understanding of the crisis is already well established.
He also thinks it’s a good idea to include children in why such measures are being taken.
– It is environmental pedagogy. It explains why if we wear a little more clothes because it is colder inside, then it is something that the children participate in.
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High electricity prices lasted a long time and hit nurseries hard. Kanvas kindergartens are also not part of the government’s electricity subsidy scheme.
The system works in such a way that the government contributes to supporting electricity from October until the end of the year, but only if the electricity costs represent at least three percent of the total costs to the company.
In the Kanvas kindergartens, the total expenditure on electricity is less than three percent.
Despite this, Ullmann does not see the situation too bleakly.
– It is good exercise, at the same time we must reduce energy costs, we must also take social responsibility and make a common effort to reduce our energy consumption.
Lowering the temperature is a move many have taken in an effort to save electricity. Storting announced last week that they also lower the temperature and close the sauna. In the churches of Oslo they also lowered the temperature.
The Norwegian Theater also turned down the temperature to save electricity. They already did this in August.
– We lowered the temperature everywhere in graduation, says director Hans Antonsen. The temperature varies slightly from room to room, but is usually around 21 degrees.
– We dropped a degree across the board, and we can see it in the electricity bill. In September 2022, it was 12% lower than in September 2020 and 2021. This shows that it helps to be aware of this, says Antonsen.
Public buildings are getting colder
In Sandefjord, the municipality decided to lower the indoor temperature in public buildings to 19 degrees. It includes municipal nurseries.
Nursing homes and institutions that treat patients are exempt.
– It is simply an increase in electricity costs. We understand it will be expensive for us, says Kristin Flåtten, municipal manager for Knowledge, Children and Youth in Sandefjord Municipality.
NRK he also wrote on the subject.
Like Ullman, Flåtten says the measure was greeted with understanding and that even though 19 degrees isn’t too cold, it might be a good idea to dress up a little bit more.
– It is clear that there is a difference between 19 and 22 degrees, so you have to anticipate and wear a little more clothes, says Flåtten.
The National Theater lowers the temperature when there is no rehearsal or audience in the hall.
– Otherwise, we have a normal temperature. On the main stage, it’s about 18 degrees, information chief Øystein Hygen Christensen tells VG.
– With a full main stage, the audience helps warm the room and it becomes uncomfortable to sit there if the temperature is too high from the start, he adds.
– Extremely concerned about electricity prices
Norlandia, which has 112 nurseries, hasn’t sent any messages from the central authority that everyone has to turn the temperature down that much. It is up to the direction of the local nursery school.
– But we encourage you to turn down the temperature if possible, says director Kristin Voldsnes and adds that babies obviously shouldn’t freeze.
He says they follow the current recommendations for indoor temperatures and turn off the lights in rooms that aren’t in use.
– We are very concerned about electricity prices. We don’t have any of these covers, he tells VG.
Læringsverkstedet, which has 248 nurseries in all counties in the country, says it closely monitors electricity prices. Before the energy crisis, they started a pilot project on energy efficiency.
– We have a fixed price for electricity, so far we have not lowered the internal temperature while the children are present, writes managing director Trude Sydtangen in an email to VG.
Oslo City Council, which has around 310 municipal crèches, says they are working to adopt central guidelines for saving electricity.
– These will be adopted soon, Ingrid Lønrusten Rogstad, communications manager at the city council’s education and knowledge department writes in an email.
Espira, who runs 107 crèches, says the huge increase in electricity costs is very challenging at a time of severe tightening of the framework conditions for private crèches.
– We have several projects on energy saving measures in kindergartens, where the goal is to achieve energy savings of up to 25% in some kindergartens. Primarily it involves the installation of heat pumps and control systems that lower the temperature when the building is not in use. Eventually we will also have to look at measures that lower the temperature when the building is in use, but for now we have not, writes in an email Marit Lambrechts, managing director.
