Evaluation of the Energy-Saving Check: Effectiveness of a Nationwide Tool to Combat Energy Poverty and Promote Climate Protection
Publication date: 9 June 2026 | Report language: DE
Technopolis Deutschland has completed the evaluation of the Energy-Saving Check for Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN). Since 2008, the Energy-Saving Check has been helping low-income households save on electricity, water, and heating costs. Counseling is provided by formerly long-term unemployed individuals who are trained as energy-saving assistants. A key feature of the Energy-Saving Check is thus the combination of climate, social, and labor market policy objectives.
The evaluation examined both the effectiveness and efficiency of the program and developed well-founded recommendations for its further development. Methodically it is based on a combination of document analysis, quantitative analysis of the project and monitoring database, and guided interviews with project participants and external experts.
The results show that the Energy-Saving Check is an effective tool with a wide reach. By 2025, more than 460,000 households had been reached. Particularly successful are the on-site consultations, the use of instant savings devices, and the refrigerator replacement program, in which households receive financial support to replace their old appliances with new energy-efficient refrigerators. Households that have received counseling save an average of 160 euros per year; since the project began, approximately 1.1 million tons of CO₂ have been avoided, and at the same time, the program improves the chances of energy-saving advisors finding employment in the open labor market.
For further development, the evaluation recommends, among other things, a more focused target group and the targeted expansion of the program through needs-based planning and measures to recruit households and energy-saving assistants, the strategic expansion of heating counseling, and a strengthening of monitoring, data infrastructure, and transparency.
