For almost two years now, millions of people in Germany have been working from home. And with laptops plugged in, desk lamps on, and coffee machines and kettles firing up every couple of hours, people’s utility bills are feeling the effects of all that remote working. A new study has estimated how much it’s costing us in electricity. 

The extra cost of working from home in Germany

The average employee’s bill for electricity in Germany increases by up to 94 euros a year if they work from home, according to a new study by the price comparison portal Check24. Using your laptop, monitor, desk lamp, kettle or coffee machine, and electric stove or microwave at home - rather than at the office - will cost you an additional 25 to 43 cents per day. 

For the calculation, Check24 assumed that the average employee works from home 220 days per year, minus holiday days and public holidays, and paid an average of 33,9 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity. 

The calculation did not take into account the cost of charging a mobile phone - because the sum is minimal - or additional costs for heating, water or internet. 

Government relieves home office workers with tax deductions

For 2020 and 2021, employees in Germany were allowed to deduct up to 600 euros on their annual tax return as income-related expenses, for the so-called home office lump sum. The traffic light coalition parties have agreed that this deduction should also apply in 2022. 

At the coronavirus summit on Friday, January 7, the federal government and federal states agreed that employees in Germany should continue to work from home, unless there is a “compelling reason” why they cannot do so.