Streaming subscriptions of all kinds are popular, but also cost money thanks to the large number of providers. With these tips, the costs can be reduced a bit.
Stream music via Spotify or YouTube Music, films and series via Amazon Prime Video, Disney , Netflix or RTL : All of this not only costs money for the subscription, but also consumes electricity on the respective end device. Users who follow these tips will save on both.
In order to save on the subscriptions of streaming providers, users have several options. If you don’t have a problem accepting advertising, you can use a free account on Spotify or Amazon’s free video streaming Freevee, for example. In the future, advertising will also be available on the cheapest Netflix subscription (EUR 4.99 per month), and from December Disney will follow suit with an advertising-financed, cheaper offer.
However, users have to accept losses in terms of functionality: on Spotify, the order of the songs cannot be influenced and they cannot be skipped more than six times an hour. Netflix’s advertising model lacks the download feature and certain content. In order to be able to use Freevee, which has been available in Germany since August 1, users must create an Amazon account, but Prime membership is not necessary. Amazon also offers a social pass from Prime. Anyone who is exempt from their broadcasting contribution obligation or has a social pass pays around half of the regular Prime fee (currently EUR 3.99 per month).
You can get the entire RTL streaming offer with a premium subscription for EUR 4.99 per month.
The principle of streaming is particularly energy-intensive because millions of viewers do not tune in at the same time, as is the case with television programs, but the individual stream has to be made available millions of times by the streaming provider. This applies all the more, the higher the resolution of the requested video is – and whether the end device can display this resolution at all. Not all streams have to rush through the line in 4K quality. Instead, electricity is saved by letting films and series flicker on tablets instead of on high-resolution televisions.
The consumer center also advises not to re-stream videos multiple times, but instead to download them and play them locally. Bargain foxes also switch off the autoplay function. In the case of music, it is also advisable not to play music videos but only the audio file. YouTube Music deliberately offers this option, because without the video, a song only uses a fraction of the data and therefore less energy. But the options for end users don’t end here: Even small things like closing the tabs and unused windows on the computer and laptop or background apps on the cell phone save electricity.
