Oh, Ralf,
I could tell you stories about folks in Bavaria which would convince you Munich is in the middle of Ostfriesland...
My favorite is the neighbor who always opens her oven after baking (so you can hit the door with your knee) because, otherwise, 'the heat doesn't get out and warm the kitchen'.
Back in 1989 we got a computer controlled heating system for our very large flat in Munich. Technicians spent an entire day measuring and entering data in the unit to make sure it kept the place perfectly warm at a minimal use of energy.
Cost us 1200DM extra...
Barely were they gone, my öko-freak of a friend went through the whole flat and turned the thermostats 'down' to 'save' energy.
Computer flips, after three service calls (at our expense) Valiant throws in the towel and turns the computer off.
But we were 'saving' energy...
Or how about the Greens who fought computers tooth and nail well into the nineties? The Translator's Union in Munich wouldn't let me join in 1989 because I used a PC to prepare the texts of my technical translations...
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without my grandmother used to say...good advice, really.