Yes, you can certainly tackle part of your energy costs yourself: think of the rates you set for your guests, smartly programming heating and equipment, and monitoring consumption per property. For structural interventions such as insulation, solar panels or a subsidy application, you will usually need a certified energy advisor or installer, because technical inspections, calculations or official certificates are involved.
The difference therefore lies not in "am I allowed to do this" but in "can I reliably assess this". Setting a thermostat a degree lower or adjusting a rate per kWh is something you can do yourself, with immediate feedback in an app. Determining whether roof insulation will pay for itself, or which subsidy scheme applies to your property, requires knowledge that most landlords do not use daily.
What you can arrange yourself
In the vast majority of holiday homes, the biggest saving is not in expensive renovations, but in behaviour and settings. A few practical examples: setting the heating a few degrees lower between bookings, putting the boiler on a timer so it doesn't run all night, and actually switching off devices that stay on standby (an old router, a second fridge) when there is no guest.
You can also determine and adjust the rate you pass on to guests yourself. If you are unsure what rate is reasonable for your type of property, provides in a few questions an indication of where you stand. When you watch live how much electricity is consumed per device or per season, you often see at a glance where the peak is — an air conditioner running all day, or a sauna drawing significant kilowatt-hours per session. That insight alone often leads many property managers to adjust timers and temperatures more consciously, without the guest feeling restricted.
Small technical interventions you can often do yourself
Installing a smart plug for a device you want to control remotely, setting up a programmable thermostat, or scheduling outdoor lighting: these are interventions most property managers can do without a specialist. Once it involves something touching the meter cabinet itself — a new circuit, an adjustment to the residual current device (the safety component that cuts power in case of a fault current, for example from a faulty device) — that work is for a qualified electrician, no matter how small the intervention seems.
What is better left to a specialist
Once it comes to investments that last longer than a season, the balance shifts. Insulation of roof, floor or cavity wall requires an assessment of the structural condition: poorly executed insulation can cause moisture and mold problems that cost more than the saving will ever deliver. Solar panels require a calculation of roof load, orientation and connection capacity. And those who want to qualify for a subsidy or tax arrangement often need an official energy label or inspection that only a certified advisor is allowed to issue.
Combining measures also — for example a heat pump alongside existing radiators, or a charging point next to an already strained meter cabinet — requires a calculation that goes beyond a few sums done at home. An energy advisor or installer will then look at the total load on your connection and at what your specific situation allows.
How Staywatt helps with this without taking the decision out of your hands
Staywatt measures and settles electricity per object, but does not make structural or tax decisions for you. What it does do: you see per module how much electricity is consumed and when, so that you can conduct a well-informed conversation yourself with an advisor, instead of guessing. Curious how that measurement works exactly and where the figures come from? That is explained clearly on the page where measurement and settlement are explained.
For those who are unsure whether a particular measure is actually for a specialist or can be done yourself, the knowledge base sorted by topic is a good starting point: it shows per situation what usually needs to be done, without you needing an account for it.
Want to know what the difference between managing it yourself and outsourcing concretely means for your vacation home or park? Do the free quick-scan or browse through the topics in the knowledge base — both are freely accessible and give you a first direction within a few minutes.