Method for switching to a more favorable consumption tariff for a domestic appliance, and domestic appliance suitable for said method

A method for operating at least one domestic appliance on an electric grid selected from at least two electric mains grids, wherein each mains grid comprises information relating to a consumption tariff being associated with the respective mains grid, wherein a first of the at least two mains grids is a public mains grid of a public utility company using smart metering with currently available tariff information and a second of the at least two mains grids is a decentralized mains grid associated with a building in which the at least one domestic appliance is operated, wherein the second mains grid is configured to feed electric power into the at least one public mains grid at a feed-in tariff, the method comprising the steps of:

• comparing the currently available tariff information with the feed-in tariff, and
• selecting a mains grid for supplying power to the at least one domestic appliance from the first and second mains grids based whether the first mains grid or the second mains grid has a sustainably lower consumption tariff.

A domestic appliance having a power connection to a public mains grid and to a decentralized mains grid, the domestic appliance comprising a switching device including:

• an electrical connection to both the public mains grid and the decentralized mains grid,
• a changeover switch, which in a first switching position establishes a connection to the public mains grid and in a second switching position establishes a connection to the decentralized mains grid, and
• an electronic controller having a power switching stage for actuating an electromagnetic linear drive for switching the changeover switch from the first switching position to the second switching position when an analysis of tariff information from the public mains grid compared with a feed-in tariff for feeding power from the decentralized mains grid into the public mains grid indicates that the tariff of the public mains grid is higher than the feed-in tariff for feeding power from the decentralized mains grid into the public mains grid.

A switching device gear having an electrical connection to both a public mains grid and a decentralized mains grid, comprising:

• a changeover switch, which in a first switching position establishes a connection to the public mains grid and in a second switching position establishes a connection to the decentralized mains grid, and
• an electronic controller having a power switching stage for actuating an electromagnetic linear drive for switching the changeover switch from the first switching position to the second switching position, when an analysis of tariff information from the public mains grid compared with a feed-in tariff for feeding power from the decentralized mains grid into the public mains grid indicates that the tariff of the public mains grid is higher than the feed-in tariff for feeding power from the decentralized mains grid into the public mains grid,
• said switching device being configured as a stand-alone switching device capable of switching at least one domestic appliance of a household from the public mains grid to the decentralized mains grid or from the decentralized mains grid to the public mains grid.