Need a connection? How to get your home set up
If you're moving to a new rental property or a new home, connecting utilities can feel like a daunting task. To help you get started, we've put together a simple "how to" guide.
If your new home is already occupied, it may be cheaper and more efficient to have the existing connections for electricity, gas and water transferred into your name by the tenant, landlord or seller. You can then look for a new supplier if you prefer to shop around.
Likewise, if you move home, you can organise to transfer your account for electricity, gas, and telephone and internet, to your new property. This may require a home visit for telephone and broadband, but you will be able to keep you existing landline number.
Gas & electricity
CREOS is the country's network manager for gas and electricity, pipe maintenance, meter installation and readings. Many residential properties have smartmeters, but if you're moving into a property, it's worth making a note of the meter readings and sending them to CREOS.
A natural gas network of 2,100km and 50,000 connections is maintained by CREOS, and you will rent your gas meter and pay for gas in a combination of price per square metre of gas used and a fixed monthly charge.
Enovos is the main gas and electricity supplier for the country and is also supplied by smaller, regional companies with "green" electricity. You will find different regional suppliers too.
Unfortunately the number of suppliers is limited, but you can use this price comparison calculator to review the best options.
Standard home electrical sockets are 220 volts AC in Luxembourg, which also uses the European two-pin plug. Be careful to check the voltage of electrical goods you have brought from other countries to ensure they don't cause burnout or damage if plugged in.
Mazout oil
Natural gas is not available to every residence in Luxembourg so you might rent or buy a home that uses Mazout oil for its heating system. You can find numerous suppliers of Mazout.
Always check the level of oil in the tank and fill it before it's empty (so as not to cause damage to your heating system). However, try not to fill up too frequently as the price per litre of Mazout decreases the more litres of oil you order at one time.
Water
Your water supply is usually provided by your local commune's Service des Eaux and you will be charged by them on a quarterly basis. If you live in Luxembourg City you can find out about registering a new connection, disconnecting or moving a connection here.
Waste disposal
You can order your bins from your local commune or the Ville de Luxembourg (VdL) if you live in the city. The black bin is for general waste, the blue bin for paper waste, the yellow bin for glass, and the green bin for garden waste and organic matter (sometimes also a brown bin but you cannot dispose of woody garden waste in this).
Costs are billed quarterly and will depend on the frequency the bin is emptied and the weight of its contents.
Technically you only need to have a black bin, since you can recycle all other items at numerous recycling points in the city, at recycling centres or smaller units housed in the car parks of supermarkets. The commune will provide details of the dates for different bin collections either on their website or on a printed flyer, and you can check waste collections dates, street by street in Luxembourg City on the VdL website.
Recycling
Luxembourg City currently has 56 public collections stations where residents can deposit glass, cardboard, old clothes and batteries, located across 24 neighbourhoods. If you have bigger items such as furniture or white goods you can arrange for these to be collected.
For plastic bottles, cans, tins and juice or milk cartons, you can pick up Valorlux green or blue bags from your local commune. Their website has details of what can be put in the bags and a collection calendar for all areas in Luxembourg.
It also lists the location of all of the recycling centres in the Grand Duchy. In addition, there is a recycling centre in Luxembourg City. Large quantities of garden waste (branches of trees etc) can be disposed of at the Mamer composting station.
You can get more details on recycling in Luxembourg in our guide on this subject.
Internet & telephony
If you need to set up a landline and internet connection, bear in mind that you may not get an appointment immediately, so call ahead if possible. There are numerous internet and landline providers, although Post & Telecom (P&T) is the national carrier, you can shop around depending on your location (clearly there is more choice if you are located in the city).
In addition to P&T, you'll find services from Orange, Tango, Luxembourg Online, Visual Online, Telewalfer, Sudstroum and Eltrona. You can find contact details of these suppliers here, together with other providers who can help with business connectivity.
www.five.lu (internet only)
www.telewalfer.lu (internet and TV)
Bundles and TV
Luxembourg is well served by high speed internet broadband, with almost 96% of households having access to very-high capacity network infrastructure, and three quarters to fibre. You can find out if you can connect to fibre here. You should shop around and review "bundles" for internet speed, data caps, free landline calls and television over internet options.
Choose wisely as disconnecting and reconnecting to a new operator can be a slow and costly process. If you are looking for TV options in English, Luxembourg is served by Netflix and Sky TV.
Mobile
P&T, Tango, Orange, Luxembourg Online, and Eltrona provide mobile coverage. They all offer a range of contracts and pre-paid card options, and you'll need your passport or ID, together with proof of address and bank details to sign a contract (including pre-paid cards). A list of all local offices can be found here.
5G is available from Post, Orange and Tango, 4G by most operators, but connections can vary depending on your location. Free roaming in Europe means you can use your mobile phone in neighbouring countries without additional costs, but check your contract for caps or limits. This applies if you bring your phone from another EU country, where higher charges may apply for using it in Luxembourg.
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