Constantly rising energy prices, government threats to limit energy consumption per person, insufficient Soviet legacy energy capacity and many other reasons make us think about saving. But which way to go? How is it in Europe to walk around the house in a down jacket and with a flashlight?
There are many other ways that will not limit comfort or cause inconvenience. We will not allow even more money to be taken from us (for connecting additional capacities to the house). Let's go through the main criteria for energy consumption (both thermal and electrical) and see how you can save resources using energy-saving devices.
Heating and hot water supply
Water heating, as well as space heating (especially in winter) is the most energy-consuming criterionconsumption. It would seem that here you can save money, because no one has yet been able to break the laws of physics, and sooner or later any energy turns into heat. You can improve the thermal insulation (which, of course, is worth doing) or lower the temperature (so the heat loss will be less), and if there is nowhere to improve and you don’t want to huddle under the blanket, freezing?
There are some real ways to save a lot.
Tricky option
Recently in England invented the simplest, but nevertheless effective energy-saving devices. The principle of their operation is elementary - it turns off the heating for 20 minutes several times a day. According to studies, no one at home has time to notice or freeze in such a short time, and after turning on the temperature returns to normal. Naturally, using such a device, you get less heat, but you also pay the same amount less.
Of course, this method will be effective only if there are meters for the received heat, otherwise its use is pointless. Yes, and using an energy-saving device, the price of which depends on your requirements and starts from 300 rubles, in the northern regions you can hardly avoid inconvenience. In addition, this is such a kind of compromise, and not a cardinal way to solve the problem.
Heating with heat pumps
No one is surprised by air conditioning anymore. In summer, it gives such a welcome coolness. But where does the heat removed by them go? That's right - on the street, so there are specialradiators with fans. What does this have to do with heating, because the task is quite the opposite? Everything is simple. The air conditioner is a heat pump. And where to get heat from if (when heating with electricity) 100% of the energy in any case goes into it, and, for example, 150% cannot be in principle? Let's take it off the street using other energy-saving devices - heat pumps. Or from underground. In the ground (at a shallow depth) in winter and summer, one temperature is about +5 degrees. If you dig a sufficient amount of pipe to the desired depth and fill it with coolant, then a large amount of heat can be pumped out of the ground. In Germany, this method has already gained quite a lot of popularity among owners of private houses.
The heat pump is the so-called air conditioner in reverse. It happens that more modern technologies are used - peltier elements. They eliminate the need for a pressurized system with expensive pressurized gas, are significantly more compact, but still very expensive.
Heat pump savings
The savings obtained with this method of heating (which, by the way, no one bothers to use for hot water supply), comes out 1 to 3. Having spent 1 kW of electricity, we will pump 2 kW of heat into the room and the same 1 kW, spent on the operation of the heat pump, will also be in the room. Total, spending 1 kW, we get 3 kW. Given the high cost, it will not pay off immediately, but after all, such a system is put in place for many years, and over time, the savings will come out solid.
The method described above is applicable to your own home. Is it possible to do something similar forapartments, because no one will allow you to bury pipes in the yard just like that, but would you like to use energy-saving devices?
There is another way. True, it is suitable for not very cold climatic zones. It's just that ordinary air is used as a coolant, which is blown by the wind outside the window. But the effect of it will be (when using the principle of air conditioning) only when the temperature outside the window is above -7 degrees. Or you will have to use expensive peltier elements that can afford a slightly larger temperature difference.
True, there is a drawback with the "air" method. The heat capacity of the air is quite small, so it needs to be pumped through a radiator, a fan is required. And the presence of a fan is noise, the neighbors may be against it. On the other hand, they use air conditioners with a similar device…
Lighting
There is room for savings in lighting. Especially if such energy-saving devices for the home as typical incandescent lamps are used for it. No violation of the laws of nature is required here. It's just that an incandescent lamp has an efficiency of about 10%. That is, the lamp, consuming 100%, shines by 10%, and the remaining 90% goes into heat, which means nowhere. And you still have to pay for it. But there are many types of much more economical devices. Let's talk about some of them.
Fluorescent lamps
Since ancient times, manystatic energy-saving devices such as fluorescent lamps, which are usually long tubes of light.
This type of lamp allows you to save on two criteria - energy and the cost of replacing the devices themselves. The electrical efficiency is quite impressive - they are three times more energy efficient than incandescent lamps. Such a product shines like a 100 W incandescent lamp, and consumes electricity by about 30 W. In addition, they are much more durable. If an incandescent lamp works for about 1000 hours, then a fluorescent lamp works for about 8000 hours.
But they also have significant drawbacks. Reviews of energy-saving devices of this type are contradictory. Firstly, they contain mercury, which means that they cannot be broken and simply thrown into the trash. Waste lamps must be taken to specialized places. Secondly, they do not burn with an even constant light, they blink very often (with a network frequency of 50 times per second), which can affect vision. Thirdly, they require for their work the presence of special lamps that cannot boast of a variety of designs. It will not be easy to choose a lamp for such a lamp in such a way that it fits into the interior.
Compact fluorescent lamps
This is the development of traditional fluorescent lamps. The electronics that controls their work is enclosed directly in the base. The base itself has become similar to incandescent lamps. In addition, the glass bulb is thinner and curled to take up less space. And the electronic unit, built-in, we recall, in the lamp itself, eliminates the noticeable blinking of such. Now flashes occur 30-40 thousand times per second, which is completely invisible to the eye. The power consumption and longevity characteristics have not changed much, therefore, these are still the same popular energy-saving devices for the home as before.
But the recycling problem has not gone away. They still contain mercury, they cannot be broken and must be taken to special points. Which in many ways, except for some danger, determines the inconvenience of use.
LED lighting
Today, perhaps the most effective energy-saving device that anyone can make with their own hands is a device that provides LED lighting. The efficiency of such lamps is close to 100% - lighting similar to 100 W in an incandescent lamp is provided by a 7 W LED lamp. They are very compact. As a rule, ribbons are collected from them or lamps (including spotlights) are assembled. There are a wide variety of versions of both lamps and directly fixtures based on LEDs. For a designer, there is absolute expanse here - the presence of both standard devices and an unimaginable number of rare types of products unties their hands.
Very high durability (more than 25 thousand hours of continuous operation - almost three years) allows you to make them non-removable. They are devoid of the shortcomings of fluorescent lamps - they burn constantly without blinking. They do not contain mercury. They don't needa special lamp (excluding design delights), they are much more compact than any other types of lamps. In addition, they come in any color of glow, so you can not only switch the brightness of the light, but also the color (colder tones are suitable for work, and warmer tones for leisure).
The main drawback for today is the cost. But due to mass production and market saturation, I think the price will drop significantly in the near future.
Designs based on natural light
In distant warm, but poor countries, where most people have only heard about electricity, there are ways to illuminate rooms without the energy of electric current. Natural street light is used. We also have nothing to stop us from using it if we need to illuminate the room only during the daytime.
Like all genius, this method is the simplest. A light-conducting and light-scattering device is mounted in the ceiling and roof of the room. In the case of poor countries, this is an ordinary bottle. With us, you can use a special aesthetic design.
Among the advantages of this method, there are two main ones - the absolute absence of electricity consumption and endless durability.
But the disadvantages are no less significant - you can use this option only if there is fresh air above the ceiling of the room, and not neighbors. And when the sun doesn't shine, it's useless too.
Household appliances
A large share of energy consumption takes onvarious household appliances. By choosing the right one, you can also significantly reduce the use of energy resources of a single house. For example, the energy-saving device Energy Saver allows you to significantly save energy. In this case, you just need to plug it into the outlet.
If you have an old TV with a very voluminous (by today's) body, there is a good reason to upgrade it, since a modern flat device will not only show better, but also consume much less. Also, a laptop instead of a desktop computer will save hundreds of watts of consumption. In addition, there is an opportunity to save a lot by purchasing an energy-saving device "Economych". Various appliances in the kitchen (refrigerators, dishwashers, multicookers, etc.), and household appliances in general (washing machine, vacuum cleaner, etc.) must be purchased with an energy class "A" or, even better, "A +". This approach could add many more saved kilowatt-hours.
Conclusion
We have considered only devices that consume energy. But there are also those that produce it - solar panels, wind turbines, etc. There is also a Power Saver - an energy-saving device that can significantly reduce energy consumption in an apartment. If both approaches are combined, then it is quite possible to completely disconnect from external (paid) energy sources, which will give high autonomy (no one will turn off the light, etc.) and unprecedented savings. But this is beyond the scope of thisreview.
