– It’s great fun, and it’s better to fix something we already have than to buy new, says Margrethe Nygård. She and 19 other women recently gathered in Fjaler to learn how to restore old windows. An art that can make your electricity bill quite a few kroner cheaper, if you feel the draft from the window sill. But in old, venerable and perhaps conservation-worthy houses, you can quickly face a wall of restrictions. Then it is necessary to take the right steps. – In old windows, you can insert an extra glass on the inside and get better insulation, says Siv Holmin, course instructor for the Heritage Association. Electricity bills can last until winter NVE has calculated that energy saving in Norwegian buildings can save as much as 10 per cent of Norway’s electricity consumption. Straumprisen has seen record after record recently. In September last year, news wrote about electricity prices “up to NOK 1.10 per kWh”. To put it a bit in contrast: For the winter, some experts predict the electricity price to rise to NOK 20 per kWh. In other words, it will be expensive to “fire for the crows”. Take the initiative The Historical Heritage Association recently made an attempt to find out which measures gave the most results for the least amount of money on old buildings and came up with the following measures: Sealing air leaks. New inner window eyes or to repair the ones you have. Post-insulation of the attic and floor dividers. Heat pump. – The first 10 centimeters of insulation provide the most savings, is the message from Ola H. Fjeldheim, secretary general of the Association for Historical Heritage. It is better for four homeowners to insulate with 10 cm than for one to insulate with 40, he believes. By taking small and medium-sized measures, house owners can reduce their energy consumption for heating by between 30 and 40 per cent, is the conclusion from the Historical Heritage Association. If you want to save more, the costs start to increase drastically and the measures become larger. Fjeldheim believes that the threshold for receiving support from Enova is too high and that there are far too many measures required to receive support. – It is important that Enova uses the money where it gives the best effect, that is to say where you get the best energy savings and the best climate effect from the money, and then it is small and medium-sized measures that we know are most effective. Photo: Einar Stamnes / private Lowering the threshold will be more expensive – Giving subsidies to measures that are already implemented on a large scale without subsidies would mean that a large part of the subsidy would go to measures that would have been implemented anyway, believes Tor Brekke, senior adviser in Enova. Enova believes that lowering the threshold for support will be more expensive than the current arrangement. Allerie re-insulates over 50,000 home owners annually and 120,000 home owners replace an average of 5 windows every year. Giving subsidies to measures that have already been implemented greatly increases the risk of prices going up, is the message from Enova. – In practice, the subsidy will go to the supplier, not to the home owner, says Brekke. Six simple tips for lower electricity bills Lower the temperature Energy saved by reduced indoor temperature will vary depending on the type of home and over the year. As a rule of thumb, you can expect to reduce energy use for space heating by around 5 percent for every degree you lower the indoor temperature. Control the temperature automatically A heating control system is a simple and reasonable measure. The temperature is time-controlled in your home and ensures efficient energy use when you are at home and when you are not there. With a good heat management system, energy use for heating can normally be reduced by 20 per cent. Fit sealing strips You can find air leaks around the window by running a candle along the strips and along wall and ceiling strips inside the room. The flame will flicker if there is a draft. Save on hot water There are simple measures you can take to limit the energy consumption for heating water. And the very simplest measure is to switch to an energy-saving shower and install energy-saving nozzles on water taps. Insulate the home Poor insulation leads to cold floors and walls, as well as high electricity bills. You can often notice air leaks as drafts around window sills, doors, in the transition between wall and floor or ceiling and along the floor. Change heating source Different types of heat pumps are climate-friendly alternatives to electric heating. With a heat pump, you get more heat out of every kilowatt-hour. It can also be worthwhile to install, for example, a wood stove or pellet stove. source: enova.no
ttn-69
Electricity saving and efficiency improvement in old houses – news Vestland
