Who among us wouldn’t want to save money on their electric bill? Energy efficient homes allow you to both reduce your bills and reduce your impact on the environment.
So what makes a home energy efficient? Very many factors. It also depends to a large extent on how energy efficient we are talking about. Some solutions can be implemented in an already completed building. Others have to be thought about at the design stage. An important role is played by the direction in which the building faces the world. Therefore, if we are just thinking about building a house, it is worth considering whether it is a game worth candle.
As mentioned in the beginning, even the location of the building in relation to geographical directions can affect energy consumption. For this purpose, it is best to place it in a north-south orientation. This minimizes insolation during the summer. The building will then be cooler, which will reduce the cost of additional air conditioning. In winter, however, we get much more sun. This is connected not only with obvious, natural warming of the building. Excess sunlight can be collected by means of photovoltaic cells and used to heat the building. It is also important which rooms are located on which side. Rooms located in the south are well and evenly sunlit for most of the day. It is therefore a good place for a living room, for example. Rooms located in the eastern part will have access to light in the morning and shade in the evening. It is possible to locate a bedroom or a kitchen there. The north, on the other hand, receives the most shade, so it is ideal for any type of utility room or garage.
Both the shape of the body of the building and the materials used are another important factor that affects energy consumption. The best balance comes out in the case of the simplest volume. The number of external walls and roof slopes should be minimized as much as possible. In terms of materials, materials with high thermal mass are used for this type of construction. These include bricks, stone or concrete. They limit heat exchange, thus stabilizing the temperature inside. Apart from the materials themselves, it is also worth taking care of proper thermal insulation of walls. Styrofoam is usually used for this purpose. The insulation layer of walls and footings should be at least 20 centimeters and the floor (on the ground) should be 15 centimeters. In the roof construction, on the other hand, a thirty-centimeter layer of mineral wool should be considered. Special attention should be paid to the quality and correct installation of all elements
This is an element that can be both planned together with the building under construction or installed on an existing structure. Investment in this type of panels allows you to reduce electricity bills and do something good for the environment (they reduce CO2 emissions). This type of system consists, in a nutshell, of an inverter and photovoltaic cells. The current generated by them is then processed by the inverter and distributed to current needs. The surplus energy produced is fed back into the grid, where it can be extracted and used when needed. To further optimise costs you can also consider heating with a heat pump. In some cases, however, a traditional gas furnace will work better.
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