At home
How many of us think about CO2 in the morning as we make our way through a warm flat to the shower? Probably very few. But heating and hot water generate the lion’s share of CO2 emissions in the household. And consequently lead to significant costs.
Wherever a lot of CO2 is produced, there is naturally also great scope for saving. This applies particularly at home, because that is where small actions can have a major impact. Other measures are more complicated and require structural modifications. Read the following overview of the various measures that you can take.
1. The principle of intermittent airing
Tilted windows during the heating period mean that your heat goes out of the window. The principle of intermittent airing is more efficient, when the windows are opened wide for a couple of minutes and then closed again. The air in the room is then really fresh again. This simple action saves around 200 litres of heating oil each winter, or 500 kg CO2.
2. The room temperature
Most people don’t really notice if the room temperature is one degree more or less. But it makes a big difference in terms of energy consumption. Every degree less saves at least six percent of the heating energy, and significantly more in the case of energy-efficient buildings. In this way you improve your CO2 balance in any case, and if your heating costs are individually calculated, your budget too.
So it’s worth setting your room temperature carefully. For instance, if you hardly use your bedroom during the day, let its temperature drop to 16 degrees. During longer periods of absence it is recommended to turn the heating off completely, or if there is a danger of frost then to reduce it as much as possible.
Sometimes the heating cannot be adjusted individually or remains too warm even when the radiators are turned down completely. It may then need to be better adjusted. If you live in a multiple dwelling, it’s well worth discussing the matter with the caretaker or property management.
A practical solution would be thermostats with programmed timers for individual radiators or the entire heating system. They allow the temperature to be turned down at night or during periods of absence.
3. Use hot water with care
Whenever you turn the hot water tap on, you also indirectly emit CO2, unless your water is heated by renewable energies. The following steps will reduce your water consumption and CO2 emissions and lower your costs – where these are calculated directly: take a bath less frequently or not at all; keep your showers short; don’t turn the water up fully; don’t wash up under running water; fit water-saving nozzles and shower heads.
4. Insulate your windows
You can seal draughty windows with special insulating tape. The draughts will stop and you reduce your energy consumption and CO2.
5. Structural measures
Structural measures are more expensive, but they have great savings potential, as insulation is a major factor in heating. As a rule, your investments will already pay off after a short time, sometimes even after a few years. Especially when renovation work is on the agenda, it’s well worthwhile getting a specialised advisor or energy agency to check over the building. If you are a tenant, you can at least suggest such measures to the property management.
The approximate road map for a more energy-efficient house is:
- Insulate windows, facade, roof and floors,
- then replace the heating,
- possibly with complementary solar energy.
Insulation: A house loses up to 40 percent of its heat energy through poorly insulated windows and facades. Even by fitting new windows, the heat loss can be reduced by between 10 and 15 percent. Compared with uncoated double glazing, triple glazing allows you to save around 24 litres of heating oil, or 65 kg CO2 per square metre of window a year. The cellar, loft roof or main roof can often be insulated relatively simply. Complete house insulation is a matter for professionals. Some Swiss cantons and banks promote it with contributions or mortgages at favourable rates.
Replacing the heating: When investing in a new and more efficient heating system, it’s worth considering how much you will be able to save in energy costs in subsequent years. As the price of oil is very likely to rise in the years to come, it’s well worth planning your heating in some detail. Anyone who insulates their house and fits a heat pump, solar or pellet heating, can dispense entirely with oil heating and becomes independent of the oil price.
Complementary solar energy: a solar hot water system with solar collectors can support your heating so efficiently that you can switch it off entirely in the six warm months of the year, and use it during the heating period to support your conventional heating system.
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