EN

HEATING AND COOLING

  • Thermal comfort is a matter of habit and individual perception of what comfortable is, but the optimum temperature in a conditioned residential area is 21°C.
  • Maintaining higher indoor ambient temperature during the heating season and then cooling the space by opening windows is one of the most common mistakes causing energy dissipation. We can use the common radiator valves to regulate the temperature manually, while thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) regulate room temperature automatically. 
  • Recommendations for maintaining the temperature in different rooms: 
    • Hallway 14–18°C
    • Bedroom 18°C
    • Kitchen 18–21°C
    • Study 18–21°C
    • Living room 20–23°C
    • Bathroom 23–25°C 
    • During the day when no one is at home 16 °C
  • If indoor ambient temperature is lowered by a mere 1°C, annually we can save around 5% of energy for heating.
  • If a window is left open for a longer period of time, the heating or colling system should be turned off.
  • Radiators should be regularly cleaned otherwise dust build-up could prevent heat transfer, and you should regularly bleed them to release the air trapped inside. 
  • By fitting TRVs to regulate the temperature in individual rooms, you can save as much as up to 20% of energy.
  • By installing a room thermostat, you can reduce the costs for heating from 7% to 15%. The thermostat is programmed to the lowest temperature at night or when no one is home. The heating system can also be regulated so that it turns off an hour before you leave the house and turns on half an hour before you return. The thermostat regulates room temperature by switching on the central heating once the ambient temperature falls below the set value.
  • Once a year, before the start of the heating season, you should have your gas or oil installation serviced and checked by the heating engineer, who will clean the burner as necessary. A dirty boiler burner prevents fuel combustion and leads to a less efficient running of the entire system.
  • Once a year before the heating season starts, you have to call a licensed serviceman to check the condition of the heat exchanger. To be able to use the heat generated by the device, heat exchangers have to be free from fouling layers. Scale build-up reduces heat transfer, and the device works less efficiently, consequently using more gas to achieve equal thermal effect in the rooms.
  • When you decide to switch to another heating system, you should consider installing a system that will achieve the highest possible level of energy independence, such as heat pumps. Heat pumps use approximately 2.5 up to 5 times less electricity than electric radiators or storage heaters.
  • Heat pumps use up to 80% of energy from renewable sources, while the remaining energy is taken from the power grid. The electricity used to run the heat pump can be RES (own PV power plant or by buying green energy) so that your heating system has a zero-carbon footprint. 
 
  • Cooling temperature should not be lower than 25°C.
  • Lowering the cooling temperature by just one degree Celsius consumes 3% to 5% more energy per each degree. 
  • Cooling indoor spaces too much in the summer is not advisable. Due to health reasons, the indoor-outdoor temperature difference should not exceed 7°C.
    • When the temperature is set to much lower, the air is increasingly dehumidified (condensation on the inside unit) which is neither favourable for health nor energy efficiency. Since a large proportion of energy is spent on dehumidifying the air, the cooling capacity of the A/C is significantly reduced. So, set the temperature on the temperature controller in line with these recommendations, depending on the ambient temperature. 
  • When you air out the rooms, the A/C has to be turned off.
  • The rooms should not be cooled at the same time you are in the room!
  • When the A/C unit is on, turn off the unnecessary sources of heat in the room (such as lighting, ovens, and other home appliances).