Energy prices in Europe are at a record level, and the citizens of Europe are facing an uncertain winter. The governments of the countries of Europe and the Western Balkans, through the adopted guidelines for reducing the consumption of energy and energy sources, warn about the importance of changing behaviour and rational use of energy.
We spoke with Luka Naglic, GEFF technical expert for Serbia, about how households in Serbia can prepare for the winter in a warm home with more rational energy consumption.
What difficulties do households face during the current energy crisis and how can they reduce energy dependence?
Due to the global energy crisis, energy prices in Serbia are on a significant rise. The price of a cubic metre of firewood is around EUR 100, and a tonne of pellets is over EUR 400. In addition, wood pellets are almost impossible to find on sale. The price of coal also increased, while gas and electricity prices went up minimally, but they are also expensive – especially if a larger area is heated. Because of all this, households in Serbia will have to allocate a significant amount of money for heating during this heating season.
In order to reduce their costs, they should save energy. This is best achieved through energy efficiency, which means reducing household energy consumption without affecting comfort. This is achieved by installing insulation and quality windows, replacing old heating systems with modern and efficient ones, and installing LED lighting.
Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to respond to the energy crisis because it can be improved within a few months by installing new materials and technologies, and it significantly reduces costs. This ensures greater living comfort and increases the value of the property. Energy security is also increased, because less energy is needed, and greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution are also reduced.
More and more people are talking about the importance of increasing the capacity of households to produce their own energy. In this context, the emphasis is on photovoltaic systems and heat pumps. What advantages do green technologies bring?
It is desirable to produce as much energy as possible ourselves from renewable sources. For households, this means, in practice, energy production through solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. In this way, it is possible to produce most of the energy used by the household and significantly reduce electricity bills, as well as environmental pollution.
Solar panels last 25 years, and their installation is easy and fast. Maintenance costs are very low – there is a need to clean the panels only during heavy snowfalls. In Serbia, 1,200 – 1,300 kWh of electricity is obtained from 1 kW of installed power plant power per year.
In order to build a power plant for your needs, it is recommended that experienced installers do a consumption analysis and recommend the optimal type and power of the power plant.
Heat pumps are technologies that have been used for many years in developed countries as a system of heating, and recently they have gained great popularity in our country as well. A heat pump works on the same principle as a refrigerator, except that instead of a cooling chamber, it cools the outside air and heats the inside space. The heat pump takes most of the energy for heating from the outside air, and uses electricity to operate the compressor, fan and pump.
The efficiency of the heat pump is expressed as the coefficient of performance (COP), which represents the ratio of the electrical energy input and the obtained thermal energy. The higher the number, the more efficient the heat pump is and the less energy it consumes.
There are several types of heat pumps, of which air-water type heat pumps make up the majority of products available on our market. They are very easy to install, and consume about 4 times less electricity for heating compared to electric heaters or storage heaters.
How recommended and useful is it to combine these technologies with other energy-efficient technologies, e.g. wall insulation, PVC windows?
Of course, it is useful to combine several technologies, because this reduces both consumption and costs. Sometimes it is necessary. Namely, the installation of heat pumps makes sense only if the house is well insulated and has quality windows and doors. Otherwise, the heat pump will not be able to provide adequate heating, it will work inefficiently, and energy consumption will be high. When it comes to installing a solar power plant, care should be taken to ensure that the electrical devices that are powered are as efficient as possible. In this way, a smaller and cheaper power plant will be able to meet the needs of the household.
As an example, we will take the savings obtained through applying energy efficiency measures in an apartment of 60 m2 that is heated with electricity, as well as a two-story family house of 120 m2 with a central heating system using solid fuel – firewood. The exterior walls and roof are uninsulated, the joinery is old with single-pane glass. In both cases, it was proposed to install thermal insulation on the outer walls with a thickness of 10 cm, thermal insulation of the roof with mineral wool of 15 cm thickness, replacement of the old wooden joinery with new PVC with three-layer glass. In both cases, it is proposed to replace the existing heating system with an air to water heat pump.
For example, for an apartment, the implementation of the above-mentioned measures can save around EUR 350 per year, while for a house, almost EUR 2,000 can be saved.
How can households calculate what energy savings they can achieve in their home?
The Green Economy Financing Facility (abbreviated as GEFF), a programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), developed an online Energy savings calculator in order to help the citizens of Serbia to find out how much energy and money they can save by applying highly energy-efficient technologies. Apartment and house owners can now independently calculate potential savings and find out with the help of which technologies to increase the energy efficiency of the home and reduce air pollution.
The EBRD GEFF provides funds for increasing the energy efficiency of apartments and houses with an EU incentive of up to 20%. Financing is provided through local partner financial institutions: Erste Bank and ProCredit Bank.
In order to make the list of green products that meet the conditions for financing available to all citizens of Serbia, the EBRD developed the Technology selector, an online catalogue of highly energy-efficient technologies.
Up to now, more than 4,500 households in Serbia have improved the energy efficiency of their homes through the GEFF programme.
EBRD GEFF programme is conducted with the support of the European Union (EU), the Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) and the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).