When buying household electrical appliances for the kitchen, pay attention to the energy intensity of the equipment. When choosing dishes for a microwave or oven, consider the quality of its thermal conductivity. Properly similar kitchen utensils will help to significantly reduce the cost of utility bills.
The most important thing when choosing dishes is the material from which it is made. Recently, the market has a very rich selection of pots and pans. You can find dishes with enamel, Teflon, ceramic or other coatings, as well as made of plastic, glass and aluminum or other material. Each type has its pros and cons. But we consider dishes from the point of view of energy efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to choose coatings that have good thermal conductivity. For example, aluminum pots and pans, as well as copper-coated stainless steel products will be a great helper for the hostess. The cooking time in such dishes will be reduced by 1.5 - 2 times, because the pot or frying pan heats up easily, evenly distributing heat over the entire surface of the product, since copper is an excellent heat conductor.
Food cooks faster, which means less electricity is spent than heating cast-iron or iron cookware.
After you decide on the coating of the dishes, you need to carefully approach the choice of the cover. Always cook with the lid tightly closed. After all, if you constantly open it, controlling the process of cooking or boiling water, then almost three times more energy is spent than with hermetically sealed dishes. Always cover pots and pans to cook or fry food faster. You can check whether the water is boiling in the pan or not without opening the lid at all. If you use a transparent glass lid with a special hole for steam to escape. Such a simple and correct operation of even the most efficient kitchen utensils will save time and money as much as possible.
Save electricity when cooking
There is another simple way to save electricity. All household electrical appliances and their degree of heating can be independently adjusted depending on the need. For example, if you do not want to boil, but just warm your tea, you can turn off the electric kettle yourself when the water is hot enough. Modern kettles have a temperature control panel and can heat water to a certain preset level and turn off.
Do not boil water for tea on an electric stove, especially in a large pot. Firstly, it will take a lot of energy, and secondly, you will waste your precious time.
One of the advantages of an electric stove is its residual heat, which is released from the surface of the burner for quite a long time. The same characteristics and the oven. This feature is great for saving money. Even if you are not an experienced housewife, but prudent, it is enough for you to know the cooking time of a particular product in order to use this trick in time. Boil rice - its readiness time is 20-25 minutes, five minutes before the final, you can turn off the oven until the stove cools down the rice reaches full readiness.
There are also secrets when using a dishwasher. Modern dishwashers are very economical: in the amount of water, electricity and detergent consumption. The main thing here is to carefully read the instructions and properly lay out the dishes so that they are clean right up to the “crunch” the first time. Use the car once a day - in the evening, after dinner. You ask, what to do with the dishes left after breakfast and lunch? Hand wash? No, why not. Here it is simply necessary to have a large number of dishes and cutlery so that this is enough for your whole family for three meals. Then everything becomes very simple, convenient and, most importantly, extremely economical. After each meal, the dishes are folded into the machine, and it turns on only once a day - in the evening.
Clean dishes and pressure cookers save energy
If your family has one or two people, then you have to cook a little. In such cases, steamers, pressure cookers, coffee makers and other “wonderful” little things will help save electricity. They use less energy and water, do not require special attention and temperature control, and they are also convenient for preparing a small number of servings. For example, using a steamer to cook vegetables requires only a few centimeters of water, while saving energy and time by up to 50%. We should not forget the health benefits of products prepared in this way.
It is also important to keep all kitchen utensils and appliances in perfect cleanliness. It is hygienic, aesthetic and in addition. Drips, scale and soot, both on the dishes themselves and on the stove, must be removed immediately, since they reduce heat transfer by up to 50%.
It is equally important that there is no damage on the bottom of the dishes and on the surface of the tiles. After all, if the bottom of the pan does not fit snugly against the burner, then up to 50% more energy is consumed.
In addition, the dishes must be selected as accurately as possible according to the size of the burner or the heated surface. If the pot is larger, then it will take more time and energy to heat it up, and if the stove is much wider than the pot or pan, then the excess heat will spread throughout the kitchen. Therefore, you need to carefully distribute certain containers on the burners of the appropriate size.
Saving any resources in the kitchen space is an important, exciting and useful thing. Therefore, when putting on an apron, always remember that you need to cook deliciously, eat with appetite, and save wisely!
A two-storey house built in just 4 months consumes half the energy compared to standard buildings, and at the same time has an affordable price.
The cottage, built in 2014 on the territory of the residential complex "Emerald Valley" in the Borovsky district of the Kaluga region, became the winner of the Second All-Russian competition of implemented projects in the field of energy saving, energy efficiency and energy development ENES initiated by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. Built in just 4 months, a two-story house consumes at least half the energy of a standard building, while being affordable. The final cost of one square meter for the customer was 22,755 rubles/sq. m.
The construction, which confirmed the calculations of the engineers in practice, laid the foundation for the implementation of the unique project DOM TECHNONIKOL, which provides for the construction of affordable turnkey residential buildings of any layout throughout the Russian Federation using ready-made, comprehensively selected energy-efficient technologies. We talked about the prospects that this project opens up for future residents and contractors with Andrey Bannov, the head of the DOM TECHNONIKOL project, implemented by the largest manufacturer of roofing, hydro- and heat-insulating materials in Russia and Europe, TechnoNIKOL.
Andrey, the DOM TECHNONICOL project offers comprehensive solutions for the development of energy-efficient low-rise construction. How big is the demand for resource-saving technologies in the segment of cottage construction today?
Over the past 10 years, the volume of cottage construction in Russia has increased significantly. Following Europe moving to the suburbs, residents of our megacities are increasingly choosing the comfort and silence of a private house instead of the hustle and bustle of high-rise buildings. Demand creates supply: a large number of contractors specializing in low-rise construction have appeared on the market. However, the economic crisis that we are witnessing today has become a kind of challenge. To survive in the market, small businesses will have to transform quantitative volumes into quality. Under the current conditions, those contractors who can optimize their costs and at the same time offer a better product will be able to maintain their positions. Modern business technologies and energy-efficient housing construction standards DOM TECHNONICOL meet these criteria and can become a lifeline for small contracting businesses.
In developed countries, private houses have become an affordable solution to the housing problem precisely due to the use of the most advanced building technologies. First of all, we are talking about the energy efficiency of such houses. After all, the cost of operating a building, according to statistics, is up to 75% of the cost of owning it. Until recently, in energy-rich Russia, the energy consumption of a building was largely ignored. But the increase in tariffs for energy resources and housing and communal services is fundamentally changing people's attitude to the issue of energy efficiency. Working on DOM TECHNONICOL standards, we have kept a balance between the cost of construction and the effectiveness of energy-saving solutions. As a result, the cost of gas heating a two-story cottage with an area of 90 square meters. m. at the current tariffs of the Moscow region will amount to no more than 500 rubles per month or 4500 rubles per year, electric heating of such a house will cost a little more: 2500 rubles per month or 22500 rubles per year, and the payback period for energy-saving solutions does not exceed 7 years.
One of the factors hindering the development of energy-efficient construction is additional costs - for the same heat-insulating materials. According to official statistics, they lead to an increase in the cost of housing by at least 7%. How is the economic affordability of TECHNONICOL HOUSES achieved?
One of the goals of the DOM TECHNONICOL project is to make energy-efficient construction affordable. We analyzed a huge number of enclosing structures that have a positive practice in the northern countries of the world, and chose the most optimal set for our country (foundation, walls, roof, windows, engineering systems). Everything was analyzed: the cost of construction, the reliability of design solutions, durability, heat-saving properties, convenience / complexity and installation time, the possibility of completing materials and structures available on the territory of the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the developed standards, today the final cost of the TECHNONICOL HOUSE, ready for living, for the buyer will not exceed 25 thousand rubles per square meter. m. This is the cost per square meter of a full-fledged cottage, installed on an insulated reinforced concrete foundation slab, with external and internal decoration, internal utilities and warm windows. The outer walls of the house are insulated with a 25 cm layer of stone wool, the roof - with a 30 cm layer.
If we consider the minimum configuration without engineering networks and interior decoration, that is, the one that we are used to on the market, then the price benefit is even more tangible. The cost of a "box of a house" with a roof, exterior trim and windows will not exceed 15,000 rubles/sq. m. The low financial component of house kits while maintaining high quality is based on the manufacturability of construction, the use of building materials of own production and the absence of additional logistics costs. Most of the materials are produced at the factories of our company, which are widely represented throughout the country.
How reliable and proven technologies are used for the construction of TECHNONICOL HOUSES? What are the benefits of participating in the project for contractors, in addition to the price?
Having studied the experience of frame housing construction in the northern countries and the specifics of the Russian market, we have created a unique engineering documentation necessary and sufficient for the construction by a team of 5 people of resource-saving houses on a turnkey wooden frame of almost any layout according to individual and standard drawings. DOM TECHNONICOL standards were developed by TechnoNICOL engineers together with the Passive House Institute, taking into account the bearing capacity of structures, minimizing cold bridges, and ease of installation. The use of ready-made solutions allows the contractor to save on design and minimize the risk of errors. In addition, we have developed an automated document management system to standardize the processes of providing construction and installation services and created an infrastructure for teaching DOM TECHNONIKOL standards on the basis of the TechnoNIKOL Construction Academy, which includes 15 Training Centers in the Russian Federation and the CIS, which makes the learning process available to contractors throughout countries.
- What are the further prospects for the development of the project? In what regions is it planned to be implemented?
The successful implementation of the pilot project in the Kaluga region made it possible to proceed to the first stage of scaling up the positive experience in 6 regions of the Russian Federation. Soon TECHNONICOL HOUSES will appear in the Moscow, Leningrad, Lipetsk and Ryazan regions, the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Crimea. DOM TECHNONICOL standards make it possible to build a house of 1 or 2 floors of a unique or standard layout anywhere in the Russian Federation, suitable for the construction of residential single-family houses with a GSOP of no more than 7,400. In the future, we plan to develop the project throughout the Russian Federation.
In the modern world, when a person is accustomed to being surrounded by various household appliances that make his living conditions easier, the question arises of how to reduce the energy consumption of these appliances, optimize their operation and increase their utilization rate.
One of these ways is the construction of energy-saving houses.
What is an energy efficient home?
energy saving house is a building that maintains an optimal microclimate, while the consumption of various types of energy from third-party sources is at a low level of consumption compared to conventional buildings.
An energy-saving house has good thermal insulation, and not only receives thermal energy from third-party sources, but also serves as a heat source itself. Energy from third-party sources is used for heating, hot water supply and electricity for household appliances.
An energy-saving house is:
- A building that, thanks to its design, can significantly reduce the need for thermal energy.
- A house that is comfortable for living, thanks to the microclimate created in it.
In order to create an energy-saving house, it is necessary to develop a project that will provide for the following areas:
The technical systems of the building should be focused on energy saving, so for the system:
- Ventilation - it is necessary to provide for heat recovery when the warm air in the exhaust ventilation system heats the outside air of the supply ventilation.
- Heating - the use of heat pumps of various types.
- Hot water supply - installation of solar collectors.
- Power supply - the use of solar power plants or wind generators.
The design of an energy-saving house may look like this (excluding the power supply system): 
Home heaters
The heating system of an energy-saving house can be built on the use of solar panels. In this case, electric heaters of the required power are installed in the premises. With this version of the heating system, the solar power plant must be of significant power, because. in addition to the heating system, in every house there are other consumers of electricity with high power (iron, kettle, microwave oven and other devices). In this regard, the most widely used option is the use of a heat pump.
A heat pump is a technical device used to transfer heat energy.
Heat pumps differ in principle of operation, external energy source, type of heat exchanger, operating mode, performance and a number of other parameters. The diagram below shows a ground-to-water heat pump.
Scheme of operation of the heat pump "land - water": 
In devices of this type, earth energy is used as an external source of thermal energy. To do this, a special brine (antifreeze) is pumped into the closed external circuit of the heat pump, which is laid below the freezing level of the ground, which, through the installed pump, circulates in this circuit. The external circuit is connected to the heat pump condenser, where, in the process of circulation, the brine gives off the accumulated heat of the earth to the refrigerant. The refrigerant, in turn, circulates in the internal circuit of the heat pump, and entering the condenser of the device, transfers the received heat to the energy carrier circulating in the internal circuit of the house heating system.
Electric boilers
As in the case of the heating system, and in the hot water system, you can use the electrical energy received from solar power plants or wind generators. To do this, you can use electric energy-saving boilers.
The advantages of using electric boilers for heating and hot water systems are:
- Ease of installation and maintenance;
- Environmental safety and efficiency of devices;
- Long terms of operation.
The disadvantages include - dependence on uninterrupted power supply and additional load on the electrical network.
Energy-saving electric boilers are:
- electrode;
- ionic;
- ion exchange.
The difference between these types of boilers is in the process of converting electrical energy into heat. In addition to differences in design (type), boilers differ in: the number of working circuits, installation method, power, overall dimensions and other technical indicators determined by manufacturers.
Energy saving, when using this equipment, is achieved due to:
- Reducing the inertia of heating devices;
- The use of special physical transformations of electrical energy into thermal energy;
- Ensuring a smooth start at the beginning of the work process;
- The use of automation systems, when controlling the temperature of the coolant and air;
- The use of modern materials and technologies in the manufacture.
Which lamps are best for home
Currently, on the market for light sources, which are lamps, there is a fairly wide range of devices with sufficient luminous flux and lower power compared to traditional incandescent lamps. Such light sources are energy-saving and LED lamps.
The type of lamps, which include fluorescent lamps, are gas-discharge lamps and the principle of their operation is based on the glow that occurs under the influence of an electric discharge with metal or gas vapors that fill the bulb of the device.
Such lamps differ in internal pressure, glow color and other technical characteristics. So fluorescent lamps are devices with low pressure, and sodium, mercury and metallogenic lamps are with high pressure inside the bulb.
Another type of energy-saving lamps are halogen lamps. By their design, they are similar to incandescent lamps, with the only difference being that the presence of halogens in the bulb of the light source increases the luminous flux, compared to an incandescent lamp with the same power. Also due to halogens, the service life of lamps of this type increases.
For power supply at home, energy-saving lamps are used that have a standard base, like incandescent lamps, and the bulb resembles a tubular spiral in shape. Inside the tube is covered with a phosphor and filled with gas, two electrodes are mounted at the ends, which are heated when the lamp is started. Inside the base there is a control circuit and elements of its power supply (the device diagram is shown below). 
The advantages of using energy-saving lamps include:
- Less power consumption than incandescent lamps, with the same luminous flux.
- Long service life compared to incandescent lamps.
Various light colors:
- warm white (color temperature - 2700 K);
- white (3300-3500 K);
- cold white (4000-4200 K);
- day.
The disadvantages of energy-saving lamps are:
- Lamps of this type do not like frequent switching.
- When turned on, the lamps do not immediately give the full brightness of the glow, but for some time they shine dimmer.
- Energy-saving light bulbs need ventilation.
- At negative temperatures, they ignite poorly.
- After completion of operation, in case of failure, disposal is necessary.
- During operation, the lamps may pulsate.
- During operation, as the phosphor wears out, infrared and ultraviolet radiation appears.
- It is impossible to adjust the brightness of the glow with control devices (dimmers).
LED lamps are light sources that also have low power, with a significant luminous flux and are inherently energy-saving devices.
By its design, the LED lamp is an electronic, semiconductor device, the principle of operation is based on the conversion of electric current into light. The design of the LED lamp is shown below. 
Advantages of using LED lamps:
- Longer life than energy saving lamps.
- They are more economical, 2-3 times, than energy-saving ones.
- Environmentally friendly.
- Not afraid of shock and vibration.
- They have small geometric dimensions (dimensions).
- When turned on, they start working instantly, they are not afraid of switching.
- Wide spectrum of light.
- Possibility to work with dimmers.
The disadvantages of using are:
- High price.
- A pulsation of the light flux during the operation of the devices is possible.
To the question “Which lamps are better for the home, LED or energy-saving?”, Everyone must answer for himself, weighing the advantages and disadvantages given above, as well as personal preferences for lighting characteristics (power, color, etc.), as well as cost selected lamp type.
Price
The cost of energy-saving lamps, including LED ones, depends on their technical characteristics (power, color, etc.), the device manufacturer's company, as well as the distribution network where the devices are purchased.
At the moment, the cost of energy-saving lamps produced by various companies and depending on the power in retail chains is:
- Production company "Supra" - from 120.00 to 350.00 rubles;
- Manufactured by Philips - 250.00 to 500.00 rubles;
- Production company "Hyundai" - from 150.00 to 450.00 rubles;
- Production company "Start" - from 200.00 to 350.00 rubles;
- Production of the company "Era" - from 70.0 to 250.00 rubles.
LED bulbs manufactured by various companies, depending on the technical characteristics, are sold in retail chains at the following cost:
- Manufactured by Philips - from 300.00 to 3000.00 rubles;
- Produced by the company "Gauss" - from 300.00 to 2500.00 rubles;
- Production company "Osram" - 250.00 to 1500.00 rubles;
- Production of the company "Camelion" - from 250.00 to 1200.00 rubles;
- Production company "Nichia" - 200.00 to 1500.00 rubles;
- Production of the company "Era" - from 200.00 to 2000.00 rubles.
The light sources market includes products from other companies, both domestic and foreign, but the order of prices for these products lies in the indicated ranges.
How to build an Energy Saving House
In order to build an energy-saving house, it is necessary to develop a project that should take into account some points and subtleties, without which it is impossible to achieve the desired result.
Here are the requirements:
- The location of the house.
It should be located on a flat, sunlit place, without the presence of pits, ditches and ravines near. The layout of the house should include large panoramic windows on the south side, and no windows on the north side. - House construction.
The design of the house should be ergonomic. - Foundation.
The type of foundation and the materials used should ensure minimal heat loss. - Wall insulation.
As a heater for walls, high-quality materials should be used that can ensure minimal thermal conductivity of the outer walls. - Windows with triple glazing.
- Using the option with a gable roof and the use of materials that retain heat.
Use of energy efficient heating and hot water systems. - The use of alternative energy sources when creating a power supply system at home.
- Forced ventilation system device with recuperation system.
- When arranging entrance doors, use the "double door" system.
Pros and cons
The positive aspects that explain the interest of developers in the construction of energy-saving houses include:
- A properly built house creates a favorable indoor microclimate that ensures comfortable living for people.
- The maximum reduction of heat losses and the use of alternative energy sources can significantly reduce utility costs.
- Such a house is an environmentally friendly building, which increases its market value, and does not have a negative impact on the environment.
The disadvantages include:
- The complexity of developing project documentation and meeting the requirements for the quality of work at different stages of construction.
- High construction cost.
In order to save natural and energy resources, humanity has developed comprehensive measures to insulate buildings and bring the level of thermal insulation to a value close to absolute. This material will reveal the essence of a passive house as a modern and economical type of housing.
Concepts of passivity and energy efficiency
Our review will bypass the generally accepted list of advantages and technical indicators. For example, a building is considered energy efficient if its heat loss does not exceed 10 kWh per square meter during the year, but what should this tell the reader? If you recalculate, then about 1.5-2 MW of energy is consumed from a small (up to 150 m 2) house per year, which is comparable to the energy consumption of an ordinary cottage in one winter month. The same amount is consumed by 2-3 incandescent lamps of 100 W, switched on constantly for one year, which is equivalent to 200 m 3 of natural gas.
Such a low energy consumption makes it possible, in principle, to abandon the heating system in the house, using the heat emitted by humans, animals and household appliances for heating. If the house does not require targeted energy costs for the operation of heating installations (or requires, but an insignificant minimum), such a house is called passive. In the same way, a house with very high heat losses can be called passive, the need for which is replenished by its own energy plant operating on renewable energy sources.
So an energy-efficient home does not necessarily claim to be passive, and the opposite is also true. The house, which not only covers its own energy needs, but also transfers any type of energy to the public network, is called active.
What is the main idea of a passive house
All three of the above concepts are usually combined: a passive house has the most expanded set of measures to ensure energy autonomy. In the end, no one is interested in testing their home for years, achieving the standard for heat loss in order to receive an honorary title. It is important that the inside is dry, warm and comfortable.
There is an opinion that today any new building should be built according to the technology of a passive house, fortunately, there are technical solutions even for multi-storey buildings. This is not without meaning: the cost of maintaining a house during the period between repairs is usually even higher than construction costs.
A passive house, on the other hand, with a more voluminous initial investment, practically does not require expenses for the entire service life, which, moreover, exceeds the service life of conventional buildings due to the absolute protection of load-bearing and enclosing structures in combination with the most modern and technological solutions for construction and repair.
The main technical feature of a passive house can be called a continuous thermal insulation circuit, from the foundation to the roof. Such a "thermos" retains heat well, but not all materials are suitable for its construction.
Materials for thermal insulation
Expanded polystyrene in such volumes is not applicable, it is combustible and toxic. In a number of projects, this is solved by a fire-retardant layer at the bearing pillar and under the facade finish, which leads to an unjustified rise in price. The use of glass and mineral wool also does not solve the problem. Pests (insects and rodents) actively settle in it, as well as in polystyrene foam, and the service life of cotton wool is 2-3 times shorter than that of the passive house itself.
A material suitable for the purposes of a passive house is foam glass. Brief summary of characteristics: the lowest thermal conductivity of known consumer materials, complete environmental friendliness due to the inertness of the glass, easy processing and good bonding ability. Of the minuses - the high price and complexity of production, but the material is definitely worth the money.
A less expensive, but suitable material for insulating a passive house is polyurethane foam. Technically, such houses cannot be called passive, their heat loss is 30-50 kWh per square meter per year, but these figures are quite acceptable. Polyurethane can be installed as a sheet material or applied by shotcrete plastering.
Roof and warm attic
Another key difference between passive houses is the presence of an unheated attic or a warm attic and high-quality roof insulation without cold bridges. With this approach, two temperature limits are distinguished: on the ceiling of the upper floor and in the roof itself. Thanks to the spacing of thermal protection, the formation of condensate in the roof insulation is guaranteed to be eliminated and heat losses are significantly reduced.
The ceiling of the upper floor is usually made framed on wooden beams, the voids are filled with a layer of medium-density mineral wool 20-25 cm thick. All seams and joints are filled with special glue or mounting foam. Particular attention is paid to the device of the protective belt in the place where the truss system is supported on the walls.
A warm attic is arranged according to the principle of ventilation system recuperation. Exhaust ventilation ducts lead directly to the airtight attic, from where they are discharged through a single hole with forced outflow. Often this channel is equipped with a heat recovery unit that transfers part of the heat from the exhaust air to the supply air.
Windows, doors and other leaks
With windows for a passive house, everything is simple: they must be of high quality and must be certified for use in the energy saving industry. Insulating glass units with two or more gas-filled chambers, low-emission glasses of different thicknesses and double junction of the insulating glass unit to the profile, sealed with rubber tape, are signs of a suitable product. For doors, honeycomb filling and the presence of a double porch around the entire perimeter are important. It is equally important to follow the rules for installation and protection of junctions.
A passive house has its own foundation design features. To protect the structure of concrete, it is hydrophobized by injection and additionally protected by an outer layer of coating waterproofing. The insulation goes down to the entire depth of the foundation, so the basement becomes the second buffer zone after the warm attic.
Power supply of the passive house
Gas is usually not supplied to a passive house; a single-phase electrical network is completely sufficient for domestic purposes and heating. With electric heaters, everything is simple: how many kilowatts are invested in the house, so much remains in it, the efficiency is almost 99%, unlike gas boilers.
But the electrical network as the only source of energy supply has a lot of disadvantages, which are mostly in the unreliability of the connection. Often houses are supplied with a rather complex electrical network, including an emergency generator with auto start, or use a battery park or solar panels for backup.
Domestic water heating is usually done by solar collectors, predominantly vacuum. In general, autonomous energy sources are quite diverse, among the varieties you can choose the best solution for objects with different conditions.
An energy-saving house is built and equipped with appliances in such a way as to consume as little energy as possible and independently generate its own. This applies to everything: electricity, heating, warm water. Living in such an eco-house, you can save on utility bills, and even refuse some bills altogether. For example, from payment for electricity or heat.
Economy principles
The secret of eco-house energy saving lies in two factors: its design and the appliances used to provide energy. An energy-saving house is being built from special materials that have high thermal insulation characteristics. The very design of the building assumes the absence of "cold bridges" - places where heat escapes in traditional buildings, due to which the microclimate in the room is disturbed.
As for equipping the house, preference is given to alternative energy devices. For example, solar panels or windmills are used to generate electricity. For heating - heat pumps or boilers powered by solar panels. To save on lighting, preference is given to LED lamps. Some people do not even stop there: if they have a farm with livestock or poultry, they can cook on it or use it as fuel.
Benefits of an energy efficient home:
- quick development (from 2 to 6 months);
- no negative impact on the environment;
- living in an environmentally friendly and safe building;
- reduction of expenses or their complete absence for payment of utility bills;
- creation of a healthy microclimate for people living in it;
- autonomy and independence from the general networks of electricity, gas, water supply.
Flaws:
- the complexity of self-construction;
- the high cost of developer services and construction in general;
- large (but recouped) investments in alternative energy devices;
- difficulties at the stage of development of project documentation and project approval.
What are energy-saving houses built in Russia
The popularity of the Western method of building eco-houses is gaining momentum in Russia due to the harsh climate. The heating season in Russia is long: from autumn to spring. In some regions, heating is turned off only for the summer. Because of this, spending on space heating and water heating is unreasonably high. In Russia, the main priority when building an energy-efficient home is to make it as warm as possible. By saving on heating alone, you will significantly reduce your utility bills.
Among Russian developers, a common way to build an energy-saving house is the use of sandwich panels (SIP). The technique of building from SIP panels came from Canada. With modernization for the conditions of our climate, the nuances of construction look like this:
- A 164 mm thick SIP panel replaces a two-meter brick wall with the same thermal insulation properties. In the warm season, sandwich panels keep the room cool, and in the cold - warm. SIP panels are twelve times warmer than brick and four times warmer than foam concrete.
- To avoid heat leakage through windows and frames, metal-plastic windows with double-glazed windows are used.
- To increase the strength, glued structures are used (wooden beams, valleys, Mauerlats).
- The frame of the house is wooden, the structure contains sandwich panels (oriented strand boards and expanded polystyrene).
- The foundation is shallow (monoplate with stiffeners).
- Ventilation is created on the principle of recuperation to return 25% of heat.
Basic principles for the construction of passive energy-saving houses:
- lack of "cold bridges";
- high tightness of structures;
- heat recovery from indoor air;
- earth heat exchangers for passive heating;
- energy permeability of double-glazed windows is not less than 50%;
- orientation of the building to the Sun for passive heating and the use of solar panels.
Alternative energy for an eco-house
Equipment from the field of alternative energy will make an energy-saving house independent of common heating and electricity systems. All of the devices listed below can be bought or made by hand. For example, it is quite possible to make a solar battery from improvised means!
Useful home appliances:
- Electricity. Solar panels are usually installed on the roof of an eco-house (sunny side). They collect energy from the sun and turn it into electricity. So you can power all the necessary household appliances without connecting to a common network or using generators (which run on expensive fuel). Another way to get electricity is to use wind energy. not suitable for all regions, but if it is windy enough in your place of residence, then using a windmill is an option.
- Heating. In addition to the fact that an energy-efficient house is built from materials with high thermal insulation properties, you can increase the heating with a heat pump. They use the energy of the earth, transferring heat inside the house. However, a heat pump is a rather noisy installation, and besides, you need to be able to install it correctly so that it works with sufficient efficiency and is safe. Perhaps it is better for you to opt for classic heating appliances, especially since the price of installing a heating system in a private house is becoming more affordable every year.
- Water heating. Electric energy-saving boilers can be powered by solar panels or windmills. It is also relevant to install solar collectors that will provide you with hot water by heating the coolant.
- Economic lamps. The most profitable option is to replace all the lamps with LEDs. They last up to five years and consume twelve times less electricity than conventional incandescent bulbs! If you are afraid of the price of LED lamps (which pays off after three months of use), you can limit yourself to fluorescent ones. They are cheaper and also help save money.
- Saving on gas. Buying or constructing a plant for the production of your own biogas (from manure) allows you to completely abandon the traditional gas supply. Raw materials from five cows are capable of producing 20 cubic meters of gas / day.
How to make an energy efficient container house
Self-construction of an energy-saving house should start with simple buildings. The method of building from containers is actively used in summer cottages. To insulate the walls, you can resort to sheet material or spray a thermal insulation compound (polyurethane foam) directly onto the walls. A cladding is attached over the insulation. It is needed to protect the house from the effects of precipitation and ultraviolet rays.
For the northern regions, it is important to take care of additional insulation of floors and roofs. To do this, they are sheathed with a vapor barrier film. The windows are covered with a special reflective coating. The technical arrangement of houses from containers requires the installation of a breather - a device that provides heat recovery.
