Energy in the home

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Energy in the home

• Background

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Local Authority Prevention Demonstration
Programme (LAPD)

• Prevention any action taken to limit harmful
  effects on the environment
• Holistic approach and covers waste, energy and
  water
• Funded by the Environment Fund administered by
  the EPA
• Sectoral approach businesses, farmers,
  institutions and households

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Outline of Talk

• Why conserve energy
• Understanding energy and costs
• Energy Efficiency
• Insulation and Windows
• Renewable Energy and home heating systems
• Available grants

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Climate Change

• Recent report from intergovernmental panel said
  warming of the climate system is unequivocal..
• Hottest 10 years on record have occurred in the
  last 14 years hottest on record 2005.

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Climate Change and Energy

• Our home contribute 31 of green house emissions
• transport 22 and industry 27
• There is now an urgent need to address this issue
• One thing we can all do is make our existing
  homes more energy efficient and build more
  energy efficient housing in the future
• First thing we need to do is understand energy
  and then monitor it

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Legal reason to conserve energy

• New European Regulations BER Building Energy
  Rating
• The objective of building energy rating is
  twofold-
• to give prospective buyers and tenants
  information about the energy performance of
  buildings before they buy or let and  
• to give builders/developers of new buildings, and
  owners/landlords of existing buildings, an
  incentive to upgrade energy performance in order
  to improve the marketability of buildings
• Phased approach to implementation

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Legal Reasons

• Part L Building Regulations - Conserving Energy
• Set out minimum standards that need to be
  achieved
• Insulation
• Space heating
• Water heating
• If building a house you should look to surpass
  these standards may cost more but saves in the
  long run

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Understanding Energy
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Understanding Energy

• Energy is purchased in a variety of measures in
  tonnes, kgs, litres.
• Can be expressed in the common unit of energy
  kilowatt hour to enable comparisons to be made
• Electricity 1 unit 1kwh
• Heating oil 1 litre 10.5kwh
• LPG 1 Litre 7.0kwh
• Coal 1 kg 8.3 kwh
• Anthracite 1 kg 8.8 kwh
• Wood 1 kg 4.8 kwh

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Understanding energy

• 550 will buy 1000 litres of oil or 3 tonne of
  pellets bulk delivery or 1.6 tonne bagged pellets
• 100010.5 10500kwh
• 30004.8 14400 kwh
• 1600 4.8 7680 kwh
• The same amount spent on electricity will only
  get you over 3000kwh
• This is cost per delivery take into account
  cost of useful heat e.g. efficiency of fuel and
  heating system see handout
• Use electricity sparingly e.g. heat hot water
  from boiler and not emersion

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understanding electricity use

• 100 watt bulb (100 watts .1kwh or 16 cent)
• Uses 100 wattts in one hour
• So the 100 watt bulb needs to be on for 10 hours
  to use 1kwh
• Each appliance has a rating A-G A uses less
  electricity
• Dishwasher 0.95kwh per cycle
• Fridge Freezer uses 187kwh per year

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Energy Consumption This is the machines actual
energy consumption expressed in kWh for a
standard cycle using a cold fill where the kWh is
the standard unit of electricity reported on
electricity bills. Buyers are reminded that
actual consumption will depend on how they use
the appliance. Water Consumption Lt. This
indicates the total water consumption per cycle
based on a manufacturers standard cycle. Energy
efficient dishwashers typically use significantly
less water, meaning less heat is required and
less water is drained.
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This is the machines actual energy consumption
expressed in kWh/year based on standard test
results for 24 hours where the kWh is the
standard unit of electricity
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ESB Bills

• Learn to read your bills
• Differentiate between estimated and actual
  readings
• Check www.esb.ie

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Energy Efficiency
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Energy Efficiency

• Typical household uses between 5000-7000 kwh of
  electricity per year.
• Space heating on top of that.
• Better to control energy usage than investing a
  lot of money in new technologies
• Read Energy Saving Tip sheet
• Can do some small things for very little
  investment (look at buy back period)
• CFL bulbs, draught sealing and insulations should
  be a priority
• The small things all add up very quickly

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CFL Bulbs

• Comparison of total cost over lifetime (in euros)
  
• 1Nº 11W CFL 10Nº 60W light bulbs
• To buy Elec. Total To buy Elec. Total
• 6 17.60 23.60 7.50 96 103.50
• Total estimated savings 79.90
• Based on 10,000 hrs _at_ .16 per kwh

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Small changes

• Where possible save energy
• Radiator foils can reflect heat back into a
  room
• Radiator shelving placed above a radiator that is
  beneath a window can reflect heat back in
• Lagging jacket on hot water tank saves money if
  possible buy factory fitted tank
• Improve insulation levels in attic and if
  possible in cavity walls
• Insulate tank in attic

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Should be available from hardware stores -
available online
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CFL Bulbs

• Ratings for equivalent light output
• Ordinary light bulb Energy-saving CFL
• 25W 5W
• 40W 7 - 10W
• 60W 11 - 15W
• 100W 20 - 25W
• 150W 32W

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Draughts

• All houses need ventilation but over
  ventilation in the form of draughts can be
  undesirable.
• For many homes draught sealing doors, windows
  and other gaps can be an inexpensive way of
  improving comfort and reducing heating bills.
• Look at chimney if not in use

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Chimney block Available online www.theenergyrevo
lution.ie
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Stopping Draughts

• Lots of draught sealing products on market
• Compression seals (hidden and visible)
• Wiper seals, brush seals
• Fillers
• Sealents
• Generally a DIY job
• Are windows and doors poorly fitted with gaps
  around the edges
• Are there obvious draughts
• Are your fuel bills high

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Insulating your home
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Insulation

• Insulation evenly distributed over all your home
  generally produces better results than additional
  insulation applied to one or two areas
• Areas to cover
• Walls old building can get insulation injected
• Attic - between 200mm-300mm of insulation
  (fibreglass) needed. Do not compress.
• Floors carpet with foam backing or foam
  underlay
• Windows double glazing
• Insulate you tank and pipes in Attic

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U values

• Insulation is measured in terms of u-value
• U value is the measure of the rate at which heat
  is lost though a wall for instance. The lower the
  u value the better.
• Part L (energy conservation) of the building
  regulations gives the u values which should be
  met in order to comply

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Windows

• A lot of heat is lost through windows
• Minimum standard of double glazing
• More advanced glazing is available
• Gas-filled and low emissivity glazing
• Sunrooms need high performance glazing
• Gas filled (aragon) glazing can cost 10-15 more
  than standard double glazing but can will improve
  energy efficiency of house.

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Renewable Energy in the home
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• Energy that can be generated from renewable
  resources and doesnt produce harmful greenhouse
  gases
• Currently we rely on fossil fuels such as coal,
  gas and oil which are finite
• Variety of renewable resources appropriate to our
  home
• Solar, geothermal, biomass, wind

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Passive Solar

• Design approach that maximises the collection of
  solar heat- e.g. southerly facing sunroom
• Does not involve the use of mechanical or
  electrical devises

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Active Solar

• Space and water heating
• Can provide 50 of the annual hot water demand of
  a typical home (80 summer and 20 winter)
• Two types flat plate and evacuator tube
• Evacuated tube tend to be more efficient than
  flat plate (!)

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Solar for hot water

• Tow main parts
• A solar collector and a hot water cylinder (need
  to replace your cylinder)
• Most systems are run by electricity- powered pump
  which will cost a small amount to run each year
• need pump shower rather than electric and most
  appliances are cold fill only so what find out
  what your hot water needs are.
• Typical pay back is 7-15 years. Cost up to 4000

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Solar
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Solar for Electricity

• PV cells or photovoltaic use light to generate
  electricity
• Other components include DC-AC power inverter,
  battery bank and auxiliary energy sources
• PV can be expensive
• Next number of years there should be some
  technological advances

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Geothermal

• As series of pipes in the ground (horizontal and
  vertical), a heat pump and a heat distribution
  system.
• Is used typically with under floor heating
• Not suitable for hot water generation
• Ongoing electricity costs for pump so still at
  mercy of ESB (700 per annum?)

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Biomass/Wood

• Biomass used to describe energy resources derived
  from organic matter main type chips and pellets
• - chips are used in the home
• Have advantage of being uniformity in shape and
  composition, are easy to ignite are dry, create
  little ash and will flow freely through feeding
  mechanisms such as hoppers and augers

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Wood Stoves

• Stove heats a single room using modern controls
  to provide an efficient clean burning fire.
• They use thermostatic controls and fans to
  distribute the warm air rather than traditional
  system that uses radiated heat.

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Wood Boilers

• For wood fuelled boilers fuel storage is an
  important consideration as pellets are bulky fuel
  requiring about three times the storage space of
  oil store must be kept dry
• Need to install a completely automatic fuel feed
  system, such as an auger
• Wood chips are currently cheaper than oil when
  bought in bulk but bulk supply is a problem

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Wind

• Domestic wind turbines still in its infancy
  some small micro turbines coming onto market
• ESB still not allowing grid connections
• Can be cost effective in off grid applications
  batteries, converters etc required.
• System requires maintenance
• Need to look at wind speeds, site selection, etc.
• No grants currently available for domestic
  appliances

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Greener Homes

• What Level of Funding is Available?
• The levels of grant support available for each
  technology are as follows
• Solar Thermal Space and or Hot Water Heating 300
  per m2 (to max. 12 m2)
• Heat Pump - Horizontal Ground Collector 4,300
• Heat Pump - Vertical Ground Collector 6,500
• Heat Pump - Water (well) to Water 4,300
• Heat Pump - Air Source 4,000
• Wood Chip or Pellet Stove 1,100
• Wood Chip or Pellet Stove with Integral Boiler
  1,800
• Wood Chip or Pellet Boiler 4,200

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HOME HEATING SYSTEMS
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Home Heating

• Radiators v Under floor Heating
• Radiators Pros
• Response time is suitable for Irish climate
• Can be situated to heat cold surfaces thereby
  reducing down draughts
• Flexibility in the system
• Individual room temperature is possible
• Lower installation costs
• Simple retro fit in older homes

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Home Heating

• Radiators Cons
• Subject to leaks and requires some maintenance
• Accumulate dirt and dust
• Can create uneven heating particularly in larger
  rooms with high ceilings

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Under floor Heating

• Under floor heating pros
• Absence of emitters
• Lower temperature, radiant heat provides a stable
  comfortable environment
• Potentially more efficient if properly installed
  and controlled due to lower temperature of
  circulating water
• Uniform heat distribution
• Additional heat emitter may be added
• Ideal for use with geothermal

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Under floor Heating

• Cons
• Expense
• Installation on upper floors a problem
• Slow response time
• Flooring and furniture considerations

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Home heating

• House over 100m2 needs at least 2 zones control
  area
• Control for heating hot water only cheaper to
  heat water from oil than electricity
• Thermostat control on radiators
• Max 18oc in bedrooms
• Max 20oc in living spaces

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Other issues

• Building type
• Timber frame vs. traditional vs. pre cast single
  leaf
• Air circulation systems heat exchange pumps

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Additional info

• www.esb.ie
• www.bordgais.ie
• www.sei.ie
• www.powerofone.ie
• www.monaghan.ie
• www.tg4/ie an teach glas
• www.carbontrust.co.uk

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BER

• building energy rating of new buildings and
  existing buildings (when sold or let) will be
  phased in over the period 2007- 2009, starting
  with New Dwellings commencing on or after 1
  January 2007
• The operative date of I January 2007 is subject
  to the transitional exemption of new dwellings
  for which planning permission was applied for on
  or before 30 June 2006, provided substantial work
  has been completed by 30 June 2008.