ENERGY
The alarmist climate changes and speeches specialists push us today to change our practices as for our consumption of energy. The household consumption as regards energy represents almost half of the energy produced in France. Simple gestures exist and can make all the difference. Several fields must be better controls so that this energy expense becomes more effective and less expensive.
Heating
So that the heating is really effective, it is necessary to start with a good insulation of the parts and housing. The thermal escapes consume energy, and harm quality all the installations. You must for example privilege for the windows of the double glazings. It is necessary to check the thermo isolation of the ground to the ceiling, while passing by the roof and the walls. On the one hand, it is necessary to measure thermal conductivity called lambda, which is the indicator of reference. (A coefficient lower than 4 or 5 is good). In addition, thermal inertia is also to take into account. Indeed, the capacity of your installation to store and restore heat is another fundamental criterion. Concerning the heating, the two traditional options are of course electricity and the gas, but the new ecological requirements promoted the development of several alternatives.
The Gas
Several types of gas exist, the gas for domestic use or natural gas remains still at the present time one of the means most used as regards heating. It is dedicated to disappear in less than 50 years if its worldwide consumption does not reduce. The natural gas however requires a buried distribution network in the vicinity. This one besides grows each year more. We find also the propane or the LPG which provides a good effectiveness thanks to the boilers to condensation. But the market share of gas moves back in the new buildings because 29% only of the new houses with central heating are heated by gas, against 43% in 2004. The gas heating has also the advantage of not draining the ambient air and of being able to heat a homogeneous part of manner thanks to the thermostats.
Electricity
With regard to the CO2 emissions, the electric heating is naturally much better than the heating with the fuel, gas or coal. The electric heating has the advantage of relieving the stresses of fuel provisioning, of maintenance of fires. It is more hygienic, since it removes smoke. However, it is appreciably more expensive, when electrical energy is produced thermically. This disadvantage disappears with the nuclear electrical energy of origin which can be cheaper. It is the energy easiest to implement because the broad ranges of radiators do not require any connection. Contrary to the other means of heating, the price of consumption of electric heating is in stagnation. Lastly, the design of the electric radiators if is varied that it is easy to find of them one which is appropriate for its interior.
Fuel
The domestic fuel knows great improvements thanks to the modernization of the materials and the equipment. The fuel domesticates with very largely shown its value during its last years thanks to very competitive prices in comparison with the average costs of the other energy sources. However, it is declining because few new installations are done with the fuel, because it is exceeded today by other more economic and less polluting energies. It functions perfectly to heat large surfaces in cold areas. On the other hand a boiler with the fuel is at power equal more expensive than a boiler to gas. Its prices suffer directly from the blaze of the courses of oil. Storage remains an main issue because it is necessary to install at home a tank of great capacity and to make it fill regularly by a tanker. Moreover, the fuel is not an renewable energy, following the example oil or natural gas and in spite of recent progress, the fuel remains a polluting energy source.
Wood
Wood used as energy source in the habitat accounts for 4% of the primary energy consumed in France, it is the national independent source of thermal renewable energy. Wood is a fuel of the least expensive. The die wood is organized more and more so that the price energy-wood remains stable with the wire of time. France has in abundance this raw material with a forest which recovers nearly 28% of the national territory, which represents 15 million hectares with a growth rate of 10% annual. Wood is thus an renewable energy and does not worsen the greenhouse effect because its combustion produces hardly more CO2 than the forest itself. The fuel is accessible easily thanks to deliveries to residences. The performances of certain apparatuses are equivalent to boilers with fuel or gas. You are given a tax credit of 50% set up by the State to encourage the purchase of these ecological apparatuses, which compensates for their possible overcost. After deduction of this tax credit, the price of a boiler with wood becomes identical to that of a gas-fired boiler.
The Solar one
So technical evolutions intervene in the next years, solar energy could cover 100% of the needs. One of the advantages of the systems of solar heating is to be able to use the rays of the sun like energy for the heating of medical warm water and the supplement of heating without energy bill. The solar energy utilization involves neither polluting emissions, nor production of dangerous waste. To use solar energy also makes it possible to preserve fossile fuels or fissile and to hold their employment with uses more specific than the simple production of heat. Contrary to the generally accepted ideas, a thermal solar system, namely a water-heater or a solar heating, can be installed anywhere, including in the less exposed areas like the North of France. The solar radiation is an clean energy, it is only nonpolluting energy. In addition, it does not modify the thermal balance of the Earth, it thus does not have there ecological imbalance
We come now to another energy expense which is electricity. Reflexes are essential to consume some less. “If all Europeans extinguished their electricals appliance instead of leaving them in mode takes care, they would save a quantity of electricity about the consumption of a country like Belgium”, estimated Renita Bhaskar, coordinator of a campaign launched by the European commission in order to sensitize the citizens on the environment.
Here some small tricks to save electricity. Think of de-icing your apparatuses regularly because 3 mm of white frost in a freezer or a refrigerator involve an overconsumption of electricity being able to reach the 30%. As the dust accumulated behind the refrigerator can multiply consumption by 2 in electricity. It is thus necessary to regularly clean the back of this last. Connect your video apparatuses to multi-grip provided with a switch or of a cut car takes care which enables you to stop all your apparatuses in only one gesture when you do not use them, because for example a computer in day before, like a television or other increases by 10% your consumption of electricity. Prefer at the time of the purchase of a lava crockery, lava linen, dries linen or another large electrical appliances those which carrying the symbol “Energy Star”. They consume 25% of energy in less than other models quite as recent. Close as soon as the night from winter your shutters and double drapes fall the days. When you air the winter, done it not more than 5 min to prevent that your part does not cool too quickly and cut the electric heating systematically. Lastly, release space in front of the radiators especially the radiant radiators not to block heat and clean the back regularly dust to avoid an overconsumption of energy.