Sometimes you are not ready for a new house at all and you prefer to invest in the one you live in now. There are different ways in which you can make your house more sustainable, so that you ultimately save a lot more. You do this on four different levels, insulating, ventilating, heating and generating energy. In this blog I will tell you a little more about the possibilities that are available and what the benefits are.
Isolate
First you can insulate your roof. Warm air rises and if your roof is not insulated you lose about 30 percent of heat in this way. You can insulate your roof in different ways, such as the inside and outside can have a pitched roof, a flat roof and the attic floor insulated. With a sloping roof, the inside and outside of the roof can be insulated. When insulating the outside of the roof, the roof construction also remains protected against cold and moisture. For a flat roof you have several options for insulation. You can insulate the inside of the roof, the insulation can also be on the roof construction, then it can be covered with roof covering. Finally, the insulation material can also be laid on the roof covering. This is often done with roof terraces. This keeps your house more heat and you can save up to 30 percent on your gas bill per year.
An option is also floor or soil insulation, this prevents rising cold and moisture from the soil. The floor will feel warmer and you save up to 400 m3 gas per year, depending on the material and the application. Floor insulation is preferred, because it insulates better and saves more gas. Floor insulation is installed in the crawl space under your floor. This is only possible if your crawl space is large enough. If the crawl space is not large enough, this can also be applied to the bottom of the crawl space. The job can be arranged within a day and you will hardly have any inconvenience.
Wall insulation is most often used because the costs are low and the payback time is short. With interior and exterior wall insulation you save more on heating costs because the heating system does not have to work as hard. You can apply the wall insulation in the cavity, the space between the inner and outer walls. With wall insulation, insulation material is sprayed into the cavity wall through the holes in the outer wall. When insulating the inner wall, the insulation material is placed in front of the inner wall, which means that the space becomes smaller. That is why the outside facade is looked at more often. A good insulation layer is then applied with a new finish on it.
The last option is to insulate your glass and frames. Single or double glazing is often not enough. You notice that HR +++ or Triple glass insulate better. It keeps the cold out and the heat inside. There is also a difference between HR +++ and Triple glass. HR +++ glass insulates 2.5 times better and triple glass 5 times better than standard double glazing. Insulating glass consists of several layers of glass with a cavity in between. That cavity is filled with noble gases such as Argon or Krypton. These gases let through less heat than air and therefore insulate better. There is also a heat reflective coating on the inside of the window. If you live in a special monument or house with single glass in that can only be replaced by monument glass. This glass has an old appearance and often fits in the current frames because it is thinner than HR +++ glass.
Ventilation
Ventilation is not only good for making your house more sustainable, but also for a healthy indoor climate. In many Dutch houses, moisture and dirt in the air is not sufficiently removed. This can lead to mold formation and health problems such as allergies, irritation of mucous membranes and respiratory problems. By ensuring that the home is well insulated, you ensure a healthy indoor climate. There are several forms of ventilation. In old houses there is often natural ventilation through grilles, flap windows and seams and cracks. If you insulate these types of houses, good insulation is no longer self-evident. That is why it must always be checked whether the ventilation remains in order. You can do this through mechanical ventilation. Sit system ensures that there is continuous clean air in the home and the dirty air is removed. Clean air is automatically supplied through ventilation grilles and windows. You also have balance ventilation. With this shape you control the discharge and the supply of air. You can also use heat recovery with this form. The warm air is transferred to the incoming fresh air, so that you have to burn less. With this you gain around 90% heat.
Verwarmen
The first option is a heat pump. A heat pump is an electric heating system for heating a home. The source of the heat can be, for example, the outside air, but also the soil, ventilation air or groundwater. In terms of technology, a heat pump on a refrigerator appears to be an air-conditioning system only, of course, for heat. Before you have a heat pump installed, the condition is that the house is well insulated. A lower temperature of the heating water also ensures a higher efficiency of the heat pump. A heat pump can be partially connected or completely replace your boiler. This allows the home to be gas-free. A water pump has the nice feature that it can heat water up to 50 als if it is only 5 buiten outside. The heat pump does this through a compressor, which brings the born water to a higher temperature. The water pump is electric and can heat the entire house. Houses that are not optimally insulated can go for the hybrid solution.
Infrared panels can also make your house more sustainable. This is a heater that emits safe radiation and in this way heats objects and people. You use this type of heating to heat a specific place in the house, such as in a room that you use little or as central heating. You then no longer need a central heating boiler, radiators and underfloor heating. The panels can actually be compared to the sun, but without harmful UV radiation. These panels are mounted on the wall or on the ceiling. These infrared panels are available in many different sizes and capacities. For the bathroom there are special options with mirrors and photos that can be printed on it.
Generate energy
Another option for heating water in a sustainable way is with a solar boiler system. This system converts the UV radiation from the sun into warm water. You can then use this hot water for all household activities. You save between 40% and 60% on the costs for hot water. For an average household, a solar water heater provides a saving of around 230 m3 of gas, equivalent to € 150 per year. A solar water heater system consists of three different components, the solar collector, the storage tank and the after heater. The solar collector is on the roof. They are all tubes together through which liquid flows. These are warmed by the UV radiation from the sun. The heated liquid is pumped to a storage tank with tap water and there it releases heat to the tap water.
Last but not least, we also have solar panels. They convert solar energy into electricity. Solar panels are very environmentally friendly. They last for 25 years and deliver a lot of electricity all the time. It lowers your energy bill, reduces your CO2 emissions and generates part of your electricity consumption itself. Solar panels can be placed on a flat and sloping roof. A piece of 6 solar panels fit on a roof of an average terraced house. Solar panels can be made on a flat and sloping roof. On a flat roof they are often screwed to it and on a sloping roof they are often mounted on a rail. The solar panels work best, if they face south, but if your roof does not allow that, there are always other options on which they can be placed, so that they have about the same efficiency.
