How to heat the house sustainably (avoiding radiators)

Low winter temperatures mean that when we get home, the first thing to do is turn up the thermostat temperature. Currently, most apartments or villas have central heating, which when turned on heats all the rooms in the house at the same time.

But turning on all the radiators in the house can be an unnecessary expense, especially if most hours are spent in the same room, such as the living room or even the office, now that there is teleworking. In these cases, the ideal would be to be able to heat only the room where we are, and not need to turn on the heating of the entire property. So, there are some alternatives that can help you if you have this problem.

• Pellet salamander

It is true that traditional stoves and fireplaces pollute a lot because they generate high CO2 emissions, but a different solution that respects the environment is pellet stoves. Pellets are a waste product from industrial wood processing, therefore, they result from a recycling operation.

• Air conditioner

The air conditioning has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it is an appliance that provides us with both heat in winter and cold air in summer. In addition, it does not generate waste in the air, making it a very clean resource. However, it requires a higher energy consumption than other methods, especially if it is a room with more than 50 square meters (m2), and sometimes it is even necessary to place two appliances to heat the entire room.
The air conditioning tends to generate a lot of dryness in the air, which can affect the skin or health, it requires regular cleaning and if the outside temperature is too low, the engine will run with difficulty and require greater energy consumption.

• Heating panels

This system is a little less known than the previous ones, but it is a good option to heat the house, for several reasons: the heating panels emit heat through infrared rays. These rays are not harmful or visible, instead of just being released into the room air, they directly heat solid objects around them, including people. In this way, we receive heat quickly, pollute less and save on electricity consumption.

• Underfloor heating

In ancient Rome, they placed hot water pipes under the floor to heat the houses of high society. Today, this technique has been greatly modernized, but the main idea is the same. Through a system of hot water pipes or electric heating cables, we can make the floor release heat throughout the room. The piping system does not need water at high temperatures, just reach 30 degrees.

• Good house insulation

But if what we really want is to save on heating consumption, the most important thing is that the environments are well insulated. There are several types of thermal insulation, from polystyrene, polyurethane foam or rock or glass wool. They are all different, so depending on the characteristics of the house, you can choose the one that suits you best. It is also important that you have efficient windows. It is an investment that, at first, may involve a higher cost, but in the long run it will pay off, since you will spend much less on electricity consumption, causing the house bills to drop considerably.

Source: idealista.pt