​Two experts explain what “energy efficiency” means in the context of the growing need to save energy in the European Union, and offer practical solutions to pay lower bills next winter.

If even YouTube influencers like Dorian Popa have started talking about “energy efficiency” in Romania, in the context of the high electricity bills we expect in winter, it means things have gotten really serious. But not as seriously as in other European countries, given that in our country there are still leaders of political parties, even in the government, who generally do not take the EU recommendations on energy saving seriously.

The maturity of the Romanian political class is another topic, I will try to answer the question: what does it mean to save on energy consumption and what does “energy efficiency” mean?

Even if many people automatically think of the period before 1989, when Romanians lived in cold and darkness because Romania saved energy, the topic here is completely different.

And I’ll start with a personal example: I found that the difference between my electricity bill and my parents’ bill is almost one to twofold: if I pay about 50-60 lei/month, they pay 100 lei/month. In both cases, it involves the same number of people, the same distributor, the same packaging, and roughly the same technique that is commonly used.

Since in both cases no one reads by candlelight to save electricity, the difference obviously has another explanation. So I tried to find out if it was because all my appliances were bought much later, five years ago, and they are all either A++ or A+++. To find out the answer, I turned to an expert in the field.

First, what is energy efficiency in every sense?

Dumitru Chisăliță, president of the Intelligent Energy Association, gives us a simplified definition of this concept: energy efficiency means obtaining the same level of comfort, but with less energy consumption.

“The same light on the desktop, but with less energy. Benefit from the same appliances, but they use less energy.” The specialist tells us that there are two types of activities that the average person should consider when they want to improve their energy efficiency: activities with investments and those that do not involve investments.

“The first is about the change in consumer behavior, people have become much more attentive to the operation of electrical appliances – do not leave the light on if there is natural light, do not leave the TV on if you are not in the room. room etc

There are a number of principles of behavior correction that can lead to a reduction in consumption by several percent. The investment component consists in replacing the equipment that consumes more with the one that consumes less.”

How can we pay 40 lei less for the electricity bill

If the change in consumer behavior depends on each individual, given that everyone knows what can be given up to consume less electricity, in terms of investment to replace appliances that consume more, Dumitru Kiselice says that it is about large sums of money that many does not have

“For example, if you offer to change the refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioning system to less consuming ones, then we are already talking about several thousand euros. However, the probability that a significant part of Romanians have these few thousand euros is small. Therefore, as a mass scenario, it does not seem realistic to me. To install certain equipment, you have to contact specialized companies, which also costs money,” Dumitru Kizelice tells us.

However, an investment that anyone can make is to replace their incandescent lamps with a few LEDs, and this way you can earn a few lei on the bill.

“The differences between incandescent and LED bulbs vary from brand to brand. Approximately, we can talk about a 60 W incandescent lamp and a 20 W LED. If you consider that it works for an average of three hours a day and 30 days a month, that means 3.6 kWh/month, at a price of 0.8 lei/kWh it means 2.88 lei/month less on account,” says the specialist.

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Returning to large appliances, if you are still using an apartment with a new one because the old one broke or because you need to move to another house, it is more than recommended to consider buying appliances that have a green energy label (currently A, B , C, where C stands for old A+++).

“These are higher-end refrigerators that can reach 160kWh consumption, we’re talking savings of around 40%, compared to lower-end fridges that consume 240kWh. These are air conditioners that are still 20% more efficient than the old equipment.

So, yes, there is a 30-40% difference in consumption between classes A and A+++. On a theoretical level, if you changed all the appliances in your house and put A+++ (currently C on energy labels), you would reduce your consumption by 30-40%. This means 30% of the bill for 270 kWh.

So, let’s say you have a bill of 200 kWh. This means that you save about 40 lei on the bill. Let’s invest 400 lei per year,” says Dumitru Kiselice.

The president of the Intelligent Energy Association also tells us that when it comes to the home, energy efficiency is divided into: heating, cooling, hot water supply and other household activities that depend on electricity consumption (use of computer, TV, kitchen equipment, etc.).

It should also be noted that the given calculations are only indicative and are based on current electricity costs. The future can prepare other surprises for us.

In the closed unit, it reaches five degrees (in winter)

Another topic that comes up when talking about “energy efficiency” concerns home heating. I spoke with energy security expert Cosmin Pecuraru about this topic.

He says that in large urban agglomerations, the only cheap solution is to connect to a centralized system of hot water and heat, of course, if they work.

“Certainly, even if there were no network losses, it would be cheaper than individual apartment central heating. Individual apartment centers are not included in the individual compensation system. And if she did join, it would be a disaster from March. The gas supplier’s price is huge,” says Cosmin Pekuraru.

He also claims that if the block is wrapped, you get five degrees. And if we talk about urban agglomerations, such as Bucharest, with old quarters in which the pipes have not been changed since their construction, four or five degrees can still be obtained if they are replaced with new ones.

“Old pipes have salt deposits, which means that the heat transfer efficiency is not what it was at the beginning. If the pipes between floors, inside the block, including in the basement, were to be replaced with new ones, four or five degrees would certainly work. Therefore, if the owners had tidied up their blocks and replaced the outdated pipes, the scandal would not have been so large-scale.”

For those who live at home or plan to build a new house, Cosmin Păcuraru talks about a solution that can ensure independence from thermal energy: a hybrid system consisting of a heat pump (which extracts heat from the ground) and a pellet plant.

“If I consume one kilowatt of electricity and extract five degrees from the ground, I actually produce five kilowatts of heat. I can get this energy that I use for heat from the sun. If I install one or two photovoltaic panels and supply current to the heat pump, I get thermal independence,” says Cosmin Pecuraru.

Because of the cold winter temperatures, it would also be necessary to install a pellet plant, which would cost 50% less than gas. This hybrid system will provide adequate heat needs, which also means heat and hot water, explains Cosmin Pecuraru, who also says that such a system will cost 11-15 thousand euros, but it will pay for itself in a maximum of five years, taking into account current energy prices and gas

In addition, if in winter you pay half the bill for heating agent, then in summer you will pay zero lei for hot water:

“If we also put thermal solar panels that heat the fluid that circulates and heats the water in a large tank, we can of course get five to ten degrees in the winter, no matter how cold it is outside, the only condition is let the sun warm it a little. In the summer, you definitely won’t spend a penny on hot water.”

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