On Wednesday, the Ministry of Minecology launched a new program – “Stoves for Furnaces”. This is an inadequate program that is difficult to apply and has an obvious goal of promoting the sale of stoves, rather than helping vulnerable consumers, according to the Smart Energy Association.

The program “Rabla for stoves” is possible only if the existing stoves are replaced with a stove with a minimum efficiency of 80% and emissions of organic compounds of less than 120 grams. The requirement of the program is that the rated power of the furnaces is not less than 8 kW and not more than 30 kW.

The program does not allow you to buy smaller and cheaper plates

Any investment in the reconstruction of the building begins with the implementation of measures to reduce energy losses and only later with the purchase of those furnaces, the dimensions of which will correspond to the heat needs after eliminating the losses.

Any other approach leads to unnecessary costs for powerful furnaces, which you no longer need after the reconstruction of the building. In other words, homes for the elderly located in mountainous areas usually have a useful area of ​​50-60 m2, 2-3 rooms and an energy consumption class of type EF (ie 245-500 kWh/m2 per year). Thus, a special case, a house with an area of ​​60 sq.m. with 3 rooms and kitchen, located in energy consumption class E, consumes approx. 14,200 kWh/year, which is necessary to provide firewood heating for 4 stoves with a capacity of 6 kW, efficiency of 30% or 4 stoves with a capacity of 4.5 kW, efficiency of 80%.

If this householder has 30% efficiency furnaces and wants to access the Rabela Furnace program, he has the option of purchasing 4 8kW furnaces (the Rabela program absurdly does not allow for smaller furnaces at lower prices). , lower consumption and lower emissions), says the Intelligent Energy Association.

What happens if you replace the furnace before the energy waste is eliminated from the home?

However, it is not normal not to start a program to help vulnerable consumers and energy efficiency, with a reduction of energy losses, which in rural houses are about 50-60%, and to give money for stoves that will produce heat that is lost outside, says the Association of Intelligent Energy.

In our example, the analyzed house, if reconstructed in energy consumption class B, will consume 5,300 kWh/year, which is necessary to provide wood heating for 4 stoves of 2.5 kW with an efficiency of 80%.

In other words, replacing furnaces before eliminating the energy consumption of the house causes the following inappropriate situations:

• People who apply for this program will pay large amounts of money (in the example given, about 9,800 lei for replacing stoves, instead of paying 3,440 lei/household, the amount for stoves needed with much lower power).
• The state is going to spend more (waste) on the Rabla stove program, 7,000*50,000-4,480*50,000 = 174 million lei, compared to the business-as-usual situation – we reduce losses and then buy smaller and cheaper stoves.
• Each household of 50,000 in the program will burn about 3-6 cubic meters more per year, ie 150,000-300,000 cubic meters per year, compared to the situation with insulation and later installing furnaces.
• After the application of the Rabla stove program, approximately 75-150 hectares of forest will be cut before the buildings are restored.
• After applying the Rabla program for stoves before building rehabilitation, each household will spend more than 50,000 in the program, approx. 1200 – 2400 lei/year.
• Approximately more will be emitted into the air after the application of the Rabla program for furnaces before the reconstruction of buildings. 122 million kg of CO2 for the 50,000 households in the program compared to the situation of retrofitting and subsequent purchase of stoves.

Advantages vs Disadvantages

This will bring more comfort in the homes of citizens. In the absence of reconstruction of houses, it will not bring comfort. You may ask where people will get the money to buy stoves, in many situations they only have income from the sale of household goods. And then we will discover that the program is aimed not at vulnerable sections of the population, but at people with money.

This will reduce heating costs. Thanks to the Program, costs will be reduced by about 360 lei/year if a stove with 30% efficiency is replaced by one with 80% efficiency and only hardwood and dry wood is used, but people will have to pay 9,800 lei for replacing the stove. Accordingly, this money would be returned in 27 years!!! In a situation where the house would be renovated and the condition that the furnaces have a minimum power of 8 kW would be removed, the beneficiaries would have to pay only 3440 lei, i.e. a recovery period of 9 years.

We will have cleaner air. The rabla program for stoves will reduce CO2 emissions by 0.7% compared to emissions from wood burning in Romania, compared to the case of rehabilitation of buildings and subsequent replacement of stoves, which would reduce emissions by 2.3%. CO2 vs. NOX from wood burning in Romania.

This will reduce the number of trees that burn each year. The rabla program for stoves will reduce the number of hectares of forest cut for firewood by 0.6%, compared to the case of housing renovation and subsequent replacement of stoves, which will reduce the number of forest hectares by 4.2%. chop firewood

The Rabla program for furnaces is valid only if the existing furnaces are replaced with furnaces with a minimum efficiency of 80%. This indicator can be checked only with the help of the factory passport. Using wet firewood (as is often practiced in Romania) practically eliminates the need to change stoves. Wood with 40% moisture makes a stove with an efficiency in the technical book of 80% and actually has an efficiency of 40%. That is, the non-use of dry firewood for the fire practically eliminates the need to replace stoves with an efficiency of 40% for stoves with an efficiency of 80%.

The Rabla program for stoves only applies if the existing stoves are replaced with stoves with emissions of organic compounds below 120 grams. And this indicator can be checked only with the help of the plant’s passport. The use of wet wood practically doubles the emissions of nitrogen oxides. That is, the lack of use of dry firewood practically eliminates the need to replace the current furnaces with furnaces with emissions of organic compounds below 120 grams.

Furnaces will have a nominal capacity of at least 8 kW. Vulnerable households in rural areas tend to be small houses, which makes the need for stove capacity low, and because of this condition, program beneficiaries will be forced to purchase larger stoves at higher prices.

The Rabla program for stoves is only applicable to beneficiaries who are also owners. It is known that, with the exception of Transylvania, where there was a land cadastre, many areas in Romania do not have a CF to confirm that the tenant is the owner, and thus some beneficiaries have limited access to the Program.

The Rabla program for furnaces will take place in the digital space, online, on a special IT platform. Considering that it targets elderly people from rural areas who do not know how to use the Internet, some do not even have access to the Internet or even without electricity, this method of selecting beneficiaries is not at all appropriate.