No. 01/2007 – Saving energy and reducing heating costs
It is still uncomfortable outside. Due to the wet and dreary weather we don’t feel well in the open air. All the more warmth and comfort are appreciated in the privacy of our homes. Who would like to consider saving energy in this moment? Only the heat cost billing will remind us of the high expenses. In order to enable you to enjoy the cold season at home without straining your budget too much, let us give you some advice how to save energy.
Carpet flooring makes you feel warm and comfortable
For saving energy you should start, above all, to cut heating costs because heating with approx. 50 % has got the highest share of energy consumption in German households.
You can save very much heating energy by reducing the room temperature. Each degree of lower temperature will result in heating cost savings of approx. 6 %. By means of carpet flooring you can easily adjust the room temperature without being cold, as the perceived temperature in rooms with textile floor coverings is approx. 2 degrees higher than in rooms with hard floor coverings.
You can save very much heating energy by reducing the room temperature. Each degree of lower temperature will result in heating cost savings of approx. 6 %. By means of carpet flooring you can easily adjust the room temperature without being cold, as the perceived temperature in rooms with textile floor coverings is approx. 2 degrees higher than in rooms with hard floor coverings.
Carpet flooring blocks heat dissipation
You will feel warm and comfortable because:
Carpet flooring prevents from downward heat dissipation. The insolating use layer and the carpet backing can retain up to 10 % of the heat in the room which would dissipate in rooms with hard floor coverings like stone, wood or ceramics. In addition, small air cushions between the carpet fibres function as heat reservoirs and prevent your feet from getting cold – a basic condition to find the temperature to be cosy.
Carpet flooring prevents from downward heat dissipation. The insolating use layer and the carpet backing can retain up to 10 % of the heat in the room which would dissipate in rooms with hard floor coverings like stone, wood or ceramics. In addition, small air cushions between the carpet fibres function as heat reservoirs and prevent your feet from getting cold – a basic condition to find the temperature to be cosy.
Perfect partners: Carpet flooring and floor heating
High savings of energy can be made by the combination of carpet flooring and floor heating. Textile floor coverings suitable for floor heating distribute quickly the warmth of the heating to the indoor air. In addition, in connection with a floor heating the foot warmth of carpet flooring can be used optimally: During the inter-seasonal period from the cold to the warm months and vice-versa the heating system can be stopped for up to 30 days a year – and you will still be aware of cosy temperatures.
Advice: When buying textile floor coverings please make sure that they will show the symbol “heating coil with the three arrows”, confirming that the carpet flooring is suitable for floor heating. Products with this label enable the heat to flow from the bottom up. In this way the effects of the floor heating are maintained. Also by quality marks like the “Certificate of Quality”, the red carpet seal of the European Carpet Community, it is confirmed by means of the “heating coil” label that this certified product is suitable for floor heating.
Advice: When buying textile floor coverings please make sure that they will show the symbol “heating coil with the three arrows”, confirming that the carpet flooring is suitable for floor heating. Products with this label enable the heat to flow from the bottom up. In this way the effects of the floor heating are maintained. Also by quality marks like the “Certificate of Quality”, the red carpet seal of the European Carpet Community, it is confirmed by means of the “heating coil” label that this certified product is suitable for floor heating.
Further advice for energy-saving heating
- It is important that the radiators are free-standing so that they can release their heat into the indoor air. Coated panels on the wall behind the radiator will prevent loss of heat through the bricking.
- Does your heating element make a gurgling sound? Presumably there are bubbles in it, limiting the heat output significantly and causing additional energy costs. In this case you should exhaust the air from your radiator. Open the air escape valve with a special key and collect the water. Possibly it might be necessary to refill water in the heating circle so that the correct operating pressure will be reached again.
- If you use a thermostatic valve to control the indoor temperature you should let it work automatically. This valve ensures that the temperature adjusted at the handle of the controller will be kept permanently. When it is getting colder the temperature sensor will open the valve and the heating-circuit water comes in automatically until the adjusted value is reached again. When it is getting warmer the sensor will stop the supply of the heating-circuit water. Should you continuously adjust the heating temperature to be higher or lower your home will soon get too hot or too cold and you will waste energy.
- At night, draw your curtains close and shut the roller blinds. In this way heat losses through the window can be reduced by approx. 50 %. You should also seal chinks and gaps at windows and doors to prevent heat loss. A candle test will show you the draughts. When the flame is flickering you have found a leak.
- Hot air, by natural buoyancy, will float upwards. A ventilator on the ceiling can push it downwards again so that you won’t have to raise the temperature of your radiator.
- Several times a day you should air your rooms, for a short moment each but with wide open windows. During the cold season two or three minutes will be sufficient for air replacement. So the walls don’t cool off and you will consume less energy than with windows permanently tilted.
