By ADRIAN WRIGHT energy@algarveresident.com
Adrian Wright has worked in energy conservation for over 15 years and, in addition to an award winning UK consultancy, is now providing a design and consultancy service in the Algarve through a new company, Ambient Homes. In this series, he will try to help you to save money, protect the environment and have a warmer, healthier home.
PORTUGAL IS well-known for having a mild climate, but did you know it has the highest percentage of excess winter deaths of the main 14 EU countries, including those in the coldest region of Scandinavia?
Having your home properly insulated is important, not only to keep you warm in the winter, but also to protect you from the high summer temperatures.
Are you fed up with rising fuel prices and want to reduce your bills? Maybe you are considering installing air conditioning to keep cool in the summer, or perhaps you are about to build your own home, install or replace a heating system. If you have answered yes to any of these questions, or if you simply want to do your bit to reduce your impact on climate change, then your first choice should be home insulation.
Building regulations in Portugal, although recently improved, have for many years lagged behind many other parts of Europe regarding thermal insulation levels. In Portugal, building regulations are divided into geographical zones, with homes in warmer regions such as the Algarve being able to meet approval with less insulation than homes in the colder northern areas. The lack of insulation in these areas has led to a huge increase in the use of air conditioning, contributing towards the more than doubling of electricity consumption in Portugal since 1990.
Building your own home?
If you are building your own home then do not waste this golden opportunity to specify higher levels of insulation and add features that will shade your home from the summer sun. Why pay thousands of euros a year for heating and air conditioning, when a few carefully planned changes at the design stage could save you money, and give you a more comfortable ambient year round climate in which to live?
The cost of adding extra insulation and solar shading at the design stage is a fraction of the cost you would pay to add it later. Get the insulation levels right and you could reduce heat loss down to such a low level that the heat from incidental heat gains, such as your body heat, electrical equipment and sunlight through windows in winter, is enough to keep your home warm.
With some clever shading – balconies above south facing windows, you could also remove or heavily reduce dependency on air conditioning. While there will be an extra cost at the building stage, you will quickly recover this investment on lower fuel bills and smaller heating and air conditioning units.
Want to save money in your existing home?
Insulating walls and roofs
Grants are currently not available in Portugal for insulation, but are readily available in the UK to reduce the costs even further.
In Portugal, homes are built to withstand seismic activity, which often requires large concrete structural columns and a solid reinforced concrete roof. Unless a cavity construction has been used, your only option is to add insulation either to the outside or inside of the walls and then re-cover with plaster or render.
A number of systems are available, including one which uses cork, a more environmentally friendly option than fibre glass or polyurethane foam. Costs for insulating the walls of a typical three-bedroom detached house with cork would be around 3,500 euros if installed internally or 5,500 euros if you have it installed on the outside walls.
Roof insulation can easily be carried out on a DIY basis, or by a builder with rolls of fibreglass, if you are lucky enough to have an accessible loft space. Otherwise, you will need to add insulation to your ceilings and then cover with plasterboard, or, if your roof needs replacing, ensure the builder adds insulation before refitting the roof tiles.
Considering new windows to save energy?
One of the most costly and least energy saving measures that you can spend your money on is double glazing. Glass is a poor insulator, irrespective of how many panes you have, you would be far better spending money on insulation or a high efficiency boiler.
Air conditioning?
If you are considering installing air conditioning to make the summers more comfortable, it is first worth considering insulating your home, which could cost around the same as three air-con units. If you have under floor heating, you may also be able to add a ground source heat pump, which could cool the building in summer and heat it in the winter.
Some environmentally friendly solar air conditioning units are available and worth considering. With so much sunshine here it seems obvious that harnessing this power to run air conditioning units for free is the best route to cut fuel bills and help Portugal meet its *Kyoto energy saving targets.
*Portugal signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and committed to restrict its growth of emissions to 27 per cent of 1990 levels by 2008/2012.
