Energy-saving devices for home. Reviews about energy-saving devices. How to make an energy-saving device with your own hands

The ever-rising prices for energy, the government's threat to impose a restriction on energy consumption per person, the inadequacy of the power of the Soviet legacy in the field of energy and many other reasons make one think about saving. But which way to go? How in Europe - to walk around the house in a down jacket and with a flashlight?

There are many other ways that do not limit comfort and do not cause inconvenience. Let's not allow more money from us (for connecting additional capacities to the house). Let's go through the basic criteria of energy consumption (both thermal and electrical) and see how you can save resources by using energy-saving devices.

Heating and hot water supply

Heating water, as well as heating the room (especially in winter) is the most energy-consuming criterion of consumption. It would seem that it is possible to save here, because the laws of physics have not been broken yet, and any energy sooner or later turns into heat. You can improve the insulation (which, of course, is worth doing) or lower the temperature (so the heat loss will be less), but if there is nowhere else to improve and do not feel like shoveling under the blanket, freezing?

There are several real ways to save a lot.

Sly option

Recently in England, invented the simplest, but nonetheless effective energy-saving devices. The principle of their action is elementary - it switches off heating for several times a few times a day. According to the research, none of the households have time to notice or froze in such a short time, and after switching on the temperature is normalized. Naturally, you, using such a device, get less heat, but pay the same amount less.

Of course, this method will be effective only if there are heat meters, otherwise its use is meaningless. Yes, and using an energy-saving device, the price of which depends on your requirements and starts from 300 rubles, in the northern areas you can hardly avoid the inconvenience. In addition, it is such a kind of compromise, not a cardinal way to solve the problem.

Heating with heat pumps

No one is surprised by the air conditioner. In the summer, he gives such a welcome coolness. But where does the heat given to them go? Correctly - on the street, so there are placed special radiators with fans. What does this have to do with heating, because the task is quite the opposite? It's simple. The air conditioner is a heat pump. And where to get the heat, if (with heating by electricity) 100% of the energy in any version goes into it, and, for example, 150% can not be in principle? Take it from the street, using other energy-saving devices - heat pumps. Or from the ground. In the ground (at shallow depths) in winter and summer, one temperature is about +5 degrees. If you dig into the required depth enough pipes and fill with a coolant, then a lot of heat can be pumped from the ground. In Germany, this method has already gained quite a lot of popularity among owners of private houses.

The heat pump is the so-called air conditioner vice versa. Sometimes, more modern technologies are used - elements of a peltier. They exclude a sealed system with expensive compressed gas, much more compact, but so far very expensive.

Saving from the heat pump

The savings resulting from this type of heating (which, by the way, nobody prevents to use for hot water supply), goes 1 to 3. After spending 1 kW of electricity, we pump 2 kW of heat into the room and the same 1 kW spent on the work of the thermal Pump, will also be indoors. Total, spending 1 kW, we get 3 kW. Given the high cost, it will not pay off immediately, but after all, such a system is put on for many years, and after a while, the economy will be solid.

The method described above is applicable for own house. Is it possible to do something similar for an apartment, because no one will allow to bury pipes in the yard just like that, but would like to use energy saving devices?

There is another way. True, it is suitable for not very cold climatic zones. Just as a coolant, ordinary air is used, which by the wind walks outside the window. But the effect of it will (with the use of the principle of air conditioning) only at a temperature outside the window above -7 degrees. Or you will have to use expensive elements of the peltier, which can afford a slightly larger temperature difference.

The truth with the "air" method is a drawback. The heat capacity of the air is small enough, so it needs to be pumped through the radiator, a fan is required. And the presence of a fan is noise, neighbors can be against. On the other hand, because they use air conditioners with a similar device ...

Lighting

In lighting, space for economy. Especially if it uses such energy-saving devices for the home as typical incandescent lamps. There are no violations of the laws of nature here. Just an incandescent lamp efficiency (efficiency) of about 10%. That is, the lamp, consuming 100%, shines by 10%, and the remaining 90% go into heat, which means to nowhere. And you'll still have to pay for it. But there are many types of much more economical devices. We will talk about some of them.

Fluorescent lamps

Since time immemorial, many static energy-saving devices, such as fluorescent lamps, which are generally long, luminous tubes, operate in industries and offices to save on lighting.

This type of lamp allows you to save on two criteria - the energy and the cost of replacing the devices themselves. Electricity efficiency is quite impressive - they are more energy efficient three times compared to incandescent lamps. Such a product shines like an incandescent lamp of 100 watts, but consumes about 30 watts of electricity. In addition, they are much more durable. If the incandescent lamp works about 1000 hours, then the fluorescent lamp is already about 8000 hours.

But they have significant drawbacks. Reviews about energy-saving devices of this type are inconsistent. Firstly, they contain mercury, which means that they can not be broken up and thrown away just into the trash. Spent lamps must be taken to specialized places. Secondly, they do not burn steady, they blink very often (with a network frequency of 50 times per second), which can affect the vision. Thirdly, they require for their work the availability of special lamps that can not boast of a variety of designs. The lamp for such a lamp will not be easy to choose in such a way that it fits into the interior.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps

This is the development of traditional fluorescent lamps. The electronics that control their work are enclosed directly in the socle. The same base was similar to incandescent lamps. In addition, the glass bulb is thinner and curled to take up less space. And the electronic unit, built-in, recall, in the lamp itself, eliminates noticeable blinking of that. Now outbreaks occur 30-40 thousand times per second, which for the eye is completely invisible. The characteristics of power consumption and longevity have practically not changed, therefore, these are all the same popular energy-saving devices for the home, as before.

But the problem of recycling has not disappeared anywhere. They still contain mercury, they can not be broken down and need to be handed over to special points. That in many ways, except for some danger, determines the inconvenience of use.

LED lightening

To date, the most, perhaps, an effective energy-saving device, with its own hands that everyone can do, is a device that provides illumination with LEDs. The efficiency of such luminaires is close to 100% - lighting similar to 100 W in an incandescent lamp gives a 7 W LED lamp. They are very compact. As a rule, they recruit bands or collect lamps (including spotlights). There are a variety of designs, both lamps and direct luminaires based on LEDs. For the designer, there is an absolute expanse - the availability of both standard instruments, and an unimaginable number of rare types of products unties hands.

Very high durability (more than 25 thousand hours of constant work - almost three years) allows to make them immovable. They lack the disadvantages of fluorescent lamps - they burn constantly, without blinking. They do not have mercury. They do not need a special luminaire (excluding design delights), they are much more compact than any other kinds of lamps. In addition, they come in all colors of the glow, so you can not only switch the brightness of the light, but also the color (cooler colors work for work, and for relaxation - warmer ones).

The main disadvantage for them today is the cost. But due to mass production and saturation of the market, I think that the price in the near future will significantly fall.

Constructions based on natural light

In the distant warm, but poor countries, where most of the electricity only heard, there are ways to illuminate the rooms completely without the energy of electric current. Natural street light is used. We also do not interfere with its use, if lighting is required only in the daytime.

Like all genius, this way is simplest. A light-conducting and light-scattering device is mounted in the ceiling and roof of the room. In the case of poor countries, this is an ordinary bottle. We can also use a special aesthetic design.

Among the advantages of this method are two main ones: absolute absence of electricity consumption and infinite durability.

But the disadvantages are not less significant - this option will be used only if there is fresh air above the ceiling of the room, and not neighbors. And when the sun does not shine, the sense of it is also zero.

Appliances

A considerable amount of energy consumption is taken up by various household appliances. Choosing the right one, you can also significantly reduce the use of energy resources of a single house. So, for example, the energy saving device Energy Saver allows to save considerably the energy consumed. In this case, you just need to plug it into the socket.

If you have an old TV with a very voluminous body (for the present times), there is a good reason to update it, since a modern flat device will not only be better shown but also consumed less. Also, a laptop instead of a desktop computer will save hundreds of watts of consumption. In addition, there is an opportunity to save a lot by purchasing an energy-saving device "Ekonomych". Different techniques in the kitchen (refrigerators, dishwashers, multivars, etc.), and in general household appliances (washing machine, vacuum cleaner and so on) need to be purchased with the energy consumption class "A" or, better still, "A +" . This approach can add many more kilowatt-hours saved.

Conclusion

We have considered only devices that consume energy. But there are also generating it - solar panels, wind generators, etc. Also there is a Power Saver - an energy-saving device that allows to significantly reduce the energy consumption in the apartment. If we combine both approaches, it is entirely possible to completely disconnect from external (paid) sources of energy, which will give high autonomy (no one will turn off the lights, etc.) and an unprecedented economy. But this is already beyond the scope of this review.