Portuguese are very cold at home

Energy Efficiency

 

According to a survey released by Quercus, only one in every 100 Portuguese consider their home to be thermally comfortable, while nearly three-quarters say they are cold in the house, leading to high energy costs in heating.

 

There were about 1,000 respondents:

 

- 74% consider their homes cold in the winter, 25% say they are hot in the summer and only 1% report that their home is thermally comfortable. So the energy costs to meet the heating needs are high.

 

The survey was launched by the Sustainable Construction Portal in collaboration with Quercus and was carried out between February and August 2017 with the objective of ascertaining the energy efficiency of Portuguese houses (whether they are cold, warm or comfortable).

 

Of the Portuguese who claim to have their house cold in winter:

 

- 35% use more clothing and more equipment to warm up;

 

- 21% have equipment for this purpose;

 

- 20% only use more clothing.

 

In the case of those who consider their home cold:

 

- 21% report a "significant increase" in energy - almost double - to maintain comfort;

 

- 37% say they do not have any insulation in;

 

- 35% do not know if their home is insulated.

 

It's no use having double glazing, if ...

 

They live in buildings built between 1980 and April 2004, most of which have double glazing on the windows, but do not have window frames with thermal break, "which is of no use in glass efficiency," according to environmentalists.

 

An investigation carried out by the University of Dublin in 2003 concluded that Portugal is one of the countries of the European Union (EU) where mortality is significant due to lack of insulation and heating conditions in homes. Due to insufficient energy, health problems are generated, mainly respiratory difficulties and allergies.

 

"The association points to the purchasing power of the Portuguese and" Europe's most expensive electricity "to say that it is" natural that they tend to use only more clothing "to face the cold at home."

 

Energy efficiency, "beyond obvious necessity, is a must" as stipulated in the European directive on the energy performance of buildings.

This requires that as from 1 January 2019 the new public buildings, and from 1 January 2021, individuals have almost zero energy needs.

 

It is known that 40% of total energy consumption in the EU corresponds to buildings, so increasing their energy efficiency is one of the measures needed to reduce energy dependence and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Source: Daily Real Estate