Increase of tariffs : proven ways to pay less

Today, with the increase of the public services tariffs in Ukraine, different methods to warm the houses are becoming more and more popular. This is not only an effective way to pay less for the heating bills, but also the necessity.

Expensive, but warm

An insulation of external walls from the street with the help of foam and other types of heaters, also known as a facade insulation, is the most standard way to warm the apartments and private houses. There is no doubt that this method is expensive, but despite this, it is more popular way that may be recovered in a few years.
Less widespread and popular is an insulation of internal walls using the same foam. This method is simpler and does not need many efforts of the masters, and it is cheaper than the previous one. Nevertheless, the biggest disadvantage of this method is the significant reduction of the living areas, especially in the private houses.
Another point you need pay attention in are windows. Due to the all sorts of slits and flaws at the old windows, our houses lose more than 25% of the heat. Therefore, these days we can see the significant sales growth of the plastic windows.
To conclude, let’s remember the most popular and standard method to heat your house – different types of heaters. They are the cause of numerous rolling blackouts and overloads of the electricity grids due to which many of us have to stay in the dark.
All the ways above are not new and everyone knows them. Nevertheless, how can we make our house warm by our own without any special expenses?

Do-it-yourself

The experts recommend not hurrying with popular insulation of the walls – t will not bring the expected effect. To begin you need to learn how the heat disappears from your house. Perhaps, you can save the heat by doing an ordinary insulation of the doors and windows.
There are several main causes of the huge heat loss from the house. These are a poor quality construction (presence of presence of cracks and skewing or insulation material is coarse, etc.), an integrity lack of wall panels, doors and windows (there is a draft even in the enclosed space), an unsolved roof integrity and lack of correct ventilation (not only in the room, but also in the attic and in the cellar). Moreover, this is not a full list of causes.
To define a leak place you just need to test the wall, floor and other surfaces, which can escape the warmth that we need so much, by your hands. This means that the ice surfaces are the enemies of the warmth for all 100%.
To continue it is necessary to act according to circumstances. Perhaps, the simple insulation of windows and doors with rubber insertions, other ways and guidelines on this matter described on the Internet or simple repairs will be enough. If the problem is with the walls, you may carry out an internal insulation by yourself (it costs on average from 100 to 130 hryvnas per m2).

Besides all above, before do everything by yourself, you can ask for the State help. On July 13, 2016, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved the Energy Efficiency Fund, which should come into force in 2017. Under this program, in high-rise buildings will be replaced pipes, windows and doors of the entrances, etc., but only with the agreement of all residents. As for private homes, for them are possible individual offers, according to the requirements of the owners (replacement of gas boilers, thermal insulation, replacement of pipes, etc.). If you do not want wait 2017, you can use the other State proposals:
– the so-called “warm” credits (compensation from 20 to 70% of costs);
– the international projects (for example a project of the DENA German Agency) in which homeowners are carried only partial costs);
– the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Initiative where the compensation to the residents is equal to 15-30%.