Interview in Código de Barcode Cadena Ser – air conditioning, comfort and wind chill

On August 11 we participated as guests in the Economy program “Código de Barras” on Cadena Ser. Interview conducted by the journalist Laura Bermejo with our colleague Esther Alonso, where they discussed air conditioning and other solutions to improve our comfort and thermal sensation in these summer times with high temperatures. You can listen to the entire interview, as well as read the transcript below

(Transcription. Link to audio at the end)

We wanted to invite Esther Alonso, in charge of Business Development and Commercial Technician at Prointer, a company dedicated to thermal installations, to the program. Esther, how are you? Welcome to the program.

Hi Laura, how are you? How are you? Thank you very much for having me.

First of all, I wanted to ask you, with respect to what I was commenting on, how are new buildings being designed to improve this problem we have with temperatures and above all also to have better energy efficiency?

Well, look, on the one hand there is the part on which architects and builders focus the most, which is related to everything that is the thermal envelope of the building, that is, they design it in an optimized way; What does this mean? Well, they use high-density thermal insulation or use double or triple glazed windows… Because the objective is to reduce what is called the loss of loads.

On the other hand, those of us who are dedicated to the engineering and execution of thermal installations, as we are focusing on controlled mechanical ventilation systems combined with heat recovery systems. This allows us to renew the indoor air without losing energy, as well as efficient air conditioning systems.

Because, Esther, we live in, most of us, as I also mentioned, we live in very old buildings, right? New buildings are being built with a much more conscious perspective of the temperatures we are going to face in the future.

Yes, of course. For example, look, I’m going to talk to you, I’m going to talk to you about three regulations that I want to focus on because they are very focused on this right now. In other words, for example, there is the Technical Building Code that is driving new buildings to consume 30% less energy compared to other regulations.

The European Directive on Energy Science is also focusing on promoting the construction of nearly zero-energy buildings, i.e. generating more than consumed.

The Regulation on Thermal Installations of Buildings, the famous RITE, which encourages the conversion to smart buildings to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Obviously, the fact that the regulations are so oriented in this regard is to encourage new constructions or even building renovations to go along these lines.

As individuals, what measures would you say for energy saving and deficiency can we implement in homes at a private level?

For example, if our economy allows it, then make an investment in high-efficiency rating and refrigeration systems. And an example is heat pumps with performance coefficients, which are called COP, greater than 4. That this is what maybe, if I say it with this name, people will understand it more, is aerothermal energy, okay? That aerothermal energy, what it allows us to do is to generate both heat and air conditioning, that is, cold in summer and DHW – which is domestic hot water – all year round.

But if we want to go to a simpler solution and maybe, then economies that do not allow us to make an investment in the solution I have mentioned, because although this may be going against what our business is, we can opt for solutions such as putting blinds, awnings and above all favoring air currents… Why? Because what the air currents allow us is for moisture to evaporate from the skin and that will always greatly improve the thermal sensation.

Obviously, if we go to energy efficiency systems, such as aerothermal energy, energy costs are reduced due to lower consumption, in addition to increasing the value of the property. In other words, we are talking about, for example, a reduction in costs of between 20 and 40% and amortizations that can start as early as two years.

And in environmental matters, well, for example, we are talking about the elimination of dependence on fossil fuels, for example, by removing boilers and, obviously, we also eliminate the effects of gases, the greenhouse effect.

The official data that is more than proven is that aerothermal energy produces four for every one kilowatt hour of electricity it consumes. So, it is clear, that is, the rule comes out, the mathematics comes out very simply. And as we have said, aerothermal energy allows us, well, not to depend on fossil fuels, therefore, the impact on the environment is direct and we do not contribute to depleting those resources.

Pero vamos, al final lo que le interesa a la gente es la economía y, obviamente, pues la relación 1-4, ahí esta.

Se nos ha quedado a mucho seguro la manía o la costumbre de abrir ventanas para que corra el aire. Imagino que como experta en refrigeración, en estos momentos es lo último que deberíamos hacer, ¿no?

Pues mira, sí y no. A ver, obviamente, tienes aire acondicionado, no puedes tener las ventanas abiertas de par en par. Nosotros, por ejemplo, que estamos en la provincia de Alicante, que aquí la humedad en el ambiente es elevada. Y en ciertos días del verano más todavía, si tenemos aire acondicionado y dejamos ventanas abiertas, lo que vamos a provocar son problemas de condensación. De condensación que incluso van a afectar a la infraestructura del edificio ya que el sistema no funcione bien.

Then, if we move on to the part of the simplest systems that I have talked about, if we support in air conditioning, there is the concept of cross ventilation, which is very interesting. In other words, it is always to favor a constant flow of air. How is this done? that is, on the façade that we have wind, open the window, it is not necessary to open it entirely, and then on the opposite side of the house or the space open another window. Why?, because this is going to favor what I have said, an air flow and we go back to ventilation, which allows us to evaporate moisture from the skin and the thermal sensation will improve a lot.

The current, isn’t it?, of a lifetime…

The current of a lifetime. That is, these are the cooling towers that the Persians already used, for example, which are based on that, on producing currents and that the hottest heat goes up and the cold goes down. Of course. But yes, the issue of combining this with awnings is also very interesting.

Well, this was Esther Alonso, in charge of Business Development and Commercial Technician at Prointer. Thank you very much and a hug.

Thank you very much, Laura, and it has been a pleasure.

Listen to the interview by clicking on the image

You can listen to the full program by clicking here

Interview in Código de Barcode Cadena Ser – air conditioning, comfort and wind chill

Interview in Código de Barcode Cadena Ser – air conditioning, comfort and wind chill

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