When does the insulation of the house and apartment pay off? - Měšec.cz

Recently a very frequent topic - reconstruction of panel houses and their insulation. There is no reason to be surprised, after all, there are approximately 1.2 million flats in panel houses in the Czech Republic, and it is estimated that only around 20% of them have been renovated. For that reason, the issue is of interest to a large part of the public, which tries to get information from various sides. Regarding what such a reconstruction entails, how should we proceed when considering the reconstruction?

When does it make sense to renovate?

Construction of prefab houses has been going on here since the 1960s, and the main criteria were low costs and speed. This corresponds to the current condition of these houses, the age of which in most cases reaches more than thirty years. What these houses have in common is their forlornness, dilapidation and greyness. However, even a block of flats can be used to create a cultural and energy-friendly environment, which is proven by the newly renovated block of flats in big cities.

And based on what to decide? If the wind is blowing and you can see it on the curtains, not to mention drafts in general, in colder weather the heating is not enough to heat the living spaces and the heating bills are constantly increasing, these are clear signals. In general, heat losses are up to 30% for windows, 25-35% for masonry, 10% for the roof, 10-15% for the floor. Of course, the more complex the reconstruction, the higher the savings. It is advisable to have an energy audit prepared, which will quantify specific values. Another topic: The state subsidizes ecological housing. Any chance of support?

You don't save on price, but you do on consumption

The following example of a seven-story panel house from the 1970s (6 above-ground and 1 underground floor) shows the order in which savings occur.

Consumption and payments for heating the entire building incl. VAT

The table above shows heat consumption and payments for heating the whole house in individual years. It is very easy to see here that the house reduced its annual consumption between 2006 and 2007, which was caused by replacing the windows with plastic ones with insulating double glazing.

In 2008, consumption decreased slightly, but thanks to price increases, payments increased by almost 40,000. CZK. If the house shell and basement are insulated, a new roof is made and the entrance assembly is replaced, around 169 GJ/year will be saved, which at today's prices amounts to around CZK 67,500 per year.

Twenty-year payback can be a deterrent

However, reconstruction comes at a cost. In the given example, the payback is around 23.5 years, but it is very important to emphasize that this payback does not include inflation or energy price increases. This means that, in the end, the payback can be around 17-18 years, with the life expectancy of such a reconstruction being calculated at 30 years.

Some houses take a really comprehensive approach to reconstruction and, on that occasion, they not only insulate the house, replace the windows, but also reconstruct the interior of the house, the loggia, including the railings, or even the elevators at the same time. It is best to clarify all this at the beginning. Of course, some steps can be changed during the work, but this can cause unnecessary complications or delays, advises Miroslav Feřtr, CEO of Holborn Group, which specializes in complex reconstructions. We have experience that housing cooperatives or associations of unit owners most often finance not only the insulation of the facade, but also change the windows or have a new elevator built on that occasion, says Martin Halfar from the Brno consulting company for the server Měšec.cz specializes in crediting cooperative housing. Another topic: Green housing has green.

In general, two stages can be distinguished: the so-called pre-production part, which includes the provision of project documentation, the provision of an energy audit including the Certificate of Energy Performance of the building (to the extent required for the purposes of the PANEL subsidy program), and the actual revitalization stage, where we can include insulation and rehabilitation of the perimeter shell and all other steps.

The average reconstruction time varies depending on the level of difficulty and climatic conditions in the range of 2-3 months. Subsidies for reconstruction are often mentioned, but some cooperatives do not want to wait for subsidies and prefer to pay for everything themselves.

Real estate catalog online

Illustrative photo, source: scx.hu

Lending for thermal insulation means going to one bank with everything

Banks are no longer afraid to lend to owners of prefabricated houses who want to improve them. They have a pretty good reason for this: if the composition of the cooperatives is good and there are no defaulters, the bank is almost 100% sure that the loan will be repaid and at the same time it will get a loyal client. Nobody wants to lose a roof over their head, and especially independent cooperatives or units of owners take a home loan as their own thing, which always has priority.

The average loan amount for the reconstruction of a panel house is around 2.3 million crowns. We normally provide these loans, but at the same time we want the client to start banking with us and use us as the main transaction bank. That is our condition, explains the employee of the ČSOB branch on Hollarova Street in Ostrava, adding that the loan approval itself takes about a week and the bank waits about three months for all payments to be transferred to a new account. More: How to get building savings for legal entities?

You can tell quality by references

How to choose a quality contractor is a common concern of homeowners. At the same time, the advice is easy, you just need to read the references on the company's website or "google" it a bit. Based on this, you will know which projects the company has experience with. Has it implemented a project of a similar type, or, for example, does it have experience with the renovation of interiors or loggias you require, etc. Of course, you can also have the opinions of those who have already completed the renovation documented, and verify how satisfied they were with the given company. At the same time, I would pay attention to the materials used, the length of the warranty period and related services.