As the outside temperature drops to minus degrees, winter is approaching. Have you ensured your seasonal preparation to overcome these chills comfortably? Consider your home's insulation before looking for a good heater, furnace, or fuel.

Poor insulation may lead to unpleasant conditions in the home where it is impossible to avoid flu for children and requires constant heating by firing the stove. Additionally, you are probably aware of aspects of non-insulated houses, such as mould growth, cracked walls, and windows.

EU SWITCH-Asia program funded "Switch Off Air Pollution in Mongolian Cities'' (SOAPII) project team conducted winter monitoring among 100 households in the ger area of Ulaanbaatar city in 2022 and found out that non-insulated homes heat their houses 5–6 times a day, while insulated houses only fire 2-3 times a day. Preventing heat loss proves that fuel consumption can be lowered by 2 times, and the indoor air fluctuations can be reduced. On average, insulated house owners saved 300,000 MNT for heating and fuel consumption during the heating season. 

Enveloping houses not only reduces fuel consumption but also contributes to reducing air pollution.

We burn various fuels or use electricity to keep our homes warm. As a result, greenhouse gases are emitted, exacerbating climate change. From the monitoring, fully-enveloped homes' heating demand and greenhouse gas emissions were 1.6 times lower than non-insulated houses.  

How shall we insulate? Households living in the ger areas have likely insulated their homes by themselves. However, most houses are still experiencing heat loss, and the insulation work could be more efficient. Due to not choosing the correct materials, the house could have a fire hazard, and using the wrong insulation technology can cause loss of time and money. 

Full insulation creates comfort in homes by reducing the fluctuation of indoor air temperatures. 

How do you feel comfortable at home? If your cheeks feel hot and your feet are cold when you are at home, it means that you are experiencing discomfort. Thermal comfort depends largely on the stability of the indoor air temperature. According to the survey asked from the monitored households, it was observed that the air temperature in non-insulated houses reached +40°C when the stove was fired and dropped to +5°C towards early in the morning. If the insulation is installed using the correct technology, the fluctuation of indoor air temperature will be reduced, and there will be no need to get out of bed at dawn to fire the stove. Also, a warm home will greet you when you come home or school in the evening. 

One of the house owners, insulated through the project services, said, "It was the most difficult and stressful problem for our children to get up early in the morning in a cold house to go to school. But with the improvement in the house's insulation, this concern has decreased noticeably".

Insulating your house with the correct technology is advisable to achieve optimal results. Thus, we welcome you to get insulation advice and service by reaching out to the call centre at 7505-2000, www.dulaalga.mn website, and the "Дулаан Шийдэл Төсөл "Facebook page.

About the European Union SWITCH-Asia program funded "SOAP II" project

The "Switch Off Air Pollution in Mongolian Cities" (SOAP) II project aims to implement energy efficiency solutions for 5,900 households over four years, empower 160 micro, small and medium enterprises, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17,700 tons. This project is jointly being implemented by "Geres" INGO, "The Building Energy Efficiency Center" of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, "Mongolian National Construction Association" NGO, "Mongolian Green Finance Corporation" and "Mongolian Women's Fund".

For the full report of Winter monitoring, please click here.