Energy Expert: Renovating worn-out heaters is the solution to gas imbalance

Navid Hedayatifar, referring to the issue of gas imbalance in the coming winter, said: The challenge of energy imbalance, especially in the natural gas sector, puts pressure on Iran’s economy and industry every winter. With the onset of the cold season, the household sector takes over a significant portion of the network capacity with a sudden jump in gas consumption, which causes severe gas restrictions for large industries and power plants. This situation has been repeated for years and shows that without reducing household consumption, no other solution will be able to solve the imbalance at its root. Therefore, energy policymaking must shift from a production-oriented approach to demand management. He continued: Among all the available methods for optimizing household consumption, one of the most effective and least expensive measures is the renovation of home heating equipment. Currently, about 20 million worn-out heaters are used in the country, which results in a huge waste of energy due to a drop in efficiency and very high consumption. At best, these heaters convert only 40 percent of the energy into heat, and the rest is directly transferred to the outside environment through the chimney, which means that millions of cubic meters of gas are emitted into the country’s sky every day.
Referring to the plan to replace worn-out heaters with high-efficiency heaters and its effect on reducing the winter gas imbalance, this energy expert said: Replacing worn-out heaters with hermetic heaters has a completely strategic position in reducing gas consumption and helping to solve the gas imbalance. About 20 million worn-out heaters are used in the domestic sector, with an efficiency of less than 40 percent and practically sending a large part of the energy out the chimney. On the other hand, old heaters are the main cause of carbon monoxide poisoning and take the lives of hundreds of people annually. In contrast, hermetic heaters with a closed combustion chamber and high efficiency, in addition to significantly reducing consumption, also ensure the safety of consumers.