Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Energy: An app tracks energy consumption of domestic boilers
HARPa, an app to easily estimate consumption of old domestic appliances for heating and producing hot water and learn where they fit on the energy label, is one of the outcomes of the European project HARP (Heating Appliances Retrofit Planning), which involves 18 partners[1] from five EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain), for Italy ENEA, Eurac Research of Bolzano and Assotermica as national reference, whose primary objective is to make aware a potential 1.5 million people of the advantages of replacing obsolete fossil fuel-fired boilers and water heaters with new higher efficiency equipment.
HARPa is available online in both a basic version for consumers and a professional version, with a range of technological solutions available on the market suitable for replacement. HARPa also provides estimates of the benefits associated with each technology in terms of economic and energy savings and CO2 emission reduction. In order to raise citizens’ awareness on how to replace existing appliances with more efficient ones, the incentives and financial mechanisms available are also shown.
It is estimated that around 126 million boilers are installed in the European Union, of which almost 60% are inefficient (performing as a C or lower energy class). Usually, the consumer is unaware of the inefficiency of their appliance and therefore of the potential energy and bill savings, as well as the environmental benefits of replacing old appliances. Typically appliances replacement is not planned but due to wear and tear or breakage.
For more information on the tool HARPa:
https://www.heating-check.info/it_IT/start_check.html?v=100&cb=1642578683309&u=x
For more information on the project HARP:
https://www.anima.it/associazioni/elenco/assotermica/attivita/riscaldamento-efficiente/progetto-harp.kl