Approximately 44% of Romanians are considering investing this year in various energy efficiency projects for the homes they live in, from thermal insulation, replacing household appliances, to installing photovoltaic panel systems, with financing to be provided from their own sources (around 49%), from bank loans (13.5%) or other sources, according to a sociological research conducted for the despre-energie.ro platform, a project of the companies E.ON and Delgaz Grid.

While many of our compatriots are concerned with identifying solutions that will allow them to keep their bills under control or even become energy independent, 20.6% of respondents say they do not want to make such investments this year, and over 35% are still thinking about whether to consider these options.

Among those in favor of these projects, a significant proportion (34.5%) declare that they would like to increase the level of thermal comfort of the home (external and internal insulation, replacement of double-glazed windows, roof replacement, etc.), 26% are interested in purchasing and installing a photovoltaic panel system, 15% intend to replace old household appliances with modern ones with a higher energy class, and the same number want to replace the current heating plant with a more efficient one, with condensation. A fairly small category of respondents (only 3.7%) is interested in purchasing a heat pump.

When asked about the sources of financing for these investments, 48.6% of the study participants say that they will use their own sources (savings, help from family, etc.), 29% plan to access one of the government programs that offer subsidies (such as the Green Photovoltaic House), 13.5% are thinking about taking a loan from the bank, and 8.8% say that such projects are much too expensive and do not think they will be able to afford to allocate money for something like this. In addition, half of those surveyed believe that one of the main impediments to the implementation of energy efficiency projects by Romanians is related to insufficient income, 13.5% believe that government programs should be diversified to cover a wider range of needs, and 27% blame the current economic context, which they consider difficult.