Increasing the level of energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources in the design and existing buildings is an important aspect in minimizing the carbon dioxide emissions and mitigating the climate changes. One of such solutions may be the application of a heating system using residential thermal stations (RTSs) for heating and hot water preparation individually in the premises of a given building. The main purpose of this paper was to analyze long-term filed research results on the energy consumption and efficiency of heating systems in a dormitory (building B1) and two multifamily buildings (building B2 and B3) equipped with residential thermal stations (RTSs) that are used for supplying individual dwellings with heat, as well as hot and cold water. An additional aspect of the analysis is a presentation of the structure of total energy consumption for particular purposes in the analyzed buildings and the possibilities to increase the share of renewable energy sources using solar thermal collectors for supporting the analyzed heating system.
Keywords: Energy efficiency; Heating systems; Hot water preparation; Residential thermal station; Solar collectors.