kWh, not kW (we've been here before)!-
Who cares
How to control an immersion heater (Ed.)
- Thread starter zakinho
- Start date
Who cares
How many people live in this house?
3, generally at home all day. Too many kW being used
You need to take readings regularly throughout the day. By doing this you’ll see when the usage is high and when it’s cold the usage will be very high
How long have you lived in the property
Underfloor electric heating is a very expensive way to heat a house
I have been taking readings, generally first thing in the morning and sometimes throughout the day. Lived here for 4 weeks, 3 of which the UFH didn't work. Waiting to get a smart meter fitted at which point I can shift everything onto an overnight EV tariff, however, been waiting nearly 2 weeks for Scottish Power to change my MPAN number to be able to qualify for the smart meter... don't ask about that one!
There's no gas here so electric is the only way forward. When we get ourselves sorted we will be remodelling this place at which point all other options become available.
What was your usage per day before the UFH was working ? 20 kwh ?
So with just normal living and an immersion you were using 70 to 90 per day
Ouch. I would say about 20 - 25 would be normal
deleted
Yes..... Our previous house was a 4 storey detached Victorian villa, insulated as best you can with that type of house and we were using 12-18kWh per day loadshifting overnight to take advantage of EV tariff, our bills were c.£120 per month. I reckon we're approaching 10x that as Scottish Power won't put us on any other type of tariff other than full rate. Locked in at the moment and not very happy about it.
So you need to find out where it’s being used.
EV, hot tub? Neighbour connected to you?
Beware bathroom underfloor heating too - that is also energy hungry
EV, hot tub? Neighbour connected to you?
Beware bathroom underfloor heating too - that is also energy hungry
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Our electric bill before solar is around half what we use after solar, so around the £110 before solar, and £60 after solar, but this has included batteries, and split tariff as well so hard to say what was the real factor in our saving.
As part of the saving exercise, we did alter how the cylinder was heated. Hindsight, likely an error, as the immersion only uses around 3 kWh per week, so around £1 a week, and what one has to work out, is what you do going to save enough money to be worth it.
A jacket
will likely cost £20, but fill the space with clothes, and it will also insulate and keep clothes aired, so not so cut and dried, a timer seems pointless unless you have a split tariff, as a hot tank I have found takes around three days to cool. So unless only heated at weekend, not likely to help.
Most of our energy is used to heat the home, so using different methods to heat the home, is likely the best saving, first is type of energy, basic two types, inferred and convection, inferred is a pig to control. Then with convection either using a heat pump or direct heating, there is no reason why a heat pump can't run on gas or oil as well as electric, seen many a wagon with a diesel driven heat pump.
And then there is cost of fuel, and losses, I have looked into a building and seen the inferred heater, which in the main means that heat can pass through glass, so aimed in wrong direction. Seen underfloor heating without the insulation under the floor, so most of the heat escapes, and electric is likely the most expensive fuel you can buy.
But to do the sums is not easy, £11,000 for solar, will clearly if not spent on solar get interest, so even if you don't need to borrow the money it still costs, rule of thumb, if it does not break even in 25 years, it never will.
But what we can't predict is the future, what will some government do in the next 5 years to result in our best laid plans coming to nothing? If they tax gas or oil then they could change which is the cheapest fuel, they have already done this with generators, which now need to use DERV.
I will stick with oil for the time being, LPG is like putting a time bomb next to the house.
my maximum usage (not drawn from grid but used) is 452.4 kWh for the month, so 14.6 kWh per day,
As part of the saving exercise, we did alter how the cylinder was heated. Hindsight, likely an error, as the immersion only uses around 3 kWh per week, so around £1 a week, and what one has to work out, is what you do going to save enough money to be worth it.
A jacket
Most of our energy is used to heat the home, so using different methods to heat the home, is likely the best saving, first is type of energy, basic two types, inferred and convection, inferred is a pig to control. Then with convection either using a heat pump or direct heating, there is no reason why a heat pump can't run on gas or oil as well as electric, seen many a wagon with a diesel driven heat pump.
And then there is cost of fuel, and losses, I have looked into a building and seen the inferred heater, which in the main means that heat can pass through glass, so aimed in wrong direction. Seen underfloor heating without the insulation under the floor, so most of the heat escapes, and electric is likely the most expensive fuel you can buy.
But to do the sums is not easy, £11,000 for solar, will clearly if not spent on solar get interest, so even if you don't need to borrow the money it still costs, rule of thumb, if it does not break even in 25 years, it never will.
But what we can't predict is the future, what will some government do in the next 5 years to result in our best laid plans coming to nothing? If they tax gas or oil then they could change which is the cheapest fuel, they have already done this with generators, which now need to use DERV.
I will stick with oil for the time being, LPG is like putting a time bomb next to the house.
That changes all I have said,
my maximum usage (not drawn from grid but used) is 452.4 kWh for the month, so 14.6 kWh per day,Even that's a bit high, we use tumble drier, washing machine, dishwasher.
Yes, I remember one house where a socket had been connected to neighbour's supply, BBC news shows this guy so yes it does happen. I would be very worried with that load.
Then if I were you I would get some emergency form of heat for when the power gets turned off - black outs are on the way.
Looks like we'll need an extra jumper
Looks like we'll need an extra jumper
You still need to understand why your usage is so imho.
Underfloor heating in the bathroom(s) ?
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