Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

That’s a recipe to get mould. Either keep the house cold or keep it warm, but don’t heat it for short periods as mould will thrive in those conditions.
It is purely to see what the thermal is like in build up and loss as an experiement. It will remain cold as needed otherwise. Just interesting to see how effective it is. Also the temp is not the critical element if you control humidty and moisture. Mold cannot grow without such. If you are cooling and heating a space over a few hours you need to control any moisture build up such as condensation on windows and the general humidty.
 
It is purely to see what the thermal is like in build up and loss as an experiement. It will remain cold as needed otherwise. Just interesting to see how effective it is. Also the temp is not the critical element if you control humidty and moisture. Mold cannot grow without such. If you are cooling and heating a space over a few hours you need to control any moisture build up such as condensation on windows and the general humidty.
Yes but when things heat up then cool down water will condensate, if you little to no airflow that moisture will remain in the house.

The more people who live in a home, the more likely it is that molds will grow inside it. This is because we release a lot of moisture in the air when we breathe. When we take long hot showers, cook with uncovered pots, dry clothes on an indoor clothesline, or use humidifiers, we also make more moisture for molds to grow. Storing wet firewood, watering many plants, and storing many vegetables like potatoes and squash can make a mold problem more likely, too.
 
Last edited:
Yes but when things heat up then cool down water will condensate, if you little to no airflow that moisture will remain in the house.
Yeah which is exactly why I stated I would ned to control any condensation and moisture build up. I have worked for a company that specialises in thermal connection to structures to litereally reduce the mold growth in structures. The other element to take into account is heating of localised areas. It is adviced to only heat up the room you are in. The issue with this is that you can get enough extremes of temperature between your warm say office room compared to the living room and those temp differences create the moisture and thus cause the mold. It is why design for things such as Balconies and that which penetrate the external leaf of a structure should have effective thermal breaks, however the industry is still slow on uptake and often uses a product that is not fit for purpose.

Of course if left unchecked and you are not doing anything to keep condensation buildup then you will have mold issues. Those people that like to shower with it steaming hot but also wont open the window whilst doing so often get mold growth in the bathroom. Those extract fans are generally not enough for the amount of moisture and humidty because of how small the bathrooms generally are in 2-3 bedroom houses.

Edit: On note the temp downstairs has risin from 11c to 13c in an hour and 13c to 16.5c in the office (smaller space, same rad surface area, PC and monitor on).
 
Last edited:
Yes agree but I think the main point is to try to get people to load shift the big stuff out of the window
Cooker, dishwasher etc

If you never use those items in the peak period your already in effect load shifting away from the main period

Yeah quite. At that time the only thing we'll ever have on (at most) is the TV, PS5, a radio and a few lights.
 
Unless you're a big energy user during the period the savings go nowhere near justifying going out of your way. It's good for the grid, but the benefits need to be much higher. Because we use so little the only reduction we can really make is sitting in the dark or just going out.

I was part of the beta trial earlier in the year and I think the most I've been credited is like 15p.
Been credited 0.38p for my two sessions since start. That’s on a two bedroom small flat. Might as well not have bothered but I’m trying to educate the wife about energy saving.
 
Yes but when things heat up then cool down water will condensate, if you little to no airflow that moisture will remain in the house.
Just to note I left the heating on for a further hour and temp downstairs hit 14.5c and office 18c so I have switched it off to see how long it takes to get back down to ambient. Will keep track of anything such as condensation. I am only in today to Friday and out at weekend again till Monday evening so I am just trying to guage with being out and in how the ambient sits.

Because I don't have a TV on, pretty much no lights on ever and just the PC for work or the tablet otherwise there is almost zero residual heat from anything in the house otherwise and 1 person in a two bed house isn't a lot of body heat either. Maybe I need to get a new Intel system to use as space heater whilst working.
 

Prices have tripled what did people expert, seriously?
Its that but also that fixed DD dont get reviewed against usage very often, e.g Octopus revealed they only review in April, meaning if you cut back the monthly calculation wont notice until April. Variable of course since it only bills for usage, savings are immediate on next bill.
 
Last edited:
Been credited 0.38p for my two sessions since start. That’s on a two bedroom small flat. Might as well not have bothered but I’m trying to educate the wife about energy saving.

It seems to be heavily factored by the usage of the first 3 of the proceeding 4 hours vs the actual usage during the session. If you can run on battery that will help as these battery guys seem to be noticing but also if you act crazy in those 3 hours that will make them think you shifted a lot. I wont be doing this though as its against the spirit of it and the risk is if they change the algorithm just end up with a bigger bill instead.
 
So to note I was out last night all night after WFH I came back this morning at 7.30am to a house that was still 11c downstairs and 13c upstairs. Temp outside all day yesterday was 5c and at night dropped to about 3c. I am going to put the heating on for an hour this morning, 7.30am to 8.30am to see what temp the house rises too and then how long it takes to drop back down to what appears to be a base temp of around 11c.
Is colder today woke up to high 13s, but already at 14.5C with a couple of hours of PC usage.
 
I need a bigger laptop mines taking 40W - the power brick on the desktop makes a good hand warmer (not a GaN supply, but would only be a bit better)

Unless you're a big energy user during the period the savings go nowhere near justifying going out of your way. It's good for the grid, but the benefits need to be much higher. Because we use so little the only reduction we can really make is sitting in the dark or just going out.

trial seems unique to the UK, maybe we have more smart meters (LOL) but I don't see them averting blackout periods, as the reliability/robustness of the reduction couldn't be relied on if there was a genuine shortfall, and gas generators couldn't be deployed to make up the shortfall.
industrial use is still some 50%, I thought, so (mandatory) requirements imposed on them, for which I have seen little publicity seem to be the biggest lever that could be deployed.
 
Just to note I left the heating on for a further hour and temp downstairs hit 14.5c and office 18c so I have switched it off to see how long it takes to get back down to ambient. Will keep track of anything such as condensation. I am only in today to Friday and out at weekend again till Monday evening so I am just trying to guage with being out and in how the ambient sits.

Because I don't have a TV on, pretty much no lights on ever and just the PC for work or the tablet otherwise there is almost zero residual heat from anything in the house otherwise and 1 person in a two bed house isn't a lot of body heat either. Maybe I need to get a new Intel system to use as space heater whilst working.
You obviously know what you’re looking for so you should be fine.

The previous owners of our place didn’t and signs were everywhere. The bathroom window was almost welded shut with mould, no extractor fan in the kitchen or bathroom.

Most external walls were painted a dark colour to mask the presence of mould. No central heating or gas at all so very expensive to heat the whole house.

I’ve pretty much rectified all the issues but can’t do nothing about central heating of the gas supply. So our house is always cold during the winter, but we don’t complain too much just get on with it.
 
You obviously know what you’re looking for so you should be fine.

The previous owners of our place didn’t and signs were everywhere. The bathroom window was almost welded shut with mould, no extractor fan in the kitchen or bathroom.

Most external walls were painted a dark colour to mask the presence of mould. No central heating or gas at all so very expensive to heat the whole house.

I’ve pretty much rectified all the issues but can’t do nothing about central heating of the gas supply. So our house is always cold during the winter, but we don’t complain too much just get on with it.
Yeah it was more just a fun living experment. And ouch yeah that sounds pretty rough tbh. Fair play, tbh I am happy in the cold. Others not so much ha.
 
Is colder today woke up to high 13s, but already at 14.5C with a couple of hours of PC usage.
My PC clearly isn't working hard enough, CPU is 33c and GPU 26c whilst using it for work. Since heating off (after two hours on) we have got to 16.5c in Office from 18c and downstairs dropped from 14.5c to 13.5c again in that two hour period.
 
Last edited:
My PC clearly isn't working hard enough, CPU is 33c and GPU 26c whilst using it for work. Since heating off (after two hours on) we have got to 16.5c in Office from 18c and downstairs dropped from 14.5c to 13.5c again in that two hour period.

A PC kicking out heat isn't efficient, the excess heat costs power, and electric costs more per kwh than gas does.

I can spin up a AAA game and the 3080 will heat the room pretty well, but it's also burning 0.5kw the whole time it's running.
 
Back
Top Bottom