Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[katie279]

When have the government ever looked at the long term though?
There is plenty of money floating around but the corperations/people/families who have it all want to keep it, not give it to the filthy common people.

Well I think you're talking a different point to the other perspective then - ie original post was saying what SHOULD happen, you're describing what you THINK will happen. Unfortunately, I think you're both right to differing degrees....!

 

[jpaul]

These are double Glazed. But some how they just seem terrible.

Neighbours who have originals say same.

would be interesting to know how you can check the expected performance of double glazed units, ours have no distinguishing marks (flir would do it but that's ott)
difiicult to determine glass thickness/type and gap size.

Which is why we need to get ahead now. Need to be building battery storage en masse

noted this today too ... unless we have eu/uk battery production, like cars, will standalone china batteries also have additional tarifs.

Both the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) are asking for the rules of origin exemption to be extended from the December 31, 2023, when it is now due to end, because they say that there are not enough batteries being made in Europe.
If the exemption cannot be extended, many EVs moving between the EU and UK would pay a 10% tariff, increasing prices for fleets.

 

[Doobedoo]

noted this today too ... unless we have eu/uk battery production, like cars, will standalone china batteries also have additional tarifs.

We already do just not on a huge scale as the Chinese.

Powervault • Be part of the solution

Be part of the solution

www.powervault.co.uk

 

[bigmike20vt]

isn't there a tesla gigafactory being built in ...... Berlin ? for batteries? also they are (or were) looking into building one in the UK iirc

(from memory I could be wrong)

 

[Harnser]

Today we shall see how much it costs to take the house to 18C and keep it there for a few hours (with 16C in between)

We've used £17 gas today for heating & hot water. some rooms got up to 18C but most stayed at 15-16C. Completely unbalanced temperatures between rooms even adjusting TRVs.

Been off for a couple of hours and now 13C in the bedroom which is a degree warmer than last night.

 

[darael]

EDF emailed me today with my new prices - the unit prices have fallen slightly, while the standing charges remain the same.

From my own calculations with the new figures, I will save £0.05/year on gas and around £9.30 on electricity.

I'm off to spend my riches, before inflation nulls out the value of it.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

current place/2010 build, has microbore plastic radiator piping not sure that would suppport flow rate for bigger radiators / ASH

Depends on the heat pump size and target flow temperatures, from what I understand, you may be able to get away with it for a 6kw system or below.

We already do just not on a huge scale as the Chinese.

Powervault • Be part of the solution

Be part of the solution

www.powervault.co.uk

That product may be made/assembled in Britain but the battery cells will almost certainly be made somewhere else, probably China.

isn't there a tesla gigafactory being built in ...... Berlin ? for batteries? also they are (or were) looking into building one in the UK iirc

(from memory I could be wrong)

Batteries for cars possibly, as it stands it only assembles cars. There have been rumours of a UK factory but I can't see it happening any time soon.

 

[chrcoluk]

Pretty bleak really. These last few days I seem to be burning through £3.50 (~31.0kWh) a day on gas. Combined with electricity, my total daily usage costs ~£6.50. Not too outrageous but the house is rarely hitting ~18c.

How on earth is your gas only 31 kWh day?

I used around that for 2 just hours, soon turned it off.

 

[chrcoluk]

I know it's he way the world works but it's typical that those who don't really need it can afford to buy equipment that brings down their energy costs. Most people I know with solar and batteries etc are doing it for the fun of it, the energy savings are a bonus. There are houses near me that are lit up like Times Square and I know there'll be others who can barely afford to turn on the heating for an hour. Forgot to add, yes I am envious.

Most new tech is like this, at one point cars were just for the very richest.

The problem is with this though, is we in an era where it has become fashionable to keep things under supplied, so there is no assurance really that we would ever hit mass numbers and low enough prices of the tech, more likely just a gradual slow rollout over the country,

I expect initially (as now), the most comfortable home owners kit their home out.
Next stage might see some done via subsidies.
Stage after, more people get access as might buy a home pre fitted.
Stage after, becomes requirement in new builds.
Stage after, council houses get kitted out.

The people falling through the net likely to be the poorest home owners, and renters.

 

[CaptainKimura]

We've used £17 gas today for heating & hot water. some rooms got up to 18C but most stayed at 15-16C. Completely unbalanced temperatures between rooms even adjusting TRVs.

Been off for a couple of hours and now 13C in the bedroom which is a degree warmer than last night.

Have you tried balancing the radiators? I did it recently and it made a huge difference....still expensive to run but each room gets an equal amount of heat now which ultimately makes the house feel warmer.

 

[the wopster]

I’m astonished at how bad some of the houses are on here at keeping in the warm, my house is a 1950s concrete with insulation bonded to the outside, and seems to hold it’s temperature quite well, ATM I’m seeing how long the heating has to be on to keep it at a constant 20c, since midnight it’s needed 1h32m of heating to stay at 20c

 

[Doobedoo]

I’m astonished at how bad some of the houses are on here at keeping in the warm, my house is a 1950s concrete with insulation bonded to the outside, and seems to hold it’s temperature quite well, ATM I’m seeing how long the heating has to be on to keep it at a constant 20c, since midnight it’s needed 1h32m of heating to stay at 20c

We have a similar house by the sounds of it and some of the houses around have had external insulation fitted by the council. It’s not cheap to have fitted though when I looked a few years ago.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Batteries for cars possibly, as it stands it only assembles cars. There have been rumours of a UK factory but I can't see it happening any time soon.

indeed but I imagine soonish there will be a huge second life uplife of old car batteries for home storage.nyou can buy them now the problem is is there are not enough old electric car batteries yet. that will surely change over next few years

as for the timescale on a UK gigafactory. good point. Tesla like to announce stuff and not deliver for years . (ie cyber truck and new roadster still not out but that has not stopped Tesla leaking stuff about smaller new Tesla )

 

[Doobedoo]

indeed but I imagine soonish there will be a huge second life uplife of old car batteries for home storage.nyou can buy them now the problem is is there are not enough old electric car batteries yet. that will surely change over next few years

Powervault have been offering this for a few years now. They use second life batteries from Renault Zoe’s sold as their Eco models. Didn’t appeal to me though, as it was a reduced warranty and not a big enough discount.

 

[Rainmaker]

How on earth is your gas only 31 kWh day?

I used around that for 2 just hours, soon turned it off.

You think that's low? We're in an end terrace, 1950s-built brick three bedroom. We run the heating 24/7/365, keeping the house at an actual 19oC. This month, we used an average of 20kWh/day in gas. I'd be mortified at 30! If you're heating your house up from cold all the time, it's going to need the boiler running flat out each time. We find it cheaper to just leave it ticking over, along with being sensible about not opening doors/windows more than needed, having curtains closed and over exterior doors etc.

On the other hand, the 'leccy has murdered us lately. This month it was £170, and that's with LED-everything and running the bare minimum. Our background usage is about 400W in the day and 200W for 12 hours overnight (plus bursts for dishwasher, washing machine etc). Before this quarter, our whole energy bill was £90/month for dual fuel. Jumping to £170 for electricity and £80 for gas is an eye opener... We've basically gone from paying £22.50 a week all in to £62.50 a week. Not at all terrible by some standards (my in-laws on pre-pay spent that a week even before the rises!), but it's a jump nonetheless!

Edit: Weekly maths fail (no coffee yet).

 

[bigmike20vt]

Powervault have been offering this for a few years now. They use second life batteries from Renault Zoe’s sold as their Eco models. Didn’t appeal to me though, as it was a reduced warranty and not a big enough discount.

indeed. supply and demand should mean it finds a balance soon. as more old batteries hit the market the proces should drop....... batteries are a pita now and am sure many would happily take any they can get right. KW even an old car one. for instance my in-laws just had their solar system go live... they are having an issue with the installer.
one of the main reasons they accepted the quote (and that I reccomended their quote) was their home battery. the system is now fitted but the installers want to refund them the (now insanely cheap) battery price because they can't source a battery. I have told them to try to refuse the partial refund. the batteries have gone up a lot since their quote and I would say it was a large part of the reason their price was so good

if they can't get them yet they can't get them. however I think it's more they don't want to honour the quoted price. I suggested they counter offer with they will wait and they install a battery as soon as they get one in stock (as a priority over new sales). OR they refund them the actual going rate that they would have to pay to get a battery elsewhere.

not sure what will happen. without the battery they would not have gotten the system

 

[Harnser]

Have you tried balancing the radiators? I did it recently and it made a huge difference....still expensive to run but each room gets an equal amount of heat now which ultimately makes the house feel warmer.

Not yet, it really needs doing. Those closest to the boiler kick out a lot of heat.

Also need to do radiator sizing calculations and work out what each room should have. Anyone done that?

 

[Curlyriff]

I have used 123.716kWh this month so far (13 days) compared to 134kWh for the whole previous month so far. And looks like I am going to be about 45kWh over this months budget due to this extended cold snap. My biggest issue is lack of radiator surface right now so only have one small radiator in the living/dining room and it really needs two and probably about 3-4x the amount of surface area.

 

[darkgen]

How on earth is your gas only 31 kWh day?

I used around that for 2 just hours, soon turned it off.

You answered it yourself. I have the heating on an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.

 

[rumple9]

We've used £17 gas today for heating & hot water. some rooms got up to 18C but most stayed at 15-16C. Completely unbalanced temperatures between rooms even adjusting TRVs.

Been off for a couple of hours and now 13C in the bedroom which is a degree warmer than last night.

My place is the same. I think I could only get to 18 degrees if I left heating on 24 hours