i read my tennants meter on my old flat last week for the first time in since we moved out , stuck the figures in imeasure and the flat still coming up A+ , usage was up slighlty on previous average. interesting to see the improvement I made on the flat still hold true with a different occupier ( though i beleive they are also happy with an indoor temperature of around 19o C , many customers I work for average around the 21o C level on the stat.
Be interesting to see how energy efficient properties such as the SSE test project in Slough
( Greenwatts way, I think) perform with different occupants , I'll see if there's any info published on tinternet.

http://www.ssezerocarbonhomes.com/

Hi,
I am looking after someones mid terrace house while they are in hospital(plus two dogs and five chickens). I did start to get worried with a few frosty nights and his bathroom being built on the back - he has no central heating. But the house does not feel cold. I assume his neighbours houses are keeping it warm with the two great hunking party walls acting as low temperature emmitters. I wonder how much heat he "benefits" from if his room temperature is a few degrees lower than his neighbours

Hi Steamy looks like you have good neighbours subsidising you haeting costs

Richard

used to have a housemate who insisted on keeping the flat at 21 degrees

The solution, oddly enough, was calibrating the thermostat down a couple of degrees so what showed as 21 was really 19 (although I have no idea of accuracy, it could have been 20 in reality) . this was a digital stat and it actually had a calibration menu :)

The point being the need to set the stat to 21 was behavioral rather than based upon need for that temperature...

Posted By: SteamyTeaTrouble is now it is getting towards the technological fixes as I have done the easy stuff, but have saved around 50% in total.

I thought we'd probably just about run out of savings at around 7.5kWh/day but with the latest change (1 big and fast but efficient computer using virtual machines doing the jobs of 3 older slower & less efficient ones) we managed to average a usage (not import) of less than 6kWh per day for the first time last month.
That's down from 12-13kWh/day back in 2008-9.
2 adults, at home most of the time.
N.B. excluding heating, of course...

PS. The downside of the computer change is that without the saved watts I'm definitely going to need a heater on more often in my office this winter...

Already got the thick socks & fibrepile.

Posted By: skyewrightvirtual machines doing the jobs of 3 older slower & less efficient ones

Wish I had thought of thatm a quarter of my use is the PCs. Still Got a lad working on the RPi so that will help, may get it back son for testing as it is going out as part of my ResM project.

Posted By: Mikeltumble dryer

Posted By: MikelNot enough dry and breezy days

Posted By: Mikeldown here in Cornwall

I manage it, but usually in to go out and get it when it rains. Raining now.

Posted By: MikelWe have changed about about 40 50w halogens for 4w LEDs

I decided not to go down this route, but have changed from 20W, to 11W and now to 8W CFL and really do not have a problem, and I have very strange eyesight since my cataracts were drilled out and replaced with shiny bits of plastic without any UV filtering. I actually find the blueness of some LED quite painful. I changed the lodgers 11W to an 8W last week and she has not said anything, 2 quid each from MacSalvers.

Posted By: MikelI really don't see how many householders will be able to modify their houses and replace their electrical goods with low energy options without spending a significant amount of capital.

Think that is where I am now, could save a tiny bit on the fridge, not sure about the washing machine, 30 kg of water heated to 40°C is the same with any machine. ST is my best option for water heating, that would save quite a bit, but not really worth the expense on this house at the moment as I want to move.

I keep it in a jar in the fridge until she is going to be sensible and grown-up about it. Better get a back-up generator.

It is tricky when dealing with disabled people, think we have done this elsewhere. I can understand that with one side paralysed that showering is a bit hard, but not 'till all the hot water has gone' hard.

What I did notice on their meters is that it shows the rates they are paying and what the meter rental is. They are all on the same deal as me, the EDF standard E7. That only has a day and a night rate. It is only recently that they stopped the unit breaks and replaced them with meter rental. We are all paying 6p at night and 16 p during the day.
Thing is for us to change to gas would cost several thousand pounds each just for connection, then several thousand pounds for central heating/hot water systems to be fitted. And all that for a saving of about 15p a day, just does not make sense but does mean that we are at the mercy of the electricity companies.
I will probably not be reading their meters till next week now, unless everyone goes out

Sneaked out and read the neighbour's meters again, been 14 days since I last did it (had my bill today and had to go out as it was over estimated by about 20%)

So

House A 452 (end terrace, 2 adults, 1 small child)
House B 192 (mid terrace, 2 adults)
House C 276 (mid terrace, 2 adults)

The day/night breakdowns is:

House A 149(day) 303(night)
House B 58 (day) 134(night)
House C 108 (day) 169 (night)

So our average usage is 306.6 or 21.9 kWh.day^-1
Average day usage is 105 or 7.5 kWh.day^-1
Average night usage 202 or 14.4 kWh.day^-1

So looks like House C does not have their heating on, or they have an electric shower as we are similar on the night rate.
House A has heating on and I have never seen them use a washing line, so probably using a tumble dryer a lot.

As an aside, my Current Cost meter (with a couple of estimates in there) says I have used 177 kWh over the same period, so about 8% down on my real usage. May check my voltage over the next few days and see if it is high or low compared to the set point of 230V.

Maybe House A like to keep their indoor plants warm ;)

It's getting colder?

Hi,
Do you use storerage heaters on economy 7 ? If you do then the heater is "filled up" one night and used the next day. If you have a cold day, then that night maybe a full charge is required. On a warmer day if you only use half the stored heat on that night you would only need to store half the amount of energy/heat. So overall the electricity used would approximately follow the outside temperature variations.

Richard

I think you might need finer-grained temperature data than just the average. A weekly temperature average is a very blunt tool when you're breaking consumption down into half-daily units.

Posted By: SteamyTeaHi Richard
Partly because the heater is set on a thermostat (though not sure how effective it is),

I think it's pretty effective at limiting the temperature inside the casing, which is what its job is.

partly because it has been 'de-rated', I took two elements out

Fair enough. That will make it more likely that it needs to be on throughout the charge cycle (as it's trying to warm 3 times the intended mass (I'm assuming there were 3 element to start with).

and mainly I think because when it is warmer outside my house just gets warmer inside.

But what happens when it goes from cold to colder?

Had rather forgotten about this, been six months (and 2 days) since I last looked, but the numbers are revealing.

House A has used a total of 3624 kWh, 1581 kWh on the day rate and 2043 kWh on the night rate, a 44/56 split
House B has used a total of 2048 kWh, 573 kWh on the day rate and 1475 kWh on the night rate, a 28/72 split
House C has used a total of 2609 kWh, 1564 kWh on the day rate and 1045 kWh on the night rate, a 60/40 split

In cash terms that works out as (at 0.17 and 0.65 p/kWh unit price only):
House A £400
House B £193
House C £334

Using an overall p/kWh figure it is this:
House A 11p/kWH
House B 9.4 p/kWh
House C 12.8 p/kWh

Just as a reminder:
House A is the end of terrace (so greater heat loss), 1 small child, two adults, one working.
House B (me), 2 adults, work from home.
House C, 2 adults, both working, one in all afternoon

Was time to have another look, especially as the people in House C have just moved out. Be interesting to see what the new tenets use.


House A has used a total of 967 kWh, split 324 kWh (day) and 633 kWh (night)
House B has used a total of 663 kWh, split 180 kWh (day) and 483 kWh (night)
House C has used a total of 683 kWh, Split 299 kWh (day) and 384 kWh (night)

So that is a mean daily usage of:
House A, 27 kWh
House B, 18 kWh
House C, 19 kWh

So managed my goal of being under 20 kWh/day during the coldest time of year. And has one of my neighbours.