Energy Bills

[turvontour]

6 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Yes when it comes to electricity generation the UK is like 40% renewable I think. But that's just 6% of all energy usage

Posted before reading this.

[ender4]

12 hours ago, sidcow said:

We really really need to be massively ramping up heat pump manufacturing and bringing down the cost.  There is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be as cheap or even cheaper than a boiler - we just need to make enough of them.   And as we do that the technology will improve as well so they can operate at higher temperatures taking away that anxiety of how efficient they are at actually heating the home.

I had heard that heat pumps were pretty bad, because they don’t heat the house and hot water to a hot enough temperature.  Is that still the case, or has it improved in the last couple of years?

[CVByrne]

8 hours ago, turvontour said:

95% of our energy come from non renewables? Wind averages about 25% of the uk power generation stack and then you have hydro, solar etc.

The reason prices are so high is part ukraine Russia but equally because last year was a beyond freak still wind year for the uk.

Heating is mostly oil and gas, transportation is mostly petroleum etc.. 

I think that's why it's only the 6% total energy on renewables comes from. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by CVByrne

[sidcow]

7 hours ago, ender4 said:

I had heard that heat pumps were pretty bad, because they don’t heat the house and hot water to a hot enough temperature.  Is that still the case, or has it improved in the last couple of years?

They do operate at a lower temperature than boilers so you generally need bigger/more radiators (ideally underfloor heating) but good insulation is the most important thing. 

I've not heard of issues with water temperature though. 

I think the lower temperature thing is a reason why the rumour of not heating the house rumour exists.  The set up needs to be right and they will work just fine at heating the home.  And they should get better as they become more mainstream. 

[tinker]

2 hours ago, sidcow said:

They do operate at a lower temperature than boilers so you generally need bigger/more radiators (ideally underfloor heating) but good insulation is the most important thing. 

I've not heard of issues with water temperature though. 

I think the lower temperature thing is a reason why the rumour of not heating the house rumour exists.  The set up needs to be right and they will work just fine at heating the home.  And they should get better as they become more mainstream. 

The problem with ground source heat pumps is the large amount of land needed for the heating coils. Air based needs walls nearly a meter thick with insulation, none opening windows and air lock doors. I don't think it's the answer, better insulation is a no brainer but to the extent where heat pumps are affective I don't think it could or will happem.

I have gone on about tidal power but it really is the golden nugget for the UK.........island nation with a huge tidal range. If the USA, Germany or China had our geographical advantage tidal power would be their answer and  would be developed.

As our governments have to progress this, without help from major global entrepreneurship, we aren't using this game changer we have at our shores.

Edited July 15, 2022 by tinker

[AlwaysAVFC]

5 hours ago, sidcow said:

They do operate at a lower temperature than boilers so you generally need bigger/more radiators (ideally underfloor heating) but good insulation is the most important thing. 

I've not heard of issues with water temperature though. 

I think the lower temperature thing is a reason why the rumour of not heating the house rumour exists.  The set up needs to be right and they will work just fine at heating the home.  And they should get better as they become more mainstream. 

We had one in our old place. Like you say, radiators don't get as hot as traditional systems. It tends to be more constant rather than cutting in and out. It did take quite a long time to warm up the house from cold though.

Water temperature did seem slightly down on traditional boilers but was never an issue for baths or washing up etc. just not scalding hot.

[lapal_fan]

The return temperatures on Air Source Heat Pumps is around 55c/65c - whereas on a traditional boiler systems you're getting 65c/75c.

Which is why insulating your house is important if you go down that route, but you don't have to go to the lengths @tinker mentioned, you just have to make sure you've got double glazing less than 10 years old (better tech than old glazing) and a cavity wall with insulation.  Thermal losses out of roofs are a bigger issue generally, a lot of people (myself included) have reduce the insulation in my loft in order to deck it out. 

[sidcow]

My house was built 1960 but I think we'd be fine with a heat pump. Back windows are pretty new and front ones are being done next month. 

Have had cavity wall insulation. 

Had a pretty new extension across the back of the house 8 years ago that really well insulated.  So much so that we have an absolutely giant radiator behind the 3 seater sofa which even extends beyond it and we NEVER use it, ever. Even at reduced temperature that would throw out some serious heat. 

Then we've got mainly single radiators upstairs which could be turned to double easy enough. 

Loft insulation isn't that great but it's a all boarded over so I wouldn't like to mess with that.  Maybe we could insulate the eaves

I'm actually tempted to go for it but I'm pretty sure prices will come down a lot in the next few years. 

I just wish it wasn't the front of the house that was south facing, solar panels going to be ugly as ****. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by sidcow

[sidcow]

38 minutes ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

Water temperature did seem slightly down on traditional boilers but was never an issue for baths or washing up etc. just not scalding hot.

Yes, it's daft really.  What do we do? Spend unnecessary energy heating water to a stupidly high temperature and then add cold water to it to make it a usable temperature. Meanwhile the world is dying. 

[AlwaysAVFC]

41 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Yes, it's daft really.  What do we do? Spend unnecessary energy heating water to a stupidly high temperature and then add cold water to it to make it a usable temperature. Meanwhile the world is dying. 

I guess its partly to kill any bacteria in the system? I can't remember how regular it was, once a week maybe? but the boiler that we had would periodically heat to a higher temperature to kill any bacteria, then go back to its normal operating temperature.

[sidcow]

1 minute ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

I guess its partly to kill any bacteria in the system? I can't remember how regular it was, once a week maybe? but the boiler that we had would periodically heat to a higher temperature to kill any bacteria, then go back to its normal operating temperature.

No need in a combi boiler.  But we do this for every bath, very shower, every clean of the hands - boiling water out of the tap to me mixed with cold so it doesn't burn the shit out of you.

[foreveryoung]

Fuel seems to be dropping, £1.92 at our local Tesco Deisel that is, although I filled up in Lichfield today at Tesco (sign was off so couldn't see price) it was still £1.99 on the pump, bloody rips offs, how, HOW!

[ender4]

On 15/07/2022 at 13:46, lapal_fan said:

you just have to make sure you've got double glazing less than 10 years old (better tech than old glazing)

My double glazing is 11 years old and was fitted by previous owners. The house is freezing in winter. Do you think putting in new double glazing would make much of a difference? Has the technology changed that much?

[foreveryoung]

1 minute ago, ender4 said:

My double glazing is 11 years old and was fitted by previous owners. The house is freezing in winter. Do you think putting in new double glazing would make much of a difference? Has the technology changed that much?

We had new windows fitted with heat deflecting glass, it's got like a blue tint. Worked in this heat, glass is still cool inside and noticed in the winter too the glass is not cold to the touch like our older windows.

[sidcow]

7 minutes ago, ender4 said:

My double glazing is 11 years old and was fitted by previous owners. The house is freezing in winter. Do you think putting in new double glazing would make much of a difference? Has the technology changed that much?

I wouldn't think so. If it was like 20 years old I would say yes but we've got 11 year old DG at the upstairs rear of the house and it seems every bit as good as the stuff we had downstairs about 8 years ago. 

The stuff at the front though is a different matter and we're getting that replaced next month.  That must be 20 + years old and the cold laughs in it's misted up face. 

Edited July 19, 2022 by sidcow

[sidcow]

That said a lot probably depends on the quality of it. If it was shit DG in the first place it will probably break down quicker.  I know our 11 year old stuff came from a good company. I don't know who did the front but I would bet money it was just cheap shit.  Also a guy we had look at it a couple of years ago thinks they were installed the wrong way around and the seal that's on the inside of the house should be actually on the outside. 

Edited July 19, 2022 by sidcow

[lapal_fan]

2 hours ago, sidcow said:

That said a lot probably depends on the quality of it. If it was shit DG in the first place it will probably break down quicker.  I know our 11 year old stuff came from a good company. I don't know who did the front but I would bet money it was just cheap shit.  Also a guy we had look at it a couple of years ago thinks they were installed the wrong way around and the seal that's on the inside of the house should be actually on the outside. 

Yea, this.

DG doesn't count for anything if it's cheap.  Why you should always look at the u-values of the spec.  Anything more than 1.8-2 and you should be looking elsewhere.

[ender4]

8 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Yea, this.

DG doesn't count for anything if it's cheap.  Why you should always look at the u-values of the spec.  Anything more than 1.8-2 and you should be looking elsewhere.

Mine was installed by the previous owners knowing they were about to sell the house 6 months later.  So yes they’ll have used the cheapest double glazing they could find.

[bickster]

On 13/07/2022 at 14:41, CVByrne said:

Inflation in US hitting new highs. Things are going to get worse before they get better

We're living the D:Ream

[stuart_75]

I registered interest in a heat pump through my energy supplier (Octopus) and it turns out my house (early 90's) isn't suitable due to the radiators being on 10mm microbore pipes. They need to be using your regular 15mm pipework. The cost and destruction to the walls swap my system out for 15mm would be huge. I quickly withdrew any interest at that point.