Flow Micro CHP Boilers

System

I did get a response back from Flow about its Freedom Package.

1. Flow is targeting households whose energy bill is in excess of £960 per annum.

2. Customers have to sign up to the Generate 1 tariff.

3. The Flow Boiler is in fact 14kW.

I can see some conflicting demands here. Larger houses with 2/3 bathrooms and unvented tanks need something bigger than a 14kW boiler. Smaller houses are better off with a combo - which the Flow boiler isn't. I confess that I am struggling to see which domestic property size this particular sized boiler will suit.

michaels

I reckon once we have the indoor pool, his'n'hers Teslas and the Tesla Wall this will be the ideal solution (as a second boiler)

System

The Flow Generate 1 tariff is pretty competitive. Out of interest, I have had a play with the figures again using my present electrical estimate as the basis for any projection (3000kWhs per annum/paid for supply). I got to £960 with an annual gas consumption of 30000kWhs with an electrical saving of 1750kWhs (i.e., only paying Flow for 1250kWhs). This works out at £300 per year more than we are paying at the moment - but I could get free energy for 5 years!!

zeupater

Hengus wrote: »

I did get a response back from Flow about its Freedom Package.

1. Flow is targeting households whose energy bill is in excess of £960 per annum.

2. Customers have to sign up to the Generate 1 tariff.

3. The Flow Boiler is in fact 14kW.

I can see some conflicting demands here. Larger houses with 2/3 bathrooms and unvented tanks need something bigger than a 14kW boiler. Smaller houses are better off with a combo - which the Flow boiler isn't. I confess that I am struggling to see which domestic property size this particular sized boiler will suit.

Hi

Does the £960 include electricity ? .... if not then the minimum usage (West Midlands representative pricing) is 38400kWh((960-(365*0.16091))/0.02349), which is pretty high by any standards ... if it does then taking an average electricity usage as being 3300kWh, the bill would be £447 ((3300*0.11777)+(365*0.16091)), therefore the minimum gas usage would be 19300kWh ((960-447-(365*0.16091))/0.02349), which would be pretty high for a well insulated property ....

Regarding Combi boilers, they're more of a personal preference than anything else and are definitely pushed by installers, probably more to do with replacement margins etc than anything else ... we have a standard condensing unit.

Sizing the unit at 14kW.t simply extends the running time through increasing the time taken to raise the system to full operating temperature prior to modulation. Consider a situation where a current ~28kW.t boiler takes 30-45 minutes to reach the set operating temperature before modulating down to well below 14kW.t, the smaller boiler would logically take much longer than double this time (radiator heat transfer). This is good for extending the electricity generation cycle in it's most efficient (/max) mode (non-modulated), but is totally useless for someone coming home to a chilly house and turning the heating on ..... what will likely happen is that the consumer will need to compensate by changing to a timed pre-heat the house before anyone enters, which effectively means that peak electricity generation will occur well before the household needs it ....

HTH
Z

zeupater

Hengus wrote: »

The Flow Generate 1 tariff is pretty competitive. Out of interest, I have had a play with the figures again using my present electrical estimate as the basis for any projection (3000kWhs per annum/paid for supply). I got to £960 with an annual gas consumption of 30000kWhs with an electrical saving of 1750kWhs (i.e., only paying Flow for 1250kWhs). This works out at £300 per year more than we are paying at the moment - but I could get free energy for 5 years!!

Hi

The issue here is that the boiler will not operate & modulate to match generation to demand, therefore much of the generation will simply be exported, therefore you couldn't simply assume that all generation could be self consumed.

When looking at this some time ago (see Mart's earlier link), the offering seemed to read that the consumer paid for all energy used. The problem at the time was that the system technical specs were extremely poor (and still are!) and the full T&Cs weren't available to read, so check the offer carefully as there may be absolutely no 'free energy'.

With the quality of information currently available it's extremely hard to decide whether there could be any benefit at all, therefore anyone with a logical mind should ponder why this would be the case considering the length of time that this has been the case ... then, if still intent on taking up the offer, consider all options well and proceed with caution ...

Have you fully read the referenced discussion thread and looked for opinions of customers of alternative mCHP units ?

HTH
Z

System

I gave Flow my present gas and electricity assumptions and they came back with the £960 a year figure. I have looked at everything that is available on this innovative boiler and I just cannot see how it can work for the average household - and that is putting to one side the technical risk and servicing/repair costs. They offered a survey but I will not be wasting their time or mine.

zeupater

Hengus wrote: »

I gave Flow my present gas and electricity assumptions and they came back with the £960 a year figure. I have looked at everything that is available on this innovative boiler and I just cannot see how it can work for the average household - and that is putting to one side the technical risk and servicing/repair costs. They offered a survey but I will not be wasting their time or mine.

Hi

It's probably not hard to deduce that I came to the same conclusion quite a while back ....

Z