How low can you go...Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Whatever... electricity grid import

edited 4 October 2021 at 4:04PM in Green & ethical MoneySaving
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mickyduck55mickyduck55 Forumite
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edited 4 October 2021 at 4:04PM in Green & ethical MoneySaving


It has been the first week of the year when I have had little or no import from the grid so I am creating this thread so we can brag about how little energy we import in a week. I was surprised at this low figure as we were not deliberately time shifting energy usage.  It has been a normal week with cooking, baking , washing, dishwasher and showering (I did convince my better half to use the power shower instead of the 10 kW electric one as there was ample hot water heated by the immersion).

I think it will be difficult to get down to zero because of the inverter not being fast enough when certain electric appliances kick in and out causing some minor import, early morning toaster and kettle at the same time will require some import... so who will be the first to Zero ?
3.995kWP SSW facing. Commissioned 7 July 2011. 24 degree pitch (£3.36 /W).
Solar Immersion installed May 2013, after two Solar Immersion lasting just over the guarantee period replaced with Solic 200... no problems since.

13 Feb 2020 LUX AC 3600 and 3 X Pylon Tech 3.5 kW batteries added...
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  • edited 23 April 2021 at 4:19PM
    QrizBQrizB Forumite
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    edited 23 April 2021 at 4:19PM
    Wow and I though I was doing well by only importing 4kWh on Sunday! Congratulations on getting so low B)
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Go elec & Tracker gas / Voda BB / Virgin mobi. Ripple WT2 member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 2.5kw inverter. 28MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Kinda busy right now but I try to pop back to the forum every so often. Drop me a PM if you need me!
  • EVandPVEVandPV Forumite
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    Can't beat your weekly figure Mick, that's seriously low !
    Closest we came to a zero import day was 21st March with 0.211kwh.



    Scott in Fife, 2.9kwp pv SSW facing, 2.7kw Fronius inverter installed Jan 2012
    9.6kwh Pylontech battery storage with Lux ac controller
    Renault Zoe 40kwh, Corsa-e 45kwh, Zappi EV charger and Octopus Go
  • mickyduck55mickyduck55 Forumite
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    Lots of sun and biggish battery capacity...
    3.995kWP SSW facing. Commissioned 7 July 2011. 24 degree pitch (£3.36 /W).
    Solar Immersion installed May 2013, after two Solar Immersion lasting just over the guarantee period replaced with Solic 200... no problems since.

    13 Feb 2020 LUX AC 3600 and 3 X Pylon Tech 3.5 kW batteries added...
  • mickyduck55mickyduck55 Forumite
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    QrizB said:
    Wow and I though I was doing well by only importing 4kW on Sunday! Congratulations on getting so low B)
    I guess you don't have a battery so its unlikely you will ever get that low.. I bought the battery because it irked me that I was pouring power out to the grid all day then had to buy it back in the evening when I came home / the sun went down.  I know its not a good ROI.. but I like the idea 

    3.995kWP SSW facing. Commissioned 7 July 2011. 24 degree pitch (£3.36 /W).
    Solar Immersion installed May 2013, after two Solar Immersion lasting just over the guarantee period replaced with Solic 200... no problems since.

    13 Feb 2020 LUX AC 3600 and 3 X Pylon Tech 3.5 kW batteries added...
  • SolarchaserSolarchaser Forumite
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    Yeah im at 14kwh, for the week so this is something I can't compete in.
    The leccy shower is what kills it for me, its running 5 times a day on a normal day, so unless I can convince the family to shower when the sun is out (tried and failed) then it's not gonna happen.

    I suppose the silver lining is that it's 2kw a day from an average usage of 30kwh a day (not sure why it's so high, it's usually 20-25kwh a day) so the solar +batts is working well.

    Just need to fit hot water tank and ditch the leccy showers 
    West central Scotland
    4kw sse since 2014 and 6.6kw wsw / ene split since 2019
    24kwh leaf, 75Kwh Tesla and Lux 3600 with 20Kwh useable storage
  • mickyduck55mickyduck55 Forumite
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    A little effort this week time shifting so kettle and toaster not on together and zero 10 kWh electric showers, we used the power shower and the solar heated water via the Solic

    Total generation for the week 166.87 kWh  :)



    3.995kWP SSW facing. Commissioned 7 July 2011. 24 degree pitch (£3.36 /W).
    Solar Immersion installed May 2013, after two Solar Immersion lasting just over the guarantee period replaced with Solic 200... no problems since.

    13 Feb 2020 LUX AC 3600 and 3 X Pylon Tech 3.5 kW batteries added...
  • michaelsmichaels Forumite
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    WE use about as much in a week as you do in a month and I thought our house was quite electricity efficient so I have no idea how you do it.
    I think....
  • edited 5 October 2021 at 7:08PM
    QrizBQrizB Forumite
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    edited 5 October 2021 at 7:08PM
    michaels said:
    WE use about as much in a week as you do in a month and I thought our house was quite electricity efficient so I have no idea how you do it.
    It's odd, I look at mickyduck and think the same - how does he do it? Then I see he's got ~4kWp of PV and 10kWh of batteries, vs. my ~2.7kW and (until recently) 1.2kWh of battery.
    December will be when we see how much energy we need in the dark and cold ;)
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Go elec & Tracker gas / Voda BB / Virgin mobi. Ripple WT2 member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 2.5kw inverter. 28MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Kinda busy right now but I try to pop back to the forum every so often. Drop me a PM if you need me!
  • greyteam1959greyteam1959 Forumite
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    @QrizB
    How much did your battery setup cost ?
    If you don't mind me asking.

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