Cost of living reporting

gefnew

HERE IS A LINK FOR THE TAPO P110 UNIT.
https://static.tp-link.com/2021/202105/20210526/Tapo P110(UK)1.0 datasheet.pdf
Voltage: AC, 100-240 V, 50/60 Hz · Max Load: 2990 W, 13 A

Magnitio

michaels said:

Magnitio said:

JKenH said:

paul991 said:

yes  but but what i am saying it should be made a lot easier for the general public .

Perhaps everyone should be given an Energenie; it would soon pay for itself in reducing demand. The problem is if government procured them they would end up costing £100 each.

These are even cheaper and allow switching as well as energy monitoring. I use one similar to this for a 1.5kw immersion

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tplink-tapo-p110-mini-smart-wifi-socket-10230067.html?q=tp link smart energy plug

We have a 3kw immersion I would like to add smart control to but don't think it is suitable for a standard plug socket controller as the current is to high?

It shouldn't really be used for a 3kw immersion. I think the limit of the device is set to 2.99kw.

QrizB

I've got a 16A Zigbee smart switch on my immersion. Not quite this model but the same general idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-k13f0oyw

I chose the Zigbee version as I've got a Zigbee gateway already (one of ther Lidl ones) and a handful of smart lamps.

michaels

QrizB said:

I've got a 16A Zigbee smart switch on my immersion. Not quite this model but the same general idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-k13f0oyw

I chose the Zigbee version as I've got a Zigbee gateway already (one of ther Lidl ones) and a handful of smart lamps.

I do have a samsung smart hub that I think might talk zigbee but direct google home link would probably be more straightforward.

ggmf

As discussed by another poster on here, I've recently installed - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07228W28L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to enable me to direct excess solar to the immersion. Based on the assumption that it will probably only be used for 6 months of the year, and then when the battery is fully charged, this works out a lot cheaper than the iBoost or Solic, that would take a long time to recoup the investment. If going for one of these then you need to ensure that the mounting box is deep enough.

mickyduck55

ggmf said:

As discussed by another poster on here, I've recently installed - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07228W28L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to enable me to direct excess solar to the immersion. Based on the assumption that it will probably only be used for 6 months of the year, and then when the battery is fully charged, this works out a lot cheaper than the iBoost or Solic, that would take a long time to recoup the investment. If going for one of these then you need to ensure that the mounting box is deep enough.

Yes less expensive but I guess it requires manual intervention unless you have done something clever to switch it on when batteries are full and the sun is shining.. also need to remember to switch it off when the sun stops covering the household load or it will take power from the batteries,  I could never be that disciplined 

My solic did this when I first installed the batteries as the CT clamps dont work together so it would decide I had excess power because the batteries had charge so emptied them into heating the hot water tank.  I moved the clamps as far away as possible from each other.  It still does do it occasionally but I think it usually its when Solar is low one minute and high next or there are high load shifts in the house.  TBH I initially disconnected the solic but its now been running for over 18 months and I have only noticed this issue a handful of times and I'm an "addicted solar watcher" so am aware of what's going on with my system.

ggmf

mickyduck55 said:

ggmf said:

As discussed by another poster on here, I've recently installed - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07228W28L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to enable me to direct excess solar to the immersion. Based on the assumption that it will probably only be used for 6 months of the year, and then when the battery is fully charged, this works out a lot cheaper than the iBoost or Solic, that would take a long time to recoup the investment. If going for one of these then you need to ensure that the mounting box is deep enough.

Yes less expensive but I guess it requires manual intervention unless you have done something clever to switch it on when batteries are full and the sun is shining.. 

Agreed, at the moment its manual, if the battery is full and the generation is above the house needs, and looking like it will stay there, then I'll enable the immersion switch. At the moment it takes the immersion just over an hour to heat the water to a temperature in excess of the set water temperature when heated buy gas, thermostatic shower and mixer taps help with safety.  I'm hoping to be able to fully automate it via Home Assistant and ITTT or similar.

QrizB

Some of the less-expensive solutions (switched spurs and the like) take advantage of the larger arrays that are common these days.

A <3kWp array (like mine) will never make 3kW and so can't drive a standard immersion heater without drawing some power from the grid. You either suck it up or need a gadget that can modulate the power to match generation.

With 5-6kWp arrays becoming more common these days (a combination of lower price-per-watt and increased panel efficiency) plus batteries that can time-shift any shortfall, there is less need for clever systems to limit the power fed to the heater.

JKenH

QrizB said:

Some of the less-expensive solutions (switched spurs and the like) take advantage of the larger arrays that are common these days.

A <3kWp array (like mine) will never make 3kW and so can't drive a standard immersion heater without drawing some power from the grid. You either suck it up or need a gadget that can modulate the power to match generation.

With 5-6kWp arrays becoming more common these days (a combination of lower price-per-watt and increased panel efficiency) plus batteries that can time-shift any shortfall, there is less need for clever systems to limit the power fed to the heater.

Even with bigger systems, on days like today feeding immersion heaters is difficult to manage as the clouds keep scudding over and you are drawing from the grid. I can see that with my Zappi car charger on Eco setting which while being able to adjust the draw still can’t maintain much over 90% solar usage over an hour or so. (I could use eco++ but everytime it switches off, it restarts at 6.6kw for a few seconds and logs as a new charge with the car.) My wife is ironing and playing havoc with my car charging but as she points out, I can take over if I want. 

I know they are much maligned but my IBoost saves me a lot of money (and time). My other hot water tank isn’t currently being supported by the iBoost and I find it really difficult to get a clean 3kw of solar into it for more than a few minutes at a time. 

JKenH

I came across an interesting observation in the article linked below.
https://watt-logic.com/2022/04/11/cost-of-renewables/

The beginning of this century saw two major changes: the first was the final separation of the “last mile” of the electricity market with the creation of suppliers and their separation from network companies under the Utilities Act 2000. Now consumers had proper choice over from whom to buy their energy. The second major change was the introduction of the Climate Change Levy in 2001 and the Renewables Obligations in 2002 (yes, it is now 20 years since we started subsidising off-shore windfarms). The years since these changes have seen end user electricity costs rise steadily, while wholesale prices have shown no such trend.

If one looks at data from electric insights (only available from 2009) it can be seen that the average wholesale price of electricity in 2009 was £41.56 and in 2019 (the last ‘normal’ year) was £41.94

https://electricinsights.co.uk/#/dashboard?period=1-year&start=2009-01-01&&_k=mr041c

https://electricinsights.co.uk/#/dashboard?period=1-year&start=2019-01-01&&_k=5p0i6k

Edit: if you want to argue about any other references in the attached link please feel free but please note I have posted the link to watt-logic here purely for the observation above in the context of this discussion on rising electricity prices.