Very high gas usage - help

Mstty

Section62 said:

Mstty said:

Let's not get into the "every new house should be forced to have solar panels" it's a no brainer and the profits the house builders make they should be made to put them on every house. Imagine a bulk install costs probably only 2.5k per house.

People tend to overestimate how much profit housebuilders make per unit. The more demands the government make, the more expensive new homes become.

Far from being a "no brainer", putting solar panels on every new house would be a waste of resources. There are more intelligent and efficient ways of increasing total solar generation, rather than randomly placing small installations in non-optimal locations.

I stand by the comment 2.5K even if split half and half between buyer and housebuilder would very much be worth it long-term for drawing down domestically and sending back to the grid.

There are always more efficient or large scale solutions, but you know what they take decades to fruition.

What I was suggesting is a now solution. Quick with immediate results and if you see the number of new homes going up the figures for electrifity generated would be significant.

k_man

@Benny2020

Where does your overnight power come from?
Your current use of solar helps reduce daytime grid load, but not a lot of help outside.

Benny2020

So it's not worth doing? 
Bizarre argument that if its not a complete solution it should not be done.

MattMattMattUK

Section62 said:

Mstty said:

Let's not get into the "every new house should be forced to have solar panels" it's a no brainer and the profits the house builders make they should be made to put them on every house. Imagine a bulk install costs probably only 2.5k per house.

People tend to overestimate how much profit housebuilders make per unit. The more demands the government make, the more expensive new homes become.

The majority of the cost of homes in the UK is land, depending on the location and spec of the build it can range from 50-80%. 

Section62 said:

Far from being a "no brainer", putting solar panels on every new house would be a waste of resources. There are more intelligent and efficient ways of increasing total solar generation, rather than randomly placing small installations in non-optimal locations.

Solar panels installed as part of a roof build work out quite a lot cheaper than an addition post build, this dramatically reduces payback period, as well as reducing ongoing costs to the homeowner and increasing long term value. If every new house was fitted with 6-8 kW solar then that would, long term have a benefit to both the individual homeowner and the nation and the additional increase in cost when compared to the cost of the house would be minimal, probably so minimal as to be irrelevant. 

wild666

TrevS_4 said:

Hi all

I like many are assessing their energy usage at the moment. After reviewing my energy statements over the past 12 months we are worried about our gas usage. We have a 4-bed detached house and our estimated energy usage is 4980 kWh for electricity and 31700 kWh for gas per year.

We have a 40kw combi boiler for heating and hot water but all cooking etc is done on electric. We do leave the heating on throughout the day due to home working but I am currently being much more cautious by reducing the thermostat temp down etc.

Can someone tell me if 31,700 kWh a high number for a detached property? According to British Gas the average consumption for a large 5 bed house is around 17,000 kWh per year. So, our usage seems very high.

Also is there any way I can test usage e.g. take a meter reading each day for a week or purchase some kind of smart meter to help monitor the usage?

Thanks

Trevor

Turn down the temperatures on the boiler to 50 degrees for water and 55, or a bit lower, for heating it might take longer to heat the place but will save you hundreds of kWh if not thousands.
Everything you have in standby mode turn it off at the wall socket that again would save hundreds of kWh's. The only appliances that need to be on 24/7 are the fridge, freezer and router everything else can be turned off if not in use.

k_man

Benny2020 said:

So it's not worth doing? 
Bizarre argument that if its not a complete solution it should not be done.

Not sure where not doing it was suggested?

I was just highlighting that domestic solar does not address the overnight usage, which currently is filled by gas.

MattMattMattUK

wild666 said:

TrevS_4 said:

Hi all

I like many are assessing their energy usage at the moment. After reviewing my energy statements over the past 12 months we are worried about our gas usage. We have a 4-bed detached house and our estimated energy usage is 4980 kWh for electricity and 31700 kWh for gas per year.

We have a 40kw combi boiler for heating and hot water but all cooking etc is done on electric. We do leave the heating on throughout the day due to home working but I am currently being much more cautious by reducing the thermostat temp down etc.

Can someone tell me if 31,700 kWh a high number for a detached property? According to British Gas the average consumption for a large 5 bed house is around 17,000 kWh per year. So, our usage seems very high.

Also is there any way I can test usage e.g. take a meter reading each day for a week or purchase some kind of smart meter to help monitor the usage?

Thanks

Trevor

Turn down the temperatures on the boiler to 50 degrees for water and 55, or a bit lower, for heating it might take longer to heat the place but will save you hundreds of kWh if not thousands.
Everything you have in standby mode turn it off at the wall socket that again would save hundreds of kWh's. The only appliances that need to be on 24/7 are the fridge, freezer and router everything else can be turned off if not in use.

Whilst I agree with the first point, with modern appliance the latter is almost always irrelevant, eg. a TV in standby uses less than 4 kWh a year, same for games consoles, microwaves, smart home devices etc. power consumption of most devices in standby is negligible.

Benny2020

In answer to the original question I think you should aim for half your current consumption of 5000kwh leccy and 31000 gas.

Section62

Benny2020 said:

Micro generation vs macro generation, i guess you and i are in different camps.

Benny2020 said:

So it's not worth doing? 
Bizarre argument that if its not a complete solution it should not be done.

You said -

Benny2020 said:

Everybody needs solar panels.

Benny2020 said:

If everybody did then we would not need new nuclear.

Not sure how you concluded we are in different 'camps' or that there's an argument that more solar isn't a good idea.

My issue is with your statements that "everybody needs solar panels", and that "we would not need new nuclear".

Putting PV's on everybody's roof would be daft.  A good proportion (let's say half) wouldn't be generating to their full potential.  It would make more sense for the investment (money and material resources) in those panels to instead go into putting panels in locations where their potential is fully exploited.

Whether or not we need more (new) nuclear is a different question to whether or not domestic PV can generate a net return.

None of this discussion about strategic policy helps with the OP's issue though.

TrevS_4

Hi all, OK time for an update.

I’ve checked the boiler, hot water is on 47 degrees and heating set to 54 degrees. I have adjusted the thermostat down to 19 degrees in the evening while we are downstairs, dropping to 18 overnight and then 17 during the day when it's just me in the house as it’s slightly warmer upstairs and doesn’t feel cold in the day.

Over the last 24 hours we used 4.547m3 of gas based on meter readings 24 hours apart. That converts to 49.98 kWh which at the current rate of 7.28p per kWh equals £3.64 in gas.

That seems much closer to where I need to be so I’ll have to keep monitoring over a week or to see how things average out. I’ve also just ordered a Hive smart thermostat so I can better tweak the heating schedule which again will help with reducing the heating.

Does that figure of around 50kWh per day sound closer to what you would expect?