Cost of electricity a day whilst running air source heat pump!

EssexHebridean

Spoonie_Turtle said:

EssexHebridean said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

K80G92 said:
I don't understand why I am seeing more and more social housing having it fitted if it is so expensive to run as their just going to struggle even more at these running costs so I feel like I am missing something 🤔 

I would assume they probably had electric heating before already, so heat pumps are more efficient than storage or panel heaters.  Cost-wise if they were previously on Economy 7, I don't know whether it works out any cheaper or not.

I'm certainly aware of new build social housing in the Scottish islands having heat pumps fitted as the standard housing now - but of course across much of the outer isles in particular there is little mains gas. the "Standard" up there until recently would have been either oil-fired CH or storage heaters on a dual-rate tariff I think. 

That certainly makes sense, from an environmental and efficiency perspective.  Perhaps less so financially for tenants but that's hardly likely to be on the list of considerations for new housing (and to be honest, I completely understand environmental impact taking precedence).

Yes - however in the Outer Isles the level of fuel poverty is horrific - as in possibly as high as around 80% of households, up from just over 50% of households in the Spring. It really is a place where installing more expensive methods of heating for those who are already likely to come under the heading of vulnerable is a bit of a head-scratcher. On many cases I understand the environmental aspect taking precedence - there however - and I suspect to an extent in Orkney and Shetland also as well as parts of the Highlands - I think it really needs to be questioned. It's a dilemma - I know the UK and the Scottish Government have  targets to  meet on net zero, but the concern is whether those targets are being prioritised across the board even in areas where affordability needs to come higher up the pecking order.

Mstty

Your base load of electricity (taking August as you supplied those figures for all electricity use and hot water no heating) worked out at 12.53 kWh a day which accounts for £4.13 of your daily use.

Heating wise we have a 4/5 bedroom designed ASHP so underfloor heating downstairs and radiator upstairs running the weather compensation curve adjusted downwards from the original manufactures curve and on 24/7 as we work from home with individual room thermostats downstairs set accordingly from 18-21oC depending on the room and use. Upstairs always set to 19oC.

Taking our winter base load (includes hot water of 10kwh a day off our daily usage that gives us the following for the past couple of weeks in November

Nov7th-13th 38kwh heating 5.4kwh/day

Nov14th-20th 82kwh heating 11.7kwh/day

Nov21st-23rd 50kwh heating 16.7kwh/day

Outside temperature being the key reason the usage is going up.

That said this November will still be 225kwh down on last November.

I don't think you are that far off our figures if you are running your system 24/7.

hardergamer

@EssexHebridean I agree about their basic heating, my own family who live in and around Stornoway still burn peat for heating and use bottled gas for cooking, and my mum who is 65 has not used any heating in over 20 years, apart from the peat fuelled Rayburn, when I stayed over xmess 2018 I woke most morning to find my drinks frozen next to me, this is why I live in Devon even though I love the Outer Hebrides, my youngest three brothers have no CH in their homes, and only light the fire on the most cold nights, and all three have wives and young children, but then again they do eat twice as much as I do, especially hot Cornish pasties, which I think is the biggest selling food at Tesco's on the Isle of Lewis.

EssexHebridean

LOl @hardergamer they're definitely a hardy breed up there! It was the recently built social housing in Balivanich that I noticed a few months ago was all equipped with heat pumps - and I assume that the Comhairle will be doing similar in other areas of new-builds too. Whether they are also retro-fitting to existing properties I have no idea. Until reading this thread I'd no idea that the running costs were so high. 

Apologies to the OP for this slight tangent but thank you for providing some interesting information. 

Reed_Richards

I have a heat pump and the heat pump has its own electricity meter so I know exactly how much it uses.  For information, I live in a 4-bedroom timber frame bungalow.

In the year from 28th January 2021 to 27th January 2022 my heat pump used 6026 kWh.  Currently I pay 33.67p per kWh so that would be a bit over £2000 per year at the present rate (before the Government discount).  Under current circumstances this does not seem unduly expensive; on average I get about 3 kWh of heat for every 1 kWh of electricity used.  Heating oil would be cheaper at current prices, mains gas would have a similar running cost.

If you are running a heat pump it probability has a weather compensation capability.  Weather compensation, used properly, can significantly reduce the running costs of a heat pump.  But installers don't necessarily set the optimum weather compensation settings in which case you might be paying more than you need to.  

redbuzzard

5 bed new build timber frame house, 210 sq m. in SE of England.

In November, up to 21st, we have averaged 26kWh total per day of which an average of 12kWh is on the heat pump meter, the rest is everything else (we are all electric).  That's about £9.50 per day total, of which £4.30 is heat pump.  The heat pump figure does not include the immersion heater use for the legionella cycle.  We have MVHR but the running cost of that should be at least offset on the heat pump use.  All lighting is LED.  Room stats are average about 19 upstairs, 23 downstairs.  Heating and DHW normally runs 24/7, heating is all underfloor.  ASHP is using a compensation curve.

My forecast for annual cost on about 8200kWh annually is £3,000 at current prices, which is pretty shocking, but that's really about energy prices.

Of course a massive factor here is the level of sealing and insulation.  I looked up some old bills, and in the 1950's bungalow that we demolished to build our present house, one year we used 26,000kWh of gas and 8,000kWh of electricity!  And if was only about 60% of the living space.

Have you looked at the CoP?  My ASHP has never bettered about 2.7, and in the summer when it was basically DHW only, that dropped to 1.9.  The supplier waffled round this so I have been collecting data.  Then a week ago the ASHP threw a fault code and shut down.  Turns out to be a refrigerant leak.  Discussing with the engineer, it seems likely that this leak has been present since commissioning or soon after, and performance has been declining, so in a way I'm happy it broke down - when the unit has been replaced or repaired, we will finally see (I hope) what the performance really should be.

Alnat1

23C is practically tropical!

redbuzzard

Alnat1 said:

23C is practically tropical!

Yes, I thought that...but all the stats are about 1.5-1.6m off the floor and I have noticed that the temperature at head height when sitting in lounge furniture is al least 2 degrees lower than that. 

I think part of it is that one of us hasn't quite adjusted to the absence of the feel of any radiant heat. Another factor is being habituated to being warm.  A friend shocked me to day by telling me that she and her husband had now set their thermostat to 14C and are getting on quite well with it!

Currently, with the ASHP being hors de combat, we are heating the whole house with a 5kW log burner, apart from an hour or so of fan heater in the bathroom each day.  We are parboiled in the lounge even with the doors open to let the heat into the rest of the house.  Today is the first day we have lit the stove before evening.  We're actually managing quite well without the CH.

gazb_2

How’s everyone’s bills changed now that it’s above freezing?

Mstty

On course for just over an average 31kwh a day for December and that's with the ASHP running the weather compensation curve 24/7 with roomtemps of 20-22oC ( house details in signature) includes all other electric usage and hot water.

Overall likely to be approx 40kwh over December 2021 usage but given the mild weather in December 2021 and the sustained -6oC 10 day stretch this December not too bad at all.