How are people actually calculating their home base load?

QrizB

It's always nice to have someone on the forum who's enthusiastic about a subject and looking to learn more.

But - it feels wrong when it's presented as "help me with this problem I've got" and we later find they're asking questions so they can use that information for their own commercial purposes, whether researching a book, writing a news article or publishing their own blog / web page.

It's as though the forum members are having their good nature exploited for someone else's financial benefit. We spend time answering hypothetical questions when we could instead be helping other people who have genuine problems with their energy tariffs, or with their PV systems, or so on.

We're not a free source of consultancy for a startup business; we're here because we're trying to make life a little bit easier for householders who don't have anywhere better to turn.

Questions like that might be better directed to Reddit (or similar), places with rules that permit commercial exploitation.

Having said all that, if you're genuinely planning to get your own solar PV system (either professionally fitted, or plug-in once the rules have been published) and need some specific advice I'm sure we can still help you.

always_learning22

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967319#Comment_81967319

Guy i apologise for any deception, i value this platform and would hope that you will see the value i will add to this forum

Ildhund

I'm still wondering what the 'base load' is. If I hadn't read this thread, I would assume that it covered the non-elective bits, the 'sine qua non' of a domestic electrical system. That is in itself a bit subjective, of course - one man's essential security devices are another's waste of expensive energy. However, I'd have answered in the same way as @MeteredOut in the first response - look at the load in the wee small hours, because that's a good indication of what you can't do without.

There is another way of looking at 'base load', though. On a typical weekday, a household might see a flurry of activity around breakfast time, with hungry appliances like showers, kettles and toasters being used every day along with less significant devices like lights and entertainment kit. There's perhaps less activity until people get home again in the evening, when there's another burst of energy use. This pattern might not vary much from weekday to weekday, so it could be regarded as the weekday base load. On top of this load come less regular activities like washing, drying and hoovering. Weekends will usually have a completely different profile, and there will be seasonal variation.

The idea that the average daily load (daily consumption in kWh ÷ 24) gives any sort of basis for sizing solar panels only makes sense if there is also a battery to balance generation and consumption. There is another possibility, though: accept that the 'base load' including regular daily consumption can't be covered by solar power, but all the irregular stuff could be if it were concentrated in the periods when PV is likely to deliver. That might mean setting the washing machine and dishwasher to run in the middle of the day when no-one's home, and only using the hoover etc. at weekends, again in the middle of the day. Estimating the savings that this might bring would be an interesting exercise - and quite possibly a discouraging one.

JKenH

My view of ‘base load’ is the power drawn by devices which are left ticking over or on stand by all day and night - in my case:

Fridge/freezers

Aircon units (on standby)

Computer and printer (mine take so long to warm up that I often leave them on for days)

Set top boxes

Televisions

TV and satellite distribution amplifiers

Ultrasonic rodent repeller

Radios

Bluetooth/wifi/smart speakers

Music streamers and amplifiers

Router and WiFi mesh system

Cordless phones

Ring doorbell chime

Central heating pump

Security Lights (not on all the time but during the night they are often activated by motion)

Solar panel inverters

IHD

and if you have them

Alarm system

CCTV system

Baby monitor

Floodlights (unusual but two of my neighbours have their houses lit up all through the night)

Any other appliance with a timer, display or smart connectivity.

If you have a smart meter, then, as previously suggested, you an get a good idea of your base load from half hourly readings on your bill or app but remember to double the half hour readings. Loads aren’t always constant as items cycle on and off and some items like fridges and freezers may use more in the daytime when ambient temperatures are higher and the doors are being opened and closed. Conversely security lights won’t be in action during the day. It is useful to get a plug in energy meter which shows you just how much each plug in appliance is using. You can leave them on for a period to get a cumulative figure as often plugging and unplugging switches appliances into an active mode for a while.

I remember trying really hard, during the very remunerative saving sessions a few years back, to get the usage shown on my IHD down to zero by switching off everything and would then find I was still using 40w. Only switching off the power at the consumer unit would get rid of the last few watts - there will always be something you missed.

always_learning22

Very good explanation. I think this is where a lot of online savings estimates can drift from reality, because “base load” often sounds like one fixed number when in practice it’s a collection of small devices cycling on and off throughout the day.

Your point about using half-hourly smart meter data overnight is probably one of the best real-world ways to estimate it, especially when the house is in its most normal low-activity state. Then you can compare that with a plug-in meter on individual items to see what’s quietly adding up.

It also highlights why some homes get better results from small solar setups than others. If someone has a steady daytime base load from routers, fridge/freezers, networking gear, pumps, standby devices etc, solar generation can be absorbed more efficiently. If daytime demand is very low, export or unused generation becomes a bigger factor.

That last 40W you mentioned is relatable too. There’s nearly always a mystery load somewhere hiding in modern homes.

TroubledTarts

So the best time to judge baseload is when away from the house but I don't mean holiday where you turn things off standby

So leave things on like smart devices,tvs and plugs etc and ideally for a whole day.

Days like now are good if you have heating off or soon will have.

We have a baseload of 127w per hour so 3kwh a day