reduce energy on standby

[John Brown]

I'm not doubting that, but it does sound too good to be true. Also, it "captures cold" at night??
What's cold?

 

[Spectric]

There are now cunning systems that can increase summer CoP to around 8 and in winter to around 5.5.

Is that not the wrong way round, you want the better efficiency when the usage is higher, ie winter. Some people in Cumbria may be getting the ideal underfloor heating when the government gets round to burying all the radioactive waste, that will be good for at least ten generations providing you are willing to become sterile and bald.

 

[Spectric]

Also, it "captures cold" at night??

I would have thought that is the last thing you want to capture, surely if the ground is colder then it will transfer heat from your house to warm up the ground.

 

[nickds1]

Is that not the wrong way round, you want the better efficiency when the usage is higher, ie winter. Some people in Cumbria may be getting the ideal underfloor heating when the government gets round to burying all the radioactive waste, that will be good for at least ten generations providing you are willing to become sterile and bald.

I don't think so - in winter, the GSHP has to work much harder to get the required temperature rise to the property so lower CoP; in summer, the ground is already warmer so the GSHP has less work to do, so higher CoP.

The critical figure is the required "uplift" - the lower it is, the better the CoP.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Is that not the wrong way round, you want the better efficiency when the usage is higher, ie winter. Some people in Cumbria may be getting the ideal underfloor heating when the government gets round to burying all the radioactive waste, that will be good for at least ten generations providing you are willing to become sterile and bald.

Ah ................. that's what caused it .

 

[fred55]

Well I've gone and done it 18 solar panels, controller and 2 x batteries on order - will keep this thread upto date on my view of : is it worth it or not !! yep after paying out my money i'll try to be non bias. - start with roof 41 degrees 30 southeast. most of my full sun will be early morning till 4ish. Please No Black Cats - ie; could have told you that; i'd have done it for nowt!; why dint you ask; last week I had one to give away; well that's what Black Cats do in Yorkshire.

 

[Sideways]

Well I've gone and done it 18 solar panels, controller and 2 x batteries on order - will keep this thread upto date on my view of : is it worth it or not !! yep after paying out my money i'll try to be non bias. - start with roof 41 degrees 30 southeast. most of my full sun will be early morning till 4ish. Please No Black Cats - ie; could have told you that; i'd have done it for nowt!; why dint you ask; last week I had one to give away; well that's what Black Cats do in Yorkshire.

Good man.
We have now 9kW peak (24 panels) on a similar SE facing roof. They have been running for 6 weeks now and in the month of May produced 850kWh of energy. That's about a quarter of our current annual electricity consumption if only we were able to store and use it all.
The battery is on a boat due later this year but meanwhile I've turned off the gas hot water heating as the solar will heat at least one and more often 3-4 tanks full of steaming hot water over a day.
MyEnergi Eddi is well worth looking into.
Having the generation biassed towards the start of the day is no bad thing. You can heat water, charge a car and battery, do chores in the morning then go out in the afternoon.

I'm sure payback will be nearer 20 years than 10, but the panels are guaranteed to degrade no faster than 0,25% a year over 40 years !

 

[Scruples]

That holds true in Ac circuits providing both current and voltage are RMS values. Multiply this by Sin Theta to get real power and by Cos Theta to get reactive or imaginary power which you may or may not be charged for.

Reactive power was really only of concern to large industries with machinery and lots of motors where there was a high percentage of inductance, but now it seems households are seeing more reactive power though capacitive loads as in switching power supplies and modern technology.

When looking at energy suppliers it is important to bear in mind their daily standing charge, so if you turned off both your gas and electricity you will still get a bill. High energy users can accept slightly higher standing charges for cheaper unit rates wheras low energy uses may accept the slightly higher unit rates for lower standing charges.

I think it's Cos (phi) not theta.

 

[HamsterJam]

That is the sort of book that got many boys into engineering, got them interested in physics and just something that gets the mind thinking and curiousity into overdrive.

https://www.tayloredge.com/museum/museum/TheBoyElectrician.pdf

The Ladybird book ‘Batteries, Bulbs and Magnets’ started my interest in electricity and that led me to a career in engineering.

 

[Sandyn]

The Ladybird book ‘Batteries, Bulbs and Magnets’ started my interest in electricity and that led me to a career in engineering

I met a lot of engineers that used the same training manual!! ....its a joke. don't anyone take offence please

 

[Scruples]

The Ladybird book ‘Batteries, Bulbs and Magnets’ started my interest in electricity and that led me to a career in engineering.

Yes, me too. And later, Into programming and databases.

 

[fred55]

Well what a year for energy in Britain - since I started end of last year energy's gone through the roof and there a war in Ukraine, sorry as I am, the good news is MY SOLAR PANELS are to be fitted tomorrow; as I stated I will try to give 'Yorkshire tight view' are they worth it or not !, What I've continued is my reduction of energy latest is turn down water temp and set it to on demand rather than keep the combi small hot water tank hot all day.

Just a small observation when young we had electric bulb in kitchen all the time, occasionally one for the best room. hot water copper in the little range, tin bath luckily I was 3rd of 4 but we all got washed Sun night ready for the school week,, leaky single glassed wooden windows, and back door always open, outside toilet of our own, heating in winter was that kitchen or a paraffin heater, and no global warming at that time so. The panic that's reported now now make me laugh - how did my generation survive :- Answers, please scratch in on the icy formation on your windows.

 

[D_W]

Just a small observation when young we had electric bulb in kitchen all the time, occasionally one for the best room. hot water copper in the little range, tin bath luckily I was 3rd of 4 but we all got washed Sun night ready for the school week,, leaky single glassed wooden windows, and back door always open, outside toilet of our own, heating in winter was that kitchen or a paraffin heater, and no global warming at that time so. The panic that's reported now now make me laugh - how did my generation survive :- Answers, please scratch in on the icy formation on your windows.

I'm sure you also used less energy than someone living 20 miles from work, flying to at least one vacation, maybe two, heating their "efficient" house and cooling same with the accuracy of a tempering furnace.

Much of the consumption behavior has been promoted by utilities - touting open floor plans and ways that you can add more to be a better customer.

I'm not that (relatively) old, but when I was a kid, we took close vacations and the heat was off during sleeping hours. Never had a/c (not a cool area, either) until I was in high school, and then it was only small room units that consumed a fraction of cooling the whole house.

My parents now have a relatively more energy efficient house but have had full house A/C retrofitted. Their vehicles get better mileage, but they drive more miles, canceling it out. And their power use is higher. They still do leave the lights off out of habit - unless you need them for a task or reading. That's a little offputting when visiting them - walking around in the dark and having them follow you to turn off lights after blasting away 25kw/hr on A/C.

they are of means now, thus the consumption. WE are all relatively of means compared to 75 years ago and all of this posturing does little to curtail energy consumption. We'd have to halve it to get anywhere close to what people who thought only of thrift attained.

 

[D_W]

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=49036
OK, in the US on average, we'd have to quarter it. In 1960, people used a fan instead of an A/C. This is only electricity, but gas and oil consumption are probably similar.

But we're "more efficient and conscious" at this point!

 

[fred55]

Panels fitted and working producing more than I use (60% to 40%) best day Tues sunny all day produced 14.1 Kwh for the grid, run the house and charged up batteries for the evening and night: at present getting up in the morning to a reserve of 60 to 70% - need to see how it goes in Dec and Jan .

Problem 1 - the OVO meter not compatible so at present I get charge for all I produce for the grid the stupid meter can not differentiate if its going in or out. If we have another sunny day I feel like throwing blankets over the panels.

Problem 2 yes a rant - OVO ?? why can you not get an intelligent person on the phone who can make a decision - OVO Bot my ar*e - the customer service department is taken over by Bots and people who know nowt: just refer to internet, have you waiting, or set you on the 'roundabout', have you a smart meter: all because they don't know. So against my better judgement I've had to deal with a 'Bot' to have a smart meter fitted.

 

[fred55]

Well I said I'd give a running report of a tight mans view of Solar panels - end of summers/Autumn report - using very little electric from the Grid ( 0.1kwh per day; why I don't know ) , the 7kwh battery are still 50% or more after the night (I'm using 99w to 200w per hour overnight). On a normal day they are full again by 10.30 am a sunny start full by 9. at moment self sufficient in electric and exporting.
I am becoming an energy bore - cannot stop looking at the phone app to see how much I'm using or exporting; better than watching TV.
£10,600 hell of a bill, but I'm please and would recommend them depending upon circumstances. Mainly check out the company mine did not charge a penny until they are fitted and working; plus they provide the paper work for completion. There are some horror stories out there and the demand has gone thought the roof since I started looking; So check Trustpilot and Which Trusted Trader or others sites for references.

 

[fred55]

Well I said I'd give a running report of a tight mans view of Solar panels - end of summers/Autumn report - using very little electric from the Grid ( 0.1kwh per day; why I don't know ) , the 7kwh battery are still 50% or more after the night (I'm using 99w to 200w per hour overnight). On a normal day they are full again by 10.30 am a sunny start full by 9. at moment self sufficient in electric and exporting.
I am becoming an energy bore - cannot stop looking at the phone app to see how much I'm using or exporting; better than watching TV.
£10,600 hell of a bill, but I'm please and would recommend them depending upon circumstances. Mainly check out the company mine did not charge a penny until they are fitted and working; plus they provide the paper work for completion. There are some horror stories out there and the demand has gone thought the roof since I started looking; So check Trustpilot and Which Trusted Trader or others sites for references.

Tightmans final report - loved the solar panels; up to Aug 2023 the excess payment back into the grid (octopus) is paying for the standing charges and summer gas usage - the kids loved it to ! so much so I've paid for them to have have a similar set up on their houses; better now than taxman taking it ! . I used 'Ask' from Barnsley - for me no pay till fitted and working, and all paperwork completed - sorry if im out of order moderators but there are so many horror stories from 'jumping on the bandwagon companies' its worth knowing good news from a members personal experiences.

 

[John Brown]

Too lazy too read back through entire thread... What capacity are your panels and battery?

 

[fred55]

390w x 18, and 7.2 KWhr storage.

 

[John Brown]

390w x 18, and 7.2 KWhr storage.

Thanks.