Energy bill increases

[Roseland triker]

That's a long old drill you have there!

could probably edit that

 

[mjr]

Problem is that it reacts quite slowly - [...] Hopefully the batroom are 'getting done' soon and we will get the whole control system replaced while they are here

See if you can get a proactive control system that looks at outdoor temperature (and ideally forecasts, time of day, number of people in, ...) instead of a reactive one. By the time your reactive thermostat sees the room temperature drop as far as it sounds like it does, it's already too late and playing catch-up, leaving you cold for a while until it brings the temperature back up.

A proactive system should see the outdoor temperature drop, know that your home will now lose heat more quickly (it gets programmed at setup with an approximation of how quickly it loses heat and some systems learn more during use) and adjust the heating (usually the flow temperature) to compensate before you know anything about it. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[Scaleyback]

I'm going to drill into the diesel pipeline that runs 70miles underground here if I get stuck....

Got rustled by the mod last time I was digging near it so the task could be lucrative

I'm betting Gas Meter fraud is going to explode (pun intended) with the current cost of energy. I worked for British Gas for many years, even 'back in the day' of affordable energy scallywags were bypassing gas meters with hosepipes etc. Yes, sometimes blowing themselves (and others) up.

 

[fossyant]

I'm going to drill into the diesel pipeline that runs 70miles underground here if I get stuck....

Got rustled by the mod last time I was digging near it so the task could be lucrative

Anyone in South Wales might be able to tap into the gas pipeline from Milford Haven to Gloucestershire - I worked for the company that put it in 15-20 years ago. Might go pop under the pressure though if you drill into it.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Anyone in South Wales might be able to tap into the gas pipeline from Milford Haven to Gloucestershire - I worked for the company that put it in 15-20 years ago. Might go pop under the pressure though if you drill into it.

I'd be more worried bout it going BANG

 

[MrGrumpy]

Not sure if this was posted in this thread or another forum. Found it interesting none the less .

https://myhomefarm.co.uk/potential-air-source-heat-pump-running-cost-issue

 

[FishFright]

Yes but when the sun comes in the window it ruins the sensor then open the back door and minus 5 blows in it causes the airsource to keep goin on and off.
This causes demand for the electricity thus costing alot.


Have you ever had airsource heating?

You don't have the boiler and airsource heating running off the same thermostat do you ?

My friends setup is ground source but he has that running as as base heating with the gas boiler only used when the temperature drops below a minimum temperature.

 

[gbb]

That HSE advice to store hot water at 60 degrees contradicts NHS advice for 46 degree maximum at-tap water temperature to avoid scalding people, especially people with reduced skin sensation. HSE seem to think 50 degrees at-tap is acceptable, which IIRC is about 90-second scalding! And even that is only achieved by kludging expensive thermostatic valves in, which can't be used on many gravity-fed systems, which means you need an even more expensive electric pump. It is unrealistic and wasteful old advice from HSE which should be updated in the face of the climate and energy crises.

HSE's mainly about workplaces and I doubt many homes comply with most risking scalding by omitting the valves, or risking legionella if someone's turned the tank down to fix scalding hot tap water. Do you actually follow that HSE advice for your home? For example, when did you last drain your hot water cylinder and check it?

The latest advice is that home water tanks should be heated to 60 degrees for an hour every 1-2 weeks (legionella dies in about half that time at 60 degrees) and that it's far more important that the hot water system should contain no dead legs where legionella can grow, even with a 60 degree tank. Modern heating controllers have a legionella cycle on them to manage the tank, plus a thermometer so they can avoid it sitting lukewarm. Much better than the old brainless thermostats with almost no gap between off and on temperatures that then got linked to a timer to stop it reheating too often, with the end result of water held in the 32-42° ideal growth range.

Heat your tank to 60 every time any water is taken out of it if you want, and install expensive valves and pumps to cool it to safe use temperature, but please don't try to scare everyone into spending all that.

The tank (or boiler out) temp at 60c has always been standard in my workplaces. Return temps, always aim to be 50c and in that, you can (almost) guarantee being legionella free. But of course these are commercial circulatory systems, risk assessments are carried out to identify (and if neccessary remove) deadlegs, low use taps, and consideration given to the length if pipe feeding a tap and how long it takes to purge the cold water before the hot works its way through, there is a preferable maximum time limit to reduce the risk again.

Not sure how all this compares to domestic systems but 60 at the boiler /tank seems quite normal IME. As you say, how you achieve a 'safe' temperature at the tap will be much harder in domestic settings, in industry, mixers, then the minimum pipe length to tap is pretty standard to give a water temp that wont scald.

 

[midlife]

Not sure if this was posted in this thread or another forum. Found it interesting none the less .

https://myhomefarm.co.uk/potential-air-source-heat-pump-running-cost-issue

Isn't electric about 28 pence per kwh at the moment? Sort of blows a hole in their 11p kwh projection?

 

[fossyant]

Isn't electric about 28 pence per kwh at the moment? Sort of blows a hole in their 11p kwh projection?

About 20p on variable as of my bill two weeks ago....

 

[mjr]

About 20p on variable as of my bill two weeks ago....

Yes, 28p is the cap from April. Note that oil was too expensive for heating at 50p/l. It's now 75p/l and rising. Farked either way. I think Mars ks now burning veg oil but that won't scale to the whole country.

 

[Roseland triker]

You don't have the boiler and airsource heating running off the same thermostat do you ?

My friends setup is ground source but he has that running as as base heating with the gas boiler only used when the temperature drops below a minimum temperature.

No I don't have airsource now as I said oil.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I’m going to fire up my fusion reactors

 

[Roseland triker]

I’m going to fire up my fusion reactors

There's one in our harbour I suspect

 

[Ming the Merciless]

There's one in our harbour I suspect

Hot water as well, sorted.