ENERGY MATTERS

[Tripps]

That's made my day. I keep note of monthly meter readings, but don't actually photograph the meter. I see that I used 503 units in January and February combined, which is a similar period to that which you describe. ( I use bottled gas for cooking). Proud moment - at the bottom of my records page is a note - "multiply meter reading by 11.2 to comvert to kWh" . I worked that out all on my own! Using Pluggy as a benchmark I am surely doing something right, as my consumption is only 14% more, and I'm at home and warm, all day in a four bed detached bungalow, all of which is heated.

[Pluggy]

Maybe I should do energy monitoring as a sideline to repairing computers. The photographs are fully automated, a couple of cheap webcams attached to my little 'server' - the hacked NAS box that has been referred to in another thread. Theres also a couple of white LEDS so the cameras can see in the otherwise dark cupboard. It takes one every 10 minutes and stores them for 24 hours (fun for watching the electric run backwards on sunny days), every 8 hours it takes the last one and stores it for posterity. I have Electric meter readings from Mid 2009, Gas from early 2010. The server, cameras and micro-controller for the monitoring and heating control pull around 7 or 8 watts on a permanent basis (about £7 a year). About half what leaving my Sky box on standby uses.

I'm surprised that bottled gas comes out at the same figure as mains gas, maybe its arranged that way so theres a direct comparison.

I'm in a late Victorian end terrace, probably near the bottom of the ladder as far as energy efficiency goes - solid stone walls. Its also pretty small, so internal insulation and DPCs etc would dramatically reduce the living space. The nimby's would throw up their hands in horror if I put external cladding and insulation on the walls..........

[Tripps]

"I'm surprised that bottled gas comes out at the same figure as mains gas"

Not sure what that means. What I meant was that my mains gas consumption does not include the cooker - it's just for hot water, and central heating. I didn't think it was worth converting the range cooker to mains gas, since it is a long way from the meter, and a bottle lasts six months for reasonable cost. I have monthly consumption records for the last ten years - this house and the previous one. My monitoring equipment consists of a pencil and notebook.

[Pluggy]

Read the posts, Stephen, I took it as saying you used bottled gas for heating as well as cooking. Come to think of it bottled gas won't be metered anyway, its already paid for and you just change the bottle when it runs out. Dohhhhh...........

I'm not disciplined enough for pencil and notebook.

I have a gas hob which is mains fed, but we don't use much for cooking, average use of the hob uses about a tenth of the gas the boiler uses when its on and the hob is only used maybe once a day. The oven is electric.

[Bodger]

As an old fellow who made a few bob, and lives in an old house, i want to live comfortable, i have two sources of heat, a Rayburn stove, + central heating, and a pot bellied stove, i burn wood , turf, and coal, i probably at this time of year spend 40 /50 euro a week, and as i write the temp guage is reading 26.5 C in the house, we can sit in comfort and do'nt worry about outside temp, even though i was born in Yorkshire i would never reudce my heat to save money, if you have the brass why not spend it and live comfortable, and as for taking the top of the hot water tap why?, it only cost money if you turn it on!!. I cannot see what is the purpose of trying to live at a "liveable"temp animals do that, but i reckon we are above that level ?

[Whyperion]

Pluggy , looks like you need solar heating and a wood burner , that gas works out at what , £240 a quarter , funny how mine for mid terrace is coming up at about £300 but I cannot do the changes as its not my property and owner wont make the adjustments.

[Stanley]

Each to his own. My version of energy saving is individual and works so hot tap handle stays off!
Just read the meter, since Jan 11th (the meter was read the same day as the stove went in) I have used 55 metric units x 11.2 = 616 Kw/hr. At 4p that is £24.64. Coal burned is £52 so total through coldest weather is about £77 for 60 days. Only room that has suffered is the Shed which has had hardly any heating. Kitchen where I spend most of my day hasn't varied because the radiator never comes on during day even if CH is on, the thermostatic valve shuts the radiator off as soon as the lights, FM and cooking starts. Rest of the house is warmer than it was as CH thermostat is still set at just below 18C but doesn't kick in unless the stove has been out for a couple of hours. I'm pleased, it looks as though the stove was a good investment. I look forward to the April reassessment of annual usage and direct debit setting. At the moment it's £24 a month, it will obviously fall.
I don't do a lot of monitoring and recording, I just look at the temperature in the front room when I come down at about 4AM. It's always over 20C and this morning is 23C as weather is warming up. Even when the fire is only a few embers the stove is still too hot to touch and so is a hot radiator. At the moment I light the stove at about 6am and once it has gassed off and got going I shut it down to minimum draught and leave it alone until about 7PM when I might waken it up a bit. As the weather warms up I shall let the thermostat on the landing be my guide, when CH cuts in I'll light the stove. In summer (!) it will only get lit with a small fire when it gets chilly in front room. At the moment I am probably running it for too long as temp in front room gets up to about 25C during the day, far too hot for me. I'm comfortable at about 20/21C depending on outside conditions. So from now on the coal bill will fall and the gas bill stay about the same or lower.
Of course there is always the proviso that I live alone and don't have to cater for anyone else. Perhaps the most efficient route to fuel efficiency is to throw the family out on the street! Not recommended.....

[Pluggy]

Pluggy , looks like you need solar heating and a wood burner , that gas works out at what , £240 a quarter , funny how mine for mid terrace is coming up at about £300 but I cannot do the changes as its not my property and owner wont make the adjustments.

No room on the roof (full of PV panels) for solar heating and no room in the house for a hot water cylinder to go with it. I have a combi boiler so it just heats it as its used.. Having seen Stanly's stove which would presumably burn wood, it might be an idea for the future, but I'd need a balanced flue version since I tore my chimney down about 20 years ago. The upstairs rooms have had the inner leaf of the solid walls removed and built up with polystyrene insulated 'clinker' blocks, it made them a bit bigger and a bit more efficient. Having removed much of the chimney in this process I was frightened the smoke stack would take a tumble through the roof and kill someone so it was removed. Doing the same downstairs was considered too much of an upheaval at the time and I chickened out So I suppose I'm only half solid walls......

[Whyperion]

Normal method if you want to keep a (Brick) chimney while removing a fireplace and internal chimney is to fit to the loft wall a substantial pair of steel gallows brackets with steel plate across supporting the weight. Dont know if stone chimneys would be of greater weight.

The small back bedroom/kitchen chimney appears missing in our current property , the Smoke stack and pot remain , the back bedroom is now a bathroom with the shower just below the chimney. As there is no separate roofspace in the bathroom I wait for the stack to fall in / or off the roof one day ( though it does appear firmly attached to the next door terrace one ).

For internal polystrene insulation is there any recommendation as to weight thickness and density. For new build I have normally speciefied 'Jablite' blocks or sheet to go against concrete which I think is denser than some of the thin sheets that go behind radiators etc but not certain how it compares with my home brew packing case insulation ( one wall is where I store the model railway train set boxes floor to ceiling ). Normally have used foil faced mineral wool batts in brick /timber/plasterboard construction.

[Stanley]

No comments on low fuel costs? I want you to tell me how well I am doing!!!

[Tardis]

No comments on low fuel costs? I want you to tell me how well I am doing!!!

They are higher than mine Stanley, but then my home is smaller.

When it gets cold I huddle around the dog to keep warm

Otherwise my joint fuel bill is £25/month, and I luxuriate in hot water with the condensing boiler.

Anne made sure that the roof was fully insulated, but the CH doesn't half making a banging noise when it comes on. Nearly at "check" time so it will go 'on the list'

[Whyperion]

Tardis , Stanley lives alone (+ dog) , with two of you in there that is more body heat.

[Wendyf]

Inverter replaced, we are back producing electricity....nearly time for the first meter reading to go in.

[Pluggy]

EDF are still processing the paperwork here. They've a big backlog with the rush to beat the government's FIT reduction.

[Tardis]

Tardis , Stanley lives alone (+ dog) , with two of you in there that is more body heat.

Anne was the previous tenant.

Just me 'n' the dog

[Tripps]

Can you burn anything you like in these stoves? Does the Clean Air Act - smokeless fuels etc not apply. I have woodburners on either side. No problem, just occasionally reminds me of November 5th.

[Whyperion]

Sorry , was wondering how a home could be much smaller than Stanleys ( though I dont think his is a back to back as its got the outside shed bits )
(What do you call them , a shed to me is a separate non connected part of the dwelling space and its outbuildings ) , are most actually infills from the rear sections of houses to the coal store and external privvy as mine seems to be made up of rubble inc bricks rather than any real stone of near habitable quality. )

[Stanley]

Tardis is back to back so one exterior wall. I am normal through house, that's why Pluggy's consumption interests me because I know his house is similar and he keeps about the same temperature. My direct debit payment to gas is £24 at the moment but will drop radically when next assessment is done. Comfort level to cost ratio was good before, it is far better now.

[Tizer]

The "the outside shed bits", Whippy, is where me and my mates used to spend a lot of time as kids when it was raining. Lots more fun than the modern conservatory. My pals Gran had that sort of set up, a bit outside the kitchen with a glass roof and big side window, then another bit with a solid roof and less window (more shed-like) and beyond that the privy council chamber. In a kid's imagination it was a wonder world, a battleship's bridge at one moment, an airfield control tower at the next.

[Stanley]

The common construction of the 'outshut', the range of single storey buildings at the back of a terraced house that includes the coal house and the outside toilet that was common in late 19th C builds was of a lighter, solid stone wall construction and so can never be as efficient as the main house which had thicker walls, often with a brick liner. All you can do with them apart from reconstruction is make sure they are draught-proof, double glazed and have better than average roof insulation. This is why when I moved in to 10 East Hill Street I used at as the workshop. They make ideal modern utility rooms as well.

[Tardis]

Thermal image, in all it's fuzzy orangeness

[Tardis]

Yes, very lucky to have two nice neighbours who keep their heating on, but the one at the back is being redeveloped so it is empty

I remember having the outhouse when we lived on the avenues, but it became a bathroom with Mr Norcross's help

[Stanley]

It makes a difference if the house next door is empty. I had three years of it. I have a reverse osmosis circuit in the walls as well so I'm keeping the internal wall of both neighbouring houses dry!

[Tardis]

Here is the meeting date for the Micro-renewable consultation. An open meeting where people who have them already or wish to learn more can come along.

I'm not sure what 'open' actually means and if you want to speak it might be good to check with Richard Nelson the Town Clerk first. Sometimes Cllr Whipp doesn't allow much debate from outside and these meetings can be highly structured.


Hi
Can I now clarify change of meeting times
On March 29th there will be be following meetings at the Rainhall Centre

6.00 pm Planning Committee
6.30 pm Open Meeting re micro renewables
7.30 pm General Purposes Committee
Regards
Richard


***EDIT*** I forgot to mention that the guy from JBA Consulting who is doing the Micro renewable study will also be at the meeting, although I'm not entirely sure what he is going to do there

[Whyperion]

Newshound found it too.

http://www.visitbarnoldswick.co.uk/even ... ventid=352


Also - has the camera found any (significant) difference in properties with Double Glazing and those without ?