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29. Energy Use - the heating is on!

Updated: Nov 19

The weather’s getting colder. The heating is on. Energy use and comfort are becoming more interesting!

 

Energy use and carbon emissions: Second Quarter – August to November 2024


The table below shows energy use in the second quarter since moving back home. It includes a direct comparison with the same period (mid August to mid November) from 2021 and 2022. I haven’t included 2023, as the house was unoccupied during this period due to the building works.



I started to use the heating in September when Kendal had its first cold spell. At that time, I switched to the ‘Cosy Octopus’ tariff designed for heat pumps. This sets three different bands across the day, with the lowest charges of 12.37p per kWh between 4am and 7am, and again from 1pm to 4pm. I’ve adjusted the timing of my hot water heating to fit with this schedule.

 

  • The overall amount of energy used is significantly less, at about one third the amount in previous years.

  • Direct cost comparisons aren’t that helpful as energy prices have been all over the place in the last few years. However, despite using only more expensive electricity, the cost of energy is about the same as 2021 and around one-third less than 2022.


The second table shows carbon emissions for the quarter. Overall, emissions are around 66% lower than 2021 and 2022.

 



Comfort


The EcoBungalow continues to be a quiet, pleasant, comfortable environment. It’s never too hot or too cold. A visiting friend came up with a good term – he called the temperature ‘neutral’. You don’t get that traditional feeling of a lot of heat from radiators blasting to warm the house, and you don’t get chilly mornings. The graph from the Netatmo weather station for a typical week in October shows:

 

  • The outdoor temperature varies from a low of 1.8ºC to a high of 16.5ºC, a range of almost 15ºC.

  • The indoor temperature varies from a low of 20.5ºC to a high of 22.3ºC, a range of less than 2ºC.


One thing that many people have said is ‘Oh, I couldn’t sleep in a warm bedroom. I like it cool.’ I was also concerned about how the bedroom would feel, being someone who doesn’t like to be too warm. Despite the consistent indoor temperature, I’ve not felt that the bedroom is overly warm. Its ‘neutral’ temperature feels very comfortable.

 

Of course, the whole house is continuously provided with fresh air through the mechanical ventilation system. This helps maintain the feeling of comfort, both in terms of air quality (it’s much better than opening a window as it’s filtered) and in terms of avoiding heat loss. As I sit here writing this blog, the Mechanical Ventilation unit is showing that the incoming air is being warmed from an outside temperature of 2ºC to 17.5ºC by the outgoing stale air. So heat loss is kept to a minimum, which in turn reduces demand for energy.


I'll post the next quarter in February 2025. That's the period in which I'm most interested: how does the EcoBungalow perform in prolonged cold periods?


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