I was reading a newspaper article earlier which highlighted a 3 bed semi with annual energy consumption costs of £500. Our net energy consumption costs for my early ’70s 4 bed detached in 2015/6 was £400. That includes charging my electric car.
The house has:
- A-rated gas boiler (Dec 2015),
- A-rated double glazing throughout (prior owner),
- C-rated hot water cylinder with bottom-entry immersion heater and all accessible hot pipes insulated (Dec 2015),
- 7 day timer (prior owner) with Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) throughout (except hall and 2 towel rails – Dec 2015),
- Standard cavity fill and 4″ loft insulation (prior owner, now nearer 10″ but Oct 2016 installation outside 2015/6 data window),
- Almost 100% low energy bulbs (mostly Sep 2015),
- 4kWp solar panels (Sep 2015) with energy management system (Sep 2015) with remote monitoring (Mar 2016) directing surplus PV to car charger (Apr 2016) and/or hot water cylinder (Dec 2015), and
- Economy 7 electricity (Oct 2015).
I spent £1,000 on gas and electric in 2015/6 which was partially offset by £600 revenue from my solar PV giving net costs of £400. Given that some of the above were introduced during the year, a full year’s use should reduce consumption further.
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Additional item:
O 4kWh storage battery principally for solar storage, but also capable of storing cheap night-time electricity for later day-time use in winter (Dec 2016).
Additional item:
O Folowing the move to smart heating control we’ve added a TRV to the downstairs hall radiator next to the (now redundant) central thermostat. In principle we now have eTRVs for rooms allowing for unique room schedules; while the hall, landing, and cloakroom have conventional TRVs. That’s currently 7 x eTRVs and 3 x TRVs.