Operation "Use Less Gas"

[Stinsy]

I know a few of you chaps are on the same/similar journey: as in you have a functioning GCH system that you try not to use favouring: WBS, resistive, or A2A HP.

You chaps who've been paying attention will know a bit about my journey: I fitted an A2A HP fitted on the upstairs landing primarily for air-conditioning however it does a magnificent job of heating the whole house. It gets more heat downstairs than you might imagine possible but it doesn't do the whole job, so I last year I augmented with resistive heat in the cheap period to warm the house in the mornings, using the gas boiler with its flow temp set to 35℃ in the evenings. The resistive heat comes in the form of 4x oil-filled rads in bedrooms, another oil-filled in the kitchen, and a fan-heater in the living room. I have a small SH in the garden-office.

Last year I was paying 7.5p/kWh for off-peal electric, 35p/kWh for peak electric, and 10p/kWh for gas (Octopus Go/Tracker)
This year I'm paying 7.5p/kWh for off-peal electric, 30p/kWh for peak electric, and 5p/kWh for gas (Intelligent Octopus Go/Tracker).

In summer my little 12kWh battery has no trouble getting me through the day using only solar and cheap-rate electric. But in winter the battery is exhausted by 4pm and I'm using peak electric.

Last year the A2A was cost effective all day and the resistive was cost effective off-peak. This year things aren't as clear cut, there is no way my A2A running on 30p electric can beat a gas boiler running on 5p gas. However the IOG tariff is a strange beast! If I plug the car in, in the middle of the day, telling the app I need 4hrs of charging by the next morning, instead of doing those 4hrs in the small hours, it does them immediately. This really does seem too-good to be true! I've said before that if Octopus split the Go tariff into 3hrs at night and an hour in the middle of the day, I'd use way less mega-expensive (for Octopus) peak electric. However this is even better! I'm getting all the cheap rate power I can use, split into periods 12hrs apart.

Therefore I've not so-far resorted to gas for spaceheating at all! And I'm going to do my best to let it continue!

Here is my October bill:





And this is the sort of schedule I'm getting:



This week temperatures never get into double-figures and are down to freezing for Saturday night. I will report back.

How are you chaps getting on?

[GarethC]

Sorry not your question, but why don't you use more storage heaters?

[Stinsy]

Sorry not your question, but why don't you use more storage heaters?

I have had a plan to swap my gas boiler for a small ASHP for some time. My experiments to-date have proven that I only need a small 5-6kW one. It'd have gotten done this year but for some "life events" that got in the way. So I'm loathe to fit anything permanent. The oil-filled ones together with my small battery and Octopus giving me additional cheap slots as-and-when I need them is working so far.

As you can see from my bill I'm managing c. 95% of my usage on cheap rate even without SHs that is with all-electric heating and with me messing things up and accidentally wasting 7kWh of peak electric!

[Adokforme]

In case of any interest we use two 2 kW A2A hp's for space heating in our bungalow of 100 sq m floor plan and manage perfectly well. No GCH or WBS, but three 250 W heated towel rails.

I've copied October generation and consumption figures below in case they help for interrogation purposes. Just ask if any details not shown are required. Intelligent Octopus Go Imported 340 kWh's, 18 day 322 night, Exported 71. October bill £44.77.

Re: October Generation 2023

#8

Post by Adokforme » Fri Nov 03, 2023 9:50 am
October figures

Generation
PV 578 kWh's
GF 333 "
Tot 911 "

Consumption, major items only.
DHW 93
ASHP'S 65
EV's home 245
EV's away 52

Total 877

Net surplus for October 34 kWh's
Surplus for '23 so far 2535 kWh's but two dark months to come.
No FF's exhumed or cremated.

[Joeboy]

Our total gas use for the year 2023. I learned my lesson last Winter regarding the wrath of SWMBO when I took the cost/heat balance too low and got it in the neck.

This Winter will be different, the aim is zero gas.



Given myself a serious talking to with eyes on the prize.

So far so good Stinsy. The induction hob was a game changer, the HWT is an immersion coil done deal and so far the SH's and WBS are doing .

[nowty]

I'm still on nearly 1 kWh of gas every day.

[Stinsy]

Our total gas use for the year 2023. I learned my lesson last Winter regarding the wrath of SWMBO when I took the cost/heat balance too low and got it in the neck.

This Winter will be different, the aim is zero gas.



Given myself a serious talking to with eyes on the prize.

So far so good Stinsy. The induction hob was a game changer, the HWT is an immersion coil done deal and so far the SH's and WBS are doing .

Fitting a HWT in the attic was another project that got delayed so I’m tied to my combi for DHW. Interestingly we only use about 4kWh a day worth of gas for DHW which would cost less than £10 a month in cheap rate electric whereas I’m paying c. £15 a month for gas inc the standing charge.

Did you fit a proper induction hob or are you using a temporary plug-in one? I was very nervous about making the switch myself when we did the kitchen, but the Neff induction hob is amazing, turns down really low, easy to clean, etc., doesn’t play nice with my inverter though, it pulses on and off…

[Joeboy]

Our total gas use for the year 2023. I learned my lesson last Winter regarding the wrath of SWMBO when I took the cost/heat balance too low and got it in the neck.

This Winter will be different, the aim is zero gas.



Given myself a serious talking to with eyes on the prize.

So far so good Stinsy. The induction hob was a game changer, the HWT is an immersion coil done deal and so far the SH's and WBS are doing .

Fitting a HWT in the attic was another project that got delayed so I’m tied to my combi for DHW. Interestingly we only use about 4kWh a day worth of gas for DHW which would cost less than £10 a month in cheap rate electric whereas I’m paying c. £15 a month for gas inc the standing charge.

Did you fit a proper induction hob or are you using a temporary plug-in one? I was very nervous about making the switch myself when we did the kitchen, but the Neff induction hob is amazing, turns down really low, easy to clean, etc., doesn’t play nice with my inverter though, it pulses on and off…

On the HWT I can see how it would be easy to pass on that. A lot of work for not that much gain. We may eventually get to a place where we chop the gas off completely but that will be a few years away (if permission is granted).

In the end i fitted a full power 4 hob induction. Bought off Amazon, the make is Ciarra. Gets the job done before transfer to WBS in some instances. I really enjoy cooking on it as its quiet with no drama or extraneous heat. As you say, absolute doddle to clean. We've still go the Neff 2 hob induction in garage as well as a 2 hob old skool element cooker too. Most eventualities covered now.

I am still amazed that we can be running a induction ring or two, air fryer and even the micro and we barely pull from the grid and that's with a 3.6kW inverter discharge limit at night. Feels truly groovy.

[Stinsy]

Our total gas use for the year 2023. I learned my lesson last Winter regarding the wrath of SWMBO when I took the cost/heat balance too low and got it in the neck.

This Winter will be different, the aim is zero gas.



Given myself a serious talking to with eyes on the prize.

So far so good Stinsy. The induction hob was a game changer, the HWT is an immersion coil done deal and so far the SH's and WBS are doing .

Fitting a HWT in the attic was another project that got delayed so I’m tied to my combi for DHW. Interestingly we only use about 4kWh a day worth of gas for DHW which would cost less than £10 a month in cheap rate electric whereas I’m paying c. £15 a month for gas inc the standing charge.

Did you fit a proper induction hob or are you using a temporary plug-in one? I was very nervous about making the switch myself when we did the kitchen, but the Neff induction hob is amazing, turns down really low, easy to clean, etc., doesn’t play nice with my inverter though, it pulses on and off…

On the HWT I can see how it would be easy to pass on that. A lot of work for not that much gain. We may eventually get to a place where we chop the gas off completely but that will be a few years away (if permission is granted).

In the end i fitted a full power 4 hob induction. Bought off Amazon, the make is Ciarra. Gets the job done before transfer to WBS in some instances. I really enjoy cooking on it as its quiet with no drama or extraneous heat. As you say, absolute doddle to clean. We've still go the Neff 2 hob induction in garage as well as a 2 hob old skool element cooker too. Most eventualities covered now.

I am still amazed that we can be running a induction ring or two, air fryer and even the micro and we barely pull from the grid and that's with a 3.6kW inverter discharge limit at night. Feels truly groovy.

Yeah. DHW tank can't be justified on its own. Would save £5 a month. However it'd be the enabler that would get us off the gas grid which I'm very keen to accomplish!

While the ultimate plan would be a 5-6kW ASHP I'm convinced I could bin off the gas boiler and replace it with a 3kW willis heater and circulation pump if I wanted to!

[Stinsy]

First proper test of the setup is today with our first real frost of the winter. We’ve been basking in unseasonable double-digit temperatures ‘till now, but last night -3℃ Was forecast. Did I fire up the gas boiler? Nope!

Here is the plan:

1) Scored some additional IO cheap slots taking me to 0830.
2) Left my A2A as it was: programmed to come on at 0500 set to its lowest power level and 22℃. To encourage long running I have been leaving it as long as it needs to hit that temp and power off, I then set it to 19℃. Once I notice it has powered on again I set it back to 22℃, then turn it off at bedtime. As of 0900 it is still running which is a first for the year. I wonder if it’ll run all day?
3) Full suite of resistive heaters set to run from 0500-0830.
4) Sun is shining so all south-facing blinds open for the solar gain.
5) Will need to use the downstairs resistive heaters during the day. How much though?
6) No chance the battery will last with A2A on all day even without resistive, if I’m not able to get some additional cheap slots later (and even with!) I’ll be burning peak electric. How much of that I’m willing to tolerate is an unknown. I’m willing to run peak-electric through the A2A, but resistive?