Energy poverty, climate change and sustainable lifestyles
I'm responding to some points made by @alec-morrow in this post but not specifically about heat-pumps or electricity so I've started this new topic.
Posted by: @alec-morrowthe industry is not fit for purpose as many are finding out.
Absolutely. I agree.
As we try to tackle energy-poverty, climate change and sustainable lifestyles we are presented with an ever more complex suite of technological solutions.
So how does the wider public know what energy solution best fits their house and which installer they should turn to?
Ofgem is already well-aware of this issue. Several years ago they highlighted lack of public knowledge/understanding as a major factor preventing us from embracing the plethora of innovative energy solutions before us. If you know a way to resolve this you can even apply for an Ofgem grant to help get you started.
Posted by: @alec-morrowthe reason this doesn’t happen is that those advising government have stakes in it not happening.
Again, I agree that this is a significant issue. Energy suppliers are developing energy-saving measures, but these are predominately focused on strategies which help them rather than their customers.
At the time of writing I believe it is still only Octopus who offer a genuine Time-of-Use tariff using half-hour time-frames matched to our smart meters. But all GB Energy Suppliers use software algorithms to buy and sell gas and electricity on the wholesale markets at 30-min intervals!
So we can either wring our hands, moan about the government and do what we can 'under the circumstances'...
... or else we change the circumstances to achieve the outcomes we seek.
That's what Forums (fora ?) like this are starting to do.
We all have the opportunity to assist our neighbours in selecting the best energy solutions and installers. We don't need to rely on or wait for Government to take the lead.
There's a lot to be said for a grass-roots movement, using community-based energy groups and open-source solutions. The Open Energy Monitor project is an excellent example of this.
The GB Smart Meter strategy was conceived in 2013 during the coalition government when Ed Davey MP was Energy Minister. There's several areas of that foundation strategy which anyone has yet to build on (Auxiliary Load Control Switches come to mind). Other initiatives which were approved by Parliament are rarely taken up; community-based Energy Aggregators are a case in point.
Returning now to the case of Heat Pump Installers - yes, it's a wild west out there! And I'm sure that many here can contribute to a list of good and bad installers.
But we can also do more.
We can, for example, collate a list of what prospective customers should expect, and must insist on, from their installers when they seek quotations.
And that document can then be forwarded to BEIS/Ofgem with a request that it becomes enshrined into a Required Minimum Specification, just as MCS does for renewable-energy installations.
We don't have to wait for the industry to change itself or for government to regulate it. Let's combine our efforts, pool our knowledge, and force through the standards which should be expected.
Save energy... recycle electrons!
MCS still allows you to use on-off thermostats which is creating issues in excess energy consumption. Agreed that that doesn’t have to change, if clients get the right controls. And whilst people clients included defer to standards change is very difficult
But specialist knowledge in controls is hard to come by I’ve made it a point to master wether compensation on vaillant and viessmann. Other installers see no benefit.
All you need to know about how manufacturers (in reality import agents) and installers feel about weather compensation is summed up by the video on this site, “what is weather compensation”, despite the known benefits
When I wrote an article in The Daily Telegraph about weather compensation in 2007 the Technical director of Worcester Bosch rang me to say “we save a pound on every boiler we sell by not offering that facility” they have probably sold 5,000,000 boilers in the U.K. since then!
there is no appetite in the trade for a better industry, most, if not all think your misfortune on overspending in repairs and upfront investment is “good business”
Professional installer
Hi
Your post makes a lot of sense.
My initial quote came from a local company Heating & Cooling- the guy was here 5 mins at the property - no mention of upgrading the nest, no EPC certificate and no heat loss survey, extremely high quote provided.
Subsequently, By default I found an Air Source Heat Pump installer that has proved to be one of the best and this is just my opinion based on some of the threads I see on here. (Solum GB.).
Installers - Must recommend to complete a new EPC certificate of your property
Installers must carry out a heat loss evaluation survey and provide the customer with the radiators that require to be changed/upgraded throughout the property
Installer must advise on the relevant nest required.
Installer should notify Ofgem of the Changes
Provide a full handover pack on completion inc. MSC certificate.
It will be good to see the Octopus Agile ToU tariff pricing get back to a pricing level that makes it viable again and evolve further based on local circumstances.
Unfortunately at the moment i doubt it is economical for many in the current situation with energy.
Take today, the cheapest 30 min slot to take energy from the grid would cost 30.3p with octopus agile
The best 30min slot to export to the grid you would get 28p (outgoing octopus)
We are no longer seeing the cheap 30min slots on agile for taking energy from the grid. I suspect tariff like Octopus Go are better for many with storage economically right now.
Even before the current energy issues many Agile users were switching to Go in the winter months.
Be interesting to check the economics again once the new ofgem price cap comes in and any associated changes are made.
The smart export guarantee rates that all suppliers offer are also very low, just a few pence, for people without any FiT payments, to export to the grid. Feels like something isn't working here given the high price of electricity. Hopefully this will evolve...
Point taken @Jeff Today the Octopus Agile tariff may not viable to us consumers.
But contacts within the energy sector tell me that wholesale prices being paid by Energy Suppliers can be over £1 per kWh at peak times. So they're hardly profiteering!
@bea1060 - that's a good starting-list of requirements which a heat-pump installer should be able to meet.
I have about two-dozen others I could add... which makes me think I should start a new topic.
My short-term view is that such a 'list of requirements' could be made available for use by anyone who's looking for a HP Installer.
Save energy... recycle electrons!
@transparent absolutely agree. Let’s all join you in collecting that list and getting it out for the public to use. Fabulous idea
Energy prices are skyrocketing and fuel poverty is increasing – will the UK government still meet its renewable targets? We raised these points with Matthew Aylott from BEIS:
Buy Bodge Buster – Homeowner Air Source Heat Pump Installation Guide: https://amzn.to/3NVndlU
Follow our sustainability journey at My Home Farm: https://myhomefarm.co.uk
@transparent @bea1060 With a bit of modification such a list would benefit tenants too, which is what I'm looking at creating.
@saz Hi, thank you for your message.
I would be interested to see the progress @transparent has made with the list so that we may add/use this as a baseline for your tenants list.
And Transparent has to report that the creation of this list got sidelined.
I've been distracted by the rapidly rising cost of energy and the urgent need to develop technology which can keep householders out of energy-poverty.
So I'm (very) busy designing a system to use heat pumps on a Time-of-Use tariff alongside attached renewable generation.
I will need to return to the task of creating a basic spec for HP installations...
... but I will now have even more points to add to it because mixed/hybrid HP operation raises some safety requirements which currently lie outside of the regulations. This means that I/we need to also write a specification for safe installation of HPs fed from hybrid supplies, in addition to the Guide to Good Installation Practices.
Save energy... recycle electrons!
Posted by: @transparentAnd Transparent has to report that the creation of this list got sidelined.
I've been distracted by the rapidly rising cost of energy and the urgent need to develop technology which can keep householders out of energy-poverty.
So I'm (very) busy designing a system to use heat pumps on a Time-of-Use tariff alongside attached renewable generation.
I will need to return to the task of creating a basic spec for HP installations...
... but I will now have even more points to add to it because mixed/hybrid HP operation raises some safety requirements which currently lie outside of the regulations. This means that I/we need to also write a specification for safe installation of HPs fed from hybrid supplies, in addition to the Guide to Good Installation Practices.
Could you please clarify what you mean by 'mixed/hybrid HP operation' and 'hybrid supplies'.
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