@marknhudson 

Mark,

Your 'remaining' is the total excluding the ASHP and hot tub? What is consuming 26kWh per day?  That's a lot of electricity. 

Kev

Posted by: @marknhudson

@derek-m Hi Derek, I'll find out about the first few you asked about as I'm not sure.

Energy consumption from start of October to start of December averaged at 70kw per day but I fear this will be higher for December.

We have a hot tub which averages at around 17kw per day.

We have some bi-fold doors at the rear which are 6.6m in length plus a lantern roof in the dining room

Hi Mark,

As Kev has correctly pointed out, you are using a great deal of energy within your home in addition to that used by your ASHP and hot tub.

Whilst it may be possible to make some efficiency improvements with regard to how your ASHP is configured and operated, I doubt that it will be the large reduction in energy consumption that I think that you seek.

You should be looking at your lifestyle, what you are doing that uses so much energy, do you actually need to run a hot tub in Winter?

While I agree 450 to 550 per month would seem excessive, moaning about heating a large house for about 5.50 per week whilst happy to pay 3.50 per week for a hot tub is a bit rich.

@dinkydo It's per day, but yes, stupid me for having the audacity to even question the consumption. So thankful you chipped in 

Might I suggest that everyone watch the David Attenborough documentary: A Life on our Planet.

@marknhudson from my view you have a few options

• Turn off your hot tub for the winter (should save you approx £100 per month or 1/5 of your bill)
• Get an ASHP for your hot tub - expensive but will cut that bill by 2/3
• Turn down your thermostat in the house
• Track down your "other" category
• Get a house battery and fill that up from cheaper tariffs

Posted by: @derek-m

Might I suggest that everyone watch the David Attenborough documentary: A Life on the Planet.

A Life on Our Planet

Hi Everyone,

Just a thought for today.

If all 66 million or so people in the UK were to reduce their daily energy consumption by just 1 kWh, that would equate to 66 GWh of electrical energy, or about 10% of daily demand at this time of year.

@derek-m although these are laudable goals it's worth considering that if we are going to reduce co2 globally it will be done via the global phasing out of coal and with technology. I'm not getting into it, but the idea that we can ask a poor Indian farmer to go without air conditioning when the time comes is just not realistic.

We should all limit what we use, but in reality it's clean energy that will save the day, not energy reduction.

Posted by: @batalto

@derek-m although these are laudable goals it's worth considering that if we are going to reduce co2 globally it will be done via the global phasing out of coal and with technology. I'm not getting into it, but the idea that we can ask a poor Indian farmer to go without air conditioning when the time comes is just not realistic.

We should all limit what we use, but in reality it's clean energy that will save the day, not energy reduction.

Hi Batalto,

I'm afraid that I fail to see your logic.

Reducing energy consumption should be the primary goal, since if you don't need to use it, then you don't have to produce it, even if it is from a supposedly 'clean' source. Producing the equipment and technology to provide what you describe as 'clean' energy, uses considerable amounts of energy in itself, so using less energy means that you need to produce less equipment, which can only be a win - win.

Whilst your battery system may help you to dramatically reduce the cost of your energy consumption, it does not actually reduce your energy consumption, but may in fact increase it.

Modern society has become accustomed to a reliable source of cheap energy, but those days are coming to an end. To try to reduce ones energy consumption, not only makes good financial sense, but is urgently needed to help protect our planet for future generations.

Unfortunately, it would appear that the vast majority of people in the world are too self-centered to appreciate the urgency with which they all need to act. 

@derek-m we just aren't that kind of species. The fact is you, and I and everyone else in the developed world is responsible for the lion's share of CO2. We are the 1% globally and we outsource a huge chunk of our CO2 to poor nations who love to burn coal. You can absolutely reduce your consumption but the fact remains unless you want us all to have a quality of life comparable with an Indian or other poorer nations then really you are tinkering at the edges. 

OURWORLDINDATA.ORG "https://ourworldindata.org/share-co2-emissions"

CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Our World in Data

Human emissions of greenhouse gases are the primary driver of climate change. The world needs to decarbonize to reduce them.

@batalto 

So what are you suggesting that I should do? Should I give up trying to convince people to improve their insulation and to use less energy?

The vast majority of people on this forum are more concerned about the cost of the energy that they are consuming, rather than how much. Whilst I try wherever possible to help people improve the efficiency of their heating systems, by your analogy it would appear that I am just wasting my time. So, lets all use as much energy as possible, so long as we can do it as cheaply as possible.

I suspect, though I cannot prove it, that the western governments are allowing energy costs to increase, and will continue to do so. In doing so they hope it will eventually convince an unwilling population to start to reduce their energy consumption, before it becomes too late for all of us.