PV panels?

Shefwedfan

How much would 5kW actually give you during the day?

denismc

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

Any idea what the big consumers are - is it heating, water or general household appliances?

Every appliance has a label on it that tells you how much it consumes, this label is usually underneath small appliances or on the door of larger appliances.
I had a look at mine during the week and the biggest culprits are:
Electric shower 9kw
Immersion 3kw
Kettle 2.5-2.8kw
Tumble drier 2.5kw
Dishwasher 2.5 kw
Washing machine 2-2.5 kw.
Basically appliances with a heating element and or motor will add most to your bill.

So if you have a big bill then maybe consider drinking iced tea:D

I have recently installed 2kw of panels and to get the most from this system I stagger use of the large appliances during the day.

denismc

Shefwedfan wrote: »

How much would 5kW actually give you during the day?

I recently installed a 2.1kw system but the only time I get 2.1kw is on the sunniest days, on overcast days I am getting less than half that.

But I do find that I am generating electricity from about 8am to 7pm this time of year.
I will report back in a month or 2 to see what I am actually saving.

It is very hard to calculate how much a system will generate at any time as weather does affect things.

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

How much would 5kW actually give you during the day?

You are talking about 5kwp PV panels or about the 5kWh battery?

A 5kwp solar PV system in Ireland that is 100% south facing and somewhere near the east coast will generate about 5000-5500kWh per year.

H.E. Pennypacker

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I would be expecting similar pricing....

Really I have no idea, probably a mixture of general household items.....electric showers etc.....

It'd be very useful for you to have an understanding of the big consumers and why consumption is growing - there might be stuff that can be shifted to night rate electricity or it may be that another solution can be found (e.g. alternative hot water provision or heating via a thermal store that can derive heat from renewable sources). Maybe there are some big offenders that can be replaced (appliances, not family members..) If you don't have an energy monitor/analysis app, it might be worth considering getting one as that'll help you figure out peak loads and when they occur

Shefwedfan

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

It'd be very useful for you to have an understanding of the big consumers and why consumption is growing - there might be stuff that can be shifted to night rate electricity or it may be that another solution can be found (e.g. alternative hot water provision or heating via a thermal store that can derive heat from renewable sources). Maybe there are some big offenders that can be replaced (appliances, not family members..) If you don't have an energy monitor/analysis app, it might be worth considering getting one as that'll help you figure out peak loads and when they occur

Maybe some more information. I have moved majority of items to night rate. At the moment I am at 50/50% ratio between night and day. This was after a good bit of work to change our habits. The car also charges at night bar maybe 1-2 days per month I might give it a top up but minimal....

Increase in day usage is a few things, we have hired an Au Pair so extra adult in house. She has her own room/tv/electric shower etc. So this of course add's additional electrical requirements. She also cooks at odd times compared to rest of family so ovens etc are now used twice each evening instead of once.....we have kids in routine and we ain't moving them from it:P:P:P:P

The kids now are at home more because they are not going to creche, they go out to play grounds/zoo/swimming/library during the day but it is additional electricity compared to house been empty from 8 in morning to potentially 1-2 most days....

The kids are that little bit older so things like hot water is getting used up quicker than before....out in garde, come back covered in muck so throw them in shower, 2 hours later repeat shower :P

So a combination of a things. I don't see any reduction for a number of years. I started at €80 per month over a year ago. Up to €124 per month recently and just moved to Bord Gais to try and save and they are saying I need to start at €134 per month on level pay

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

You are talking about 5kwp PV panels or about the 5kWh battery?

A 5kwp solar PV system in Ireland that is 100% south facing and somewhere near the east coast will generate about 5000-5500kWh per year.

I was talking about the battery.....the guys was more or less saying the house would be able to run on the battery....I very much doubt that with the amount of electricity we use.....

It seems most people I see are investing in solar something.....I don't think thermal is the way to go at the moment because I would need to swap out 3 electric showers which would add huge additional cost so PV seems to be the best route

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I was talking about the battery.....the guys was more or less saying the house would be able to run on the battery....I very much doubt that with the amount of electricity we use.....

They were lying to you. The average household in Ireland uses about 10kWh per day. Twice what a 5kWh battery could deliver. And you are probably using at least twice the national average (your €134 monthly bill is indicating well over twice the average)

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I don't think thermal is the way to go at the moment because I would need to swap out 3 electric showers which would add huge additional cost so PV seems to be the best route

Electric showers are terrible. Their performance is poor and heating water with electricity is extremely expensive and very inefficient. If you want to do anything solar, thermal would have the shortest pay back time for you. You don't need to "swap them out", just install one powerful water pump in your hot press and all the cold and hot water outlets in your house (except your kitchen tap) would have pumped water.

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

Electric showers are terrible. Their performance is poor and heating water with electricity is extremely expensive and very inefficient. If you want to do anything solar, thermal would have the shortest pay back time for you. You don't need to "swap them out", just install one powerful water pump in your hot press and all the cold and hot water outlets in your house (except your kitchen tap) would have pumped water.

I know electric shower are terrible but you haven't seen the plumbing in my house, I have spent 12 months trying to get it sorted to a point....

If you can believe they installed a large pump for the hot water.....the pump is great but it only supplies the hot water to the kitchen sink, nothing else.....F**king idiots....

I do lie, one of the shower is electric pump shower off the immersion tank. So it would be swapping out 2 electric showers.....of course it is in the guest room so never gets used :P

My plumber is up soon again to fix some rads so will ask him what it would take....I know the shower in our room just has a direct feed from the tank in attic above the room.....so it would mean a repipe from the hot press....

The other electric shower is down the other end of house so talking about at least a 10m run from immersion tank

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

If you can believe they installed a large pump for the hot water.....the pump is great but it only supplies the hot water to the kitchen sink, nothing else.....F**king idiots....

That should be very easy to rectify. Just swap a few pipe connections in your hot press. Swap your plumber too though

H.E. Pennypacker

Shefwedfan wrote: »

So a combination of a things. I don't see any reduction for a number of years. I started at €80 per month over a year ago. Up to €124 per month recently and just moved to Bord Gais to try and save and they are saying I need to start at €134 per month on level pay

I wouldn't worry to much about the level pay amount as they they always tend to be a step behind actual usage with their amounts and a night/day meter seems to confuse things further. As you're getting a good rate per kWh you're doing as much as you can there. Work out your real monthly cost and you'll probably feel better. The level pay thing will balance out over time.

If you've high daytime consumption then maybe PV would help - problem is that its going to cost you 5-8k to put enough panels up (along with a planning application)... If you're paying 0.15 cent per kWh daytime and 0.075 cent per kWh nighttime with BGE including vat and discount and you reckon that those discounts can be sustained by annual supplier switching, its going to take a while to break even given that PV will only replace some of your daytime grid consumption.


There is talk of a PV incentive being this summer which might change the numbers.

Shefwedfan

My new rates, will save a little

Electricity Charges:
Unit rate (per kWh):
14.45 cent (day), 7.16 cent (night) inc VAT
€196.47 inc VAT

My old rates below

Inc VAT *
0.1596
0.0765
197.97

Shefwedfan

Im back around to this, had a guy call out today to review usage etc....

He was a little bit taken aback when he reviewed my usage. So at the moment we are using just using 10,000kWh per year...

He said that was very high

I just checked this website and it looks like we are using a hell of a lot more per year than we should
https://www.bonkers.ie/guides/gas-electricity/national-average-energy-consumption/

Is the usage as it looks very high?

H.E. Pennypacker

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Im back around to this, had a guy call out today to review usage etc....

He was a little bit taken aback when he reviewed my usage. So at the moment we are using just using 10,000kWh per year...

He said that was very high

Is the usage as it looks very high?

My household consumption is just over 7,000 kWh per year. We have energy efficient appliances, LED lighting everywhere and no excessive consumption. It mystifies me how anyone with young children could only use the national average.


Does your consumption include charging the Golf?

Shefwedfan

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

My household consumption is just over 7,000 kWh per year. We have energy efficient appliances, LED lighting everywhere and no excessive consumption. It mystifies me how anyone with young children could only use the national average.


Does your consumption include charging the Golf?

Yeah eGolf is charged every night....

With 3 young kids I didn’t think we used massively above the average

unkel

The national average is 3,500 kWh per year per household. I used that last year (family of 5, slightly larger than average semi-d, all lights are LED / energy savers, no electric showers, no electric DHW, no electric room heating, gas fired central heating, gas and solar DHW), before I had my EV. I'm not particularly frugal with energy, we use dishwasher, washing machine and condenser dryer a lot.

If your EV does 18k km per year, that adds about 18000km * 14kWh/100km = 2,500 kWh to the above

10,000kWh is a lot, perhaps your profile is different than the one I described here? Heatpump, electric showers, using immersion, electric heating?

niallers1

10000 kwh sounds huge to me. It's over 3 times what use per year. Do you have many gadgets and appliances left on standby each night?

We are a Family of 4 ( 2 young kids). Decent sized detached house. We used just under 2900 kwh last year and 3200 the year before.
No electric shower( have power shower) . Have gas heating.

Use condenser dryer , washing machine, dishwasher and electric oven and hob most days .

The kids are trained to press the button at the plug to turn off the telly / sat receiver when they are not using it and also to turn off lights when they leave the room. All spot lights are LED all others are CFL. Nothing is left on standby. All fully switched off.

mike_2009

Might be worth getting yourself an energy monitor to track what you're pulling in from the grid vs time? I bought one of these two / three years ago and can track per minute what is being used to help identify peaks. That and a plug into meter to measure most appliances.

Shefwedfan

mike_2009 wrote: »

Might be worth getting yourself an energy monitor to track what you're pulling in from the grid vs time? I bought one of these two / three years ago and can track per minute what is being used to help identify peaks. That and a plug into meter to measure most appliances.

I am in process of buying one

We are using 10,000 but have a near 50/50 spilt between night and day meter. That is a start

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

The national average is 3,500 kWh per year per household. I used that last year (family of 5, slightly larger than average semi-d, all lights are LED / energy savers, no electric showers, no electric DHW, no electric room heating, gas fired central heating, gas and solar DHW), before I had my EV. I'm not particularly frugal with energy, we use dishwasher, washing machine and condenser dryer a lot.

If your EV does 18k km per year, that adds about 18000km * 14kWh/100km = 2,500 kWh to the above

10,000kWh is a lot, perhaps your profile is different than the one I described here? Heatpump, electric showers, using immersion, electric heating?

Your not the first person to ask do I have a heat pump :-)

We use immersion but as of last night it was turned onto sink from bath:P

2 x electric shower(triton T90) ones which are used 3-4 times a day at least.

No electric heating.

denismc

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Your not the first person to ask do I have a heat pump :-)

We use immersion but as of last night it was turned onto sink from bath:P

2 x electric shower(triton T90) ones which are used 3-4 times a day at least.

No electric heating.

Those showers will use over 9kw each so a single 20 minute shower is going to use 3kWh, multiply by 2 @ 3 times a day gives nearly 18kWh, 365 days a year gives over 6500 kWh!!
You may want to start showering together:D

p.s There are plenty of energy usage calculators on the net, you just need to know the power consumption of the device and the time it is used for.

Effects

mike_2009 wrote: »

Might be worth getting yourself an energy monitor to track what you're pulling in from the grid vs time? I bought one of these two / three years ago and can track per minute what is being used to help identify peaks.

What model do you have that you could recommend?

denismc

Effects wrote: »

What model do you have that you could recommend?

I have an Efergy elite whole house monitor, it has a wireless sensor which clips around the live wire in your meter box. You then go around the house and turn on various appliances and see which is using the most. All these monitors are pretty basic and do much the same thing.

You can get ones that plug into a socket but they will only show the usage of whatever is plugged into that socket which is useless for showers and immersions.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Efergy-Technologies-ELITE-CLASSIC-3-0/dp/B001Q1G4WK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527683835&sr=8-1&keywords=efergy+energy+monitor

Effects

Ah ok, I thought you had one that tracked what you pull off the grid as well as what you generate with PV.
It's one of those I'm interested in. Thanks anyway.

Caillte

Effects wrote: »

Ah ok, I thought you had one that tracked what you pull off the grid as well as what you generate with PV.
It's one of those I'm interested in. Thanks anyway.

I don't have solar but I'm doing my homework now and I'm using a smappee energy monitor which basically itemises my electric bill with real time monitoring.

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

2 x electric shower(triton T90) ones which are used 3-4 times a day at least.

That's your problem right there. Get rid of them and have a proper pumped water system put in place. It is cheap and it will use water heated by your gas / oil which is much, much cheaper than heating it with electricity. Also a pumped shower is far more powerful, greatly increasing your quality of life. Your wife will thank you for it