Yes, particularly the last couple of winters, since it slewed warm one year and then cold the next, making for a very big swing from one year to the next.
Which is certainly a good return ;-)
As you say, it gets harder to find extra savings as you go on - and harder to assess the impact as the actual numbers get smaller.
Well indeed, never mind the smug, show me the money ;-)
To a point, however when you see a 20% year to year shift its a pretty good indication that there was a sizeable change.
Not too difficult if you heat it the same way all year round - just take the usage in the summer as an indication of the hot water component. (especially if you take note of readings for a few weeks when you know there is no heating demand)
One caution about drafts in older places is to take care that you don't restrict the ventilation too much and end up swapping them for damp. A certain amount of draft was anticipated for adequate air circulation.
I found when I moved in here, there were some damp areas under the floors as a result of lack of underfloor ventilation (there were only airbricks on one side of the building, so no cross flow of air). Adding more fixed the dampness, but then increased the underfloor heat loss in the winter. Last year I added hit'n'miss vents over the airbricks to allow the flow to be throttled down a bit in the colder months.
A very good point John, although I doubt I shall approach the point where that's any kind of an issue for a long time, as there's always a good bit of air circulating one way or another. On the other hand, it amazes me how nobody thought to take a few simple steps to deal with some of these issues in the past 150 years. Clearly previous inhabitants were made of sterner stuff though, to be fair, they didn't have some of the resources we have now.
I have a similar problem with a floor (recently replaced) that's only vented at one end, the air bricks at the other end having been blocked by the conservatory floor when it was built (before my time), which is one reason I'm keen to replace the mouldering conservatory asap, whereupon I can arrange some telescopic vents to run through the new floor as it's laid.
I remember you posting about your howling gales under the floor a while ago. Hopefully the hit and miss vents have made a difference.
Indeed! I'm sure all this is very much 'rule of thumb' but I'm happy to be broadly getting my investment back on the first bill and, hopefully, all subsequent ones. Even 'er indoors was impressed and is coming round to the idea that it's worth the effort beyond the fact that the house is becoming progressively more comfortable.
Spurred on by this, I spend part of today insulating the panelling under the stairs that's cooled by the (well ventilated) cellar, using 1200 x
450 tounged and grooved Xtratherm panels. I would heartily recommend these to anyone who needs a small amount of 50mm insulation but, like me, doesn't have the capacity to transport an 8 x 4 sheet easily (or needs to get it into a tight space). Not much more expensive than big sheets (about the equivalent of 30 quid a big sheet) and a bit like playing with Lego: Fit it together, tape over the joints, a bit of foam around the edges and job's a good 'un.Hopefully, this will now be a bit less like having a fridge in the middle of the hallway. At least it might be, once I've added the plasterboard to seal it all up tomorrow.
I'm sure that's true, but the nearest station should give a reasonable guide to prevailing conditions. It should be safe to assume that any positional effects compared to that are fairly consistent, for the purposes of getting an idea of the trend.
That's a good point Harry and, thinking about it, that means there's a baseline demand for the hot water so any reduction in gas usage after correcting for the weather due to insulating/draught proofing is actually greater than it appears at first sight. Even better then!
Yep. Ta for that
I will be able to match this next week in Doncaster to the one last year without a Hue and Cry song:-). Second Tuesday of December is a long outside days work for me. 7am to midnight plus travel time. Last year the van was iced over in the morning and when I left for work and iced over when I left work. I'll bet that it is not iced over this year.
Yup, that may have been the problem here. The main lounge at the back of the house was new (filling in what would have originally been a L shaped section) - so it probably closed off any ventilation at that end.
Yup they seem to have... I have not shut them completely - just closed them up somewhat. Last time I had the floors up (about this time last year when I did the heating upgrade) all the undersides of the floors were bone dry.
The worst bit previously was at the end of a long deep (about 10') coat cupboard. There there was the combination of cold solid wall, and little air circulation above, and none below. The condensation formed on the wall, ran down it, and rotted a joist someone had stuck right up against and parallel to the wall. There were actually beads of water on the underside of the floor boards! I stuck 2" of PIR foam on the wall, and replaced the joist, spacing it a few inches away from the wall. The 9 extra air bricks did the rest ;-)
Something worth noting on the SEDBUK figures for boiler efficiency, is that they assume that space heating will take the lions share of the demand. They highlight that in very heavily insulated houses, DHW takes a bigger percentage than they allow for, and this will often result in a drop in boiler efficiency[1]. (they are moving to quote figures for the two separately in future)
[1] not all condensing boilers can condense in water heating mode.
Ok I know this includes a forecast but I do tend to be reasonably accurate.... Nov-Feb 2012/13 gas used 6800kWh Nov-Feb 2013/14 gas used 4886kWh
This is with reference to my previous post regarding what I have done to cut costs. My elec I suspect will be up slightly but overall the combined costs will be well down for the same period.
I am sure there is a genetic malfuncion in my genes as my uncle died of hypothermia during a cold spell as he got his gas cut off by request because he refused to pay a daily standing charge which he could well afford. He had a coal allowance from the coal board and he started cooking on the coal fire but then one night fell asleep in the chair, the fire went out and it was one of the coldest nights of the year.
My other uncle also had a coal allowance and in his 80s wanted to find a wife because he could pass the allowance on, he just couldnt accept that the allowance would die with him.
Me, I just despise the utility companies and will do all I can to deny them 1p more than my comfort zone.
True enough but in this place air passes through the walls. I found a draft coming from behind a light switch on a rubble filled interior wall the other day...
It's normal to wake up when the temperature drops, but excessive alcohol can prevent this :-)
I thought hypothermia could cause bizarre behaviours such as taking clothes off rather than adding to them?
You might wake up if you aren't cooling too fast, FSVO "too fast". Alcohol doesn't help.
Yes it can but you are in a pretty bad way by then.
It's good to get to the cause of things isn't it? Then you're halfway to fixing them. I'm fairly content I know the reason for my living room floor rotting (ie the built-over air bricks), so can deal with that. The new floor should be OK for a bit so no real panic. Oddly though, there's no sign of damp under that floor: Despite the lack of ventilation, it's been bone dry and dusty each time I've looked but maybe that's a seasonal thing.
Similarly, our dining room is above the cellar. The floor there could use replacement as it's been fixed and bodged a few times by the look of things. Clearly joist ends have rotted in their sockets, which sounds like a lot of damp but, again, there's not much of a sign of persistent damp and it's very well ventilated. I can only conclude that a previous owner found some way to deal with a problem that used to exist. Either that or the major drainage job I did when we first bought the place fixed some issues that,at that stage, I didn't know existed ...
I dug out a bill for the summer quarter which should only cover hot water and cooking. Although I suspect that both of those use more gas during the autumn than in the summer, it's a good guide. Deducting that amount from the autumn quarters for 2012 and 2013, then factoring for degree days, I find that this year I have used significantly under half the amount of gas that would be predicted. Considering I have only been draught proofing and have insulated one suspended floor (halfway through the quarter; the other was already insulated), it's a remarkable gain. It's pretty clear that there's a lot more to be achieved. Draught proofing so far has only reduced the gales from 'howling' to 'moderate' through the hallway. Many further improvements are planned, although I would be surprised to see such a substantial improvement again.
Indeed.
The slight nagging doubt I have here is that I know the previous owner replaced nearly all the floors and many joists at some point during their ownership. What I don't know is whether they also fixed the reasons for them needing replacement.
Yes similar set of questions...
Assuming your summer DHW usage is the same as in the winter and it costs the same to heat it to the desired temperature. It is likely that the cold water will be colder in the winter and require more energy to heat it.
I thought they'd be more likely the condense in DHW mode, unless the CH heating return temperature is low.
I don't know but it can cause lethargy.
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