I would have though you would be better off having econmy7 or similar with a PV system. Then you can schedule all your heavy appliances to run overnight on cheap rate juice, and sell all your generated power to the grid at whatever multiple of its actual value you have managed to get.
nsumption of various equipment in the house and am struggling. For example, our kettle says it's 3 kilowatt. Fair enough, but I cannot find the power consumption of our Bosch dishwasher. It seems these days that you get told an energy rating so you can compare one machine with another, but that's no t the same thing. To know that it consumes 2 kwh to do a wash is not the sa me thing as knowing that it consumes 2 kw (or whatever) while actually runn ing. One needs to know how much it consumes while running to know whether t he solar panels, whose spot generation is known and varies a lot during mos t days, will power the machine for free or whether we've got to wait a bit for the sun to come out more.
rom the manufacturers' websites.
Thanks for all this. I am aware that the power consumption varies throughou t the cycle, but I didn't know what it peaked at or for how long. I think t he essence of the issue is simply to start it up and have done with it!
I'd rather have flights without screaming children.
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I do have Economy 7 and used to do just what you've said. However, E7 is no t free whereas SV electricity is. But there's got to be enough of it to pow er the appliance properly, which is where we came in. The SV has a fee-in t ariff (currently 15.44p/kwh) which you get whether or not you use the elect ricity or just pump it into the grid. So it comes down to whether the amoun t that you get per unit (on top of the feed-in tariff) is more or less than the E7 rate. They are similar. So I feel it's best to generate ALL the ele ctricity consumed - rather than some of it and buy the rest back. However y ou look at it it's a complicated calculation and thrown out by a cloud that comes across the sun. If it's a fine sunny day then it's a no-brainer.
Firstly appreciate my comment was somewhat tongue in cheek...
I was under the impression that with a fully metered PV system you got a FiT payment for every kWh generated, and then an additional export payment for selling "unused" electricity to the grid. If you have a tariff where you can sell a PV unit for less or similar than the cost of buying a cheap rate one, then presumably you are (financially) better off that way.
In the grand scheme of things the main "win" seems to be access to the subsidy rather than the rather that the actual value of the electricity itself...
You also need to factor in when you will need access to clean dishes / clothes etc at some point. Remember we live in the UK, and waiting for a sunny day to do the washing might cause more issues than just the cost of the electricity.
consumption of various equipment in the house and am struggling. For exampl e, our kettle says it's 3 kilowatt. Fair enough, but I cannot find the powe r consumption of our Bosch dishwasher. It seems these days that you get tol d an energy rating so you can compare one machine with another, but that's not the same thing. To know that it consumes 2 kwh to do a wash is not the same thing as knowing that it consumes 2 kw (or whatever) while actually ru nning. One needs to know how much it consumes while running to know whether the solar panels, whose spot generation is known and varies a lot during m ost days, will power the machine for free or whether we've got to wait a bi t for the sun to come out more.
from the manufacturers' websites.
I have one of the Maplin ones and it can measure the amount of power over t ime rather than just the current power being drawn. With that you can find out exactly how many watts a device uses over a peri od of time, ideal for finding out the power used by washing machines and ot her devices who's load changes with time.
It annoys me a
The excuse I heard was that with teh cooler temperature washing cycles such as 40C the water is too hot to start with and needs cooling and that mnake s them inefficient on those cycles, although I think cutting cost on having two holes adn selecting was just as important to the manufactuers.
r consumption of various equipment in the house and am struggling. For exam ple, our kettle says it's 3 kilowatt. Fair enough, but I cannot find the po wer consumption of our Bosch dishwasher. It seems these days that you get t old an energy rating so you can compare one machine with another, but that' s not the same thing. To know that it consumes 2 kwh to do a wash is not th e same thing as knowing that it consumes 2 kw (or whatever) while actually running. One needs to know how much it consumes while running to know wheth er the solar panels, whose spot generation is known and varies a lot during most days, will power the machine for free or whether we've got to wait a bit for the sun to come out more.
it from the manufacturers' websites.
ower when I burn a DVD, it even uses more power when the disc spins...
for the journey and the more fule you carry and passengers and luggage them that will also reduce MPG.
while skinny people get a discount. :-)
Well you'd also have to consider that if your household consisted of larger individuals then their clothes are also likley to be larger meaning less g arments fit in the machine per wash, so you'll need more washing cycles in those caes which will cost more, but not relivant on the peak power suplied to the washing machine, in that case the users pays more to wash more stuf f, which seems fair.
nsumption of various equipment in the house and am struggling. For example, our kettle says it's 3 kilowatt. Fair enough, but I cannot find the power consumption of our Bosch dishwasher. It seems these days that you get told an energy rating so you can compare one machine with another, but that's no t the same thing. To know that it consumes 2 kwh to do a wash is not the sa me thing as knowing that it consumes 2 kw (or whatever) while actually runn ing. One needs to know how much it consumes while running to know whether t he solar panels, whose spot generation is known and varies a lot during mos t days, will power the machine for free or whether we've got to wait a bit for the sun to come out more.
rom the manufacturers' websites.Ads not by this site
Best thing to do is buy one of these "Killawatt" (or similar) plug in energy measuring devices. They may lend them out at your local library. The stuff to watch out for is appliances on in the evening, eg the plasma TV.
I have a 3.88Kwp PV array, I have only managed to cut around 25% off my electric bill. Helps if you are retired & can do things through the day.
You get paid for what you generate whether you use it yourself or not. There is no export meter.
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not free whereas SV electricity is. But there's got to be enough of it to p ower the appliance properly, which is where we came in. The SV has a fee-in tariff (currently 15.44p/kwh) which you get whether or not you use the ele ctricity or just pump it into the grid. So it comes down to whether the amo unt that you get per unit (on top of the feed-in tariff) is more or less th an the E7 rate. They are similar. So I feel it's best to generate ALL the e lectricity consumed - rather than some of it and buy the rest back. However you look at it it's a complicated calculation and thrown out by a cloud th at comes across the sun. If it's a fine sunny day then it's a no-brainer.
If you have economy 7 unless you have biggish night loads you end up paying more overall. When you have E7, they charge you more for the day rate than "normal" electricty supply.
So you need to sharpen your pencil & find out what your bill would be on the single day rate.
This is especially true now you have the PV power. It is hard to assess how much of the power you generate you use yourself and how much is exported unless you get your own export meter. Most clip on meters are not direction sensitive BTW.
consumption of various equipment in the house and am struggling. For example, our kettle says it's 3 kilowatt. Fair enough, but I cannot find the power consumption of our Bosch dishwasher. It seems these days that you get told an energy rating so you can compare one machine with another, but that's not the same thing. To know that it consumes 2 kwh to do a wash is not the same thing as knowing that it consumes 2 kw (or whatever) while actually running. One needs to know how much it consumes while running to know whether the solar panels, whose spot generation is known and varies a lot during most days, will power the machine for free or whether we've got to wait a bit for the sun to come out more.
the manufacturers' websites.
With a dishwasher/washing machine there will not be one power consumption figure. The power it takes will be dependant on the program that it is running - heating cycle, rinse cycle, long wash, short wash etc. and in the case of a washing machine how hot the water during a wash.
For a fridge freezer it may depend more on how it is loaded, how often the door is opened or the ambient temperature of the room.
That's because for most washes you only need the water temperature to be around 15C.
You do, though. You get paid a 'deemed' amount on top of the feed in tariff . It's a calculated proportion.
free whereas SV electricity is. But there's got to be enough of it to power the appliance properly, which is where we came in. The SV has a fee-in tariff (currently 15.44p/kwh) which you get whether or not you use the electricity or just pump it into the grid. So it comes down to whether the amount that you get per unit (on top of the feed-in tariff) is more or less than the E7 rate. They are similar. So I feel it's best to generate ALL the electricity consumed - rather than some of it and buy the rest back. However you look at it it's a complicated calculation and thrown out by a cloud that comes across the sun. If it's a fine sunny day then it's a no-brainer.
They normally charge the same day rate, but a higher standing charge (or you need to buy more full price units prior to getting the discount rate on "no standing charge" tariffs).
If you don't have export metering, then I was under the impression they simply made a block allowance for a percentage being exported... otherwise how would you decide what additional payment to make for exported units?
Washers are now designed to use so little water (except for later rinsing) that taking in water from the hot water supply will often only get cold water (cooled down by being in the pipe to the machine for a long time). So there's no point in spending money on parts that don't perform a useful function.
AIUI
Would have to be a big array if it was going to generate about 3KW from UK sunlight?
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It has been deemed too expensive to fit export meters for small arrays. There is a meter on the array.
So you get paid for all you generate plus a small additional amount for 50% of what you generate. This is on the assumption you consume 50% of the generated power yourself.
So whether you use the power yourself or not, you get paid the same money. It's all about cutting energy imports to the country so they don't worry about who uses the power. Most people with PV power tend to be efficient users of power anyway.
When smart meters come into general use,all this may change.
@ O n e t e l . c o m
You get about 1Kw (peak) for every 5m2 of solar panels. (using polycrystaline panels)
The money paid is banded depending on the power of the array. 0-4Kw is the smallest band so many domestic arrays are just under 4Kw.
Japanese domestic washing machines use that approach or did when we lived there. The results were complete rubbish. They were also a very good example of weird low tech gear in a high tech country. Homes all came with a washing machine drip tray plumbed into the drains because the things malfunctioned and spilled their contents so often!!!
Ours came with the latest in "fuzzy logic" which was all the rage back then but merely made the contraptions behaviour even less predictable.
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