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Off Topic: When does your central heating go on?

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  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    edited November 2021
    Have paid the surveyor deposit for the solar panels. Now just waiting for the appointment. I've got economy 7,so use the main users of leccy at night anyway,or early morning. It was 10c overnight so hot flushes and outside the duvet
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    LG_ said:
    Re appliance energy-efficiency: this is both interesting and useful -
    https://whento.info/
    @LG_  I have been watching this recently and fascinated by the varying rates around the UK. Scotland generally seems to offer fractional carbon use intensity to England, sometimes so low it doesn't even seem to register. I snapped these two graphs just now.

    This is London

    - -
    This is Aberdeen for the same period.

    . 



  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    edited November 2021
    Whoa! I hadn't looked at other areas, but that's extraordinary.

    And I've just looked at Cardiff (CF10) and it's extraordinary in the opposite direction.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited November 2021
    Holy crow! I am wondering about contributory factors and how accurate the site /calculations are.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    The National Grid is all interconnected, including internationally, so you can't necessarily count on the little power elfs that run your dishwasher being local, but there are significant variations in both demand and supply across the country, which is what the app is trying to reflect. Scotland has a lot of on and off shore wind and (relatively) few people and businesses using it. I would imagine the reason you get an answer in London to use your washing machine on a Sunday afternoon is to do with when the offices are closed, rather than people being out in the park. Here in the southwest, there are times when the electricity price goes negative (i.e. there's more being generated than being used, so they pay you to use it in order to balance the grid if you're on the right tariff.). I don't think that ever happens - or very rarely - in London, there's very little local generation and a lot of demand. If all those houses had solar panels on the roof, you'd see a very different pattern, I should think.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Thanks for that explanation about rads and windows @raisingirl.

    Interesting graphs, just looked up Bath but I don't think I want to put the alarm on to get up at 2.30 am tomorrow just to put the dishwasher on. Our machine is not wi-fi enabled.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    edited November 2021
    Surely, London has a far bigger population than Aberdeen,so would be using more power. I've had economy 7 for about 50 years,so used to using my appliances late night early morning,it's just a shame I live on the old SEEB area,in the SE because it's the only area with a split rate. 2 hours,cheap rate,2normal,5 cheap
     The heating went on a couple of mornings a couple of evenings. Then the temperature went back to double figures overnight. I went to see one of my long-term friends on Monday, she's having major work done on a house they moved into this year,and guess what,the builders have put the rads under the windows AND there is now ruddy great big beds in front of them! She has solar panels, apparently only feeding the grid. Bloke came round can't fix them,and she has pigeons nesting underneath and neighbours are complaining about the cooing!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    London's population is starting to get near double Scotland's population @Nanny Beach.
    About 9 million for the former, and just under 5.5 here. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Lizzie27 said:
    Thanks for that explanation about rads and windows @raisingirl.

    Interesting graphs, just looked up Bath but I don't think I want to put the alarm on to get up at 2.30 am tomorrow just to put the dishwasher on. Our machine is not wi-fi enabled.
    I wouldn't be getting up just to do that either - but does it not have a delay start option?
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    LG years ago I used timers.one night,the weight broke through the washer/ dryer. Smashed the machine to bits. My last machine here,was on a timer,but residual current resulted in damage. Nowadays because of all the fires,you are told not to leave these appliances unattended.
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