With the recent increase in electric prices , we've had another look at our bills.
We have solar panels and a battery storage system so for most of the year we only draw a minimul amount from the grid
For March and April we have been virtualy self sufficent for electric, only drawing around 0.5-0.7 KWH per day. we usualy draw a small amount ehen we boil the kettle an d thats all we use
Our smart meter is showing a daily usage of 60p per day of which 48p is standing charge.
Have looked at Utilita's Smart Energy tariff which has 51p for the first 2 units per day , then 27.35 per unit after that
We are seriously considering it as it would reduce our daily charge from 60p per day to around 26p per day . They also do a gas tarriff along the same lines which would benefit us in the summer , but not in the winter
Has anyone had any dealings with utilita either good or bad , and is anyone aware of any other No standing charge tariffs
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No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
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- Lemon Pip
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
steelman99 wrote:With the recent increase in electric prices , we've had another look at our bills.
We have solar panels and a battery storage system so for most of the year we only draw a minimul amount from the grid
For March and April we have been virtualy self sufficent for electric, only drawing around 0.5-0.7 KWH per day. we usualy draw a small amount ehen we boil the kettle an d thats all we use
Our smart meter is showing a daily usage of 60p per day of which 48p is standing charge.
Have looked at Utilita's Smart Energy tariff which has 51p for the first 2 units per day , then 27.35 per unit after that
We are seriously considering it as it would reduce our daily charge from 60p per day to around 26p per day . They also do a gas tarriff along the same lines which would benefit us in the summer , but not in the winter
Has anyone had any dealings with utilita either good or bad , and is anyone aware of any other No standing charge tariffs
Could you give a few details about your battery storage system?
I think it's everyone's dream to be self sufficient and free of the 'Trotter Trading Company -New York & Peckham' utility companies.
But of course, as soon as we are, they will find other means of taxing us.
Steve
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- Lemon Half
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
stevensfo wrote:Could you give a few details about your battery storage system?
A Tesla "Powerwall" I would imagine, although by now other brands are probably available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall
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- Lemon Pip
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
as Ive been asked for details of our system
We have had solar panels on the roof for quite a few years and was happy with the decent returns from the feed in tarriff . Only when we got a smart meter did I realise how much we were sending back to the grid
The System is AC coupled so we dont loose any FIT, its a lux power system with 2 plyontech batterys - total storage capacity is 4.8KWH . Its only been installed a few months so how effective it is in mid december I cant comment, but our house faces south west so we dont get a lot of sun in a morning .
Been checking in a morning and the battery is still at 49-50% capacity and by lunch time its at 100% - in the afternoon we still send power back to the grid.
Cost of instalation the system was £3400 , according to the online monitering we've had the system 2 months now and bought in 13.8KWH, and sent 229.2 KWH back to the grid. Total household usage over this period has been 187.8 KWH so a saving of 174 kwh
We have had solar panels on the roof for quite a few years and was happy with the decent returns from the feed in tarriff . Only when we got a smart meter did I realise how much we were sending back to the grid
The System is AC coupled so we dont loose any FIT, its a lux power system with 2 plyontech batterys - total storage capacity is 4.8KWH . Its only been installed a few months so how effective it is in mid december I cant comment, but our house faces south west so we dont get a lot of sun in a morning .
Been checking in a morning and the battery is still at 49-50% capacity and by lunch time its at 100% - in the afternoon we still send power back to the grid.
Cost of instalation the system was £3400 , according to the online monitering we've had the system 2 months now and bought in 13.8KWH, and sent 229.2 KWH back to the grid. Total household usage over this period has been 187.8 KWH so a saving of 174 kwh
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- Lemon Half
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
steelman99 wrote:as Ive been asked for details of our system
We have had solar panels on the roof for quite a few years and was happy with the decent returns from the feed in tarriff . Only when we got a smart meter did I realise how much we were sending back to the grid
The System is AC coupled so we dont loose any FIT, its a lux power system with 2 plyontech batterys - total storage capacity is 4.8KWH . Its only been installed a few months so how effective it is in mid december I cant comment, but our house faces south west so we dont get a lot of sun in a morning .
Been checking in a morning and the battery is still at 49-50% capacity and by lunch time its at 100% - in the afternoon we still send power back to the grid.
Cost of instalation the system was £3400 , according to the online monitering we've had the system 2 months now and bought in 13.8KWH, and sent 229.2 KWH back to the grid. Total household usage over this period has been 187.8 KWH so a saving of 174 kwh
Thanks for a great real world example!
Any idea why you are taking anything out of the grid, if you're at 50% in the morning?
Is there something that's permanently powered from that side? or is it because some days the battery is exhausted?
I've done more of this budgeting stuff than I care to remember for various types of commercial (stand alone remote) solar powered installations (generally telemetry in places it takes a long time to drive to) and it's great to see that the principles apply equally to more traditional power use.
- sd
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
All those numbers are variable and depend on many other factors such as the inclusion of charging an electric car, cooking by gas or electric & wether you use electric to heat domestic hot water etc, etc.
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- Lemon Pip
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
[quote]
Any idea why you are taking anything out of the grid, if you're at 50% in the morning?
Is there something that's permanently powered from that side? or is it because some days the battery is exhausted?[/quote}
No the batterys have never been exhausted , Im assuming that something in the system limits the ammount of power the batterys can give out at once , and the spike in demand from boiling the kettle (its one of those one cup things) i more than the battery can give up at once.
Any idea why you are taking anything out of the grid, if you're at 50% in the morning?
Is there something that's permanently powered from that side? or is it because some days the battery is exhausted?[/quote}
No the batterys have never been exhausted , Im assuming that something in the system limits the ammount of power the batterys can give out at once , and the spike in demand from boiling the kettle (its one of those one cup things) i more than the battery can give up at once.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: No Standing Charge Electric Tarrif
steelman99 wrote:Any idea why you are taking anything out of the grid, if you're at 50% in the morning?
Is there something that's permanently powered from that side? or is it because some days the battery is exhausted?[/quote}
No the batterys have never been exhausted , Im assuming that something in the system limits the ammount of power the batterys can give out at once , and the spike in demand from boiling the kettle (its one of those one cup things) i more than the battery can give up at once.
That sounds believable.
I imagine you can balance the configuration of the inverter limits with different concerns; allowing sustained high current, or deep cycling the battery could age it quicker.
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