12-26-08, 11:30 AM | #1 |
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When do you heat your house in the winter?
To lower your heating bill, several techniques have already been discussed :
Another simple way is to heat during less time. This is based upon the fact heating is a 'Pulse and Glide' technique, ie the radiators switch on to upper the temperature quickly, then switch off completely while the temperature is lowering slowly. Examples :
For some reasons, I woke up sooner during these last weeks. I was leaving the bed while the heating system wasn't on yet... When the heating system was switched on then the temperature was rising by 1-2°C per hour. We reconfigured the heating system to start & stop 3/4h sooner in mornings. The result isn't a lowering of total kWh consumed, but is a lowering of total bill. This is explained by the heating system starting 1/2h before the end of night hours (0.0673€/kWh), and not after 1/4h after the beginning of day hours (1.1106€/kWh). As the heating system consumes up to 6kW, noticeably when it's started, this is a 3kWh per day transferred from high to low costs, ie a 0.13 €/day saving, so 15 € (22 $) for the 4 months of heating and an improved comfort . As I'm noting my daily night/day consumption since one month, this is correlated by the fact that during the last week the daily cost is lower than other days before with roughly the same number of kWh consumed. Denis.
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12-27-08, 07:36 AM | #2 |
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Good idea Groar. How many other people here have peak and off peak hours for electric? I know I don't. I wonder how common it is.
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12-27-08, 08:17 AM | #3 |
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All my families has peak/off peak hours. They choose the max power depending on their needs. As we need 6kW to heat, we have a 9kW subscription.
The laundry washing machine is always run during peak hours to profit from the sun to dry. We always run the dish washing machine during off peak hours, except when we forgot about it or we need it because there is lots of people at home. The water heater starts when it receives the off peak signal. Denis.
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12-27-08, 12:19 PM | #4 |
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We have peak/off peak here too. However, I don't think out thermostat is programming enough to handle some serious P&G, we just let it go down to 61F at night,
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12-28-08, 09:31 PM | #5 |
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I wish off peak was available to me.
I also wish for broadband at home but that's another issue. |
12-29-08, 06:48 AM | #6 | |
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Quote:
During the last month before we start the heating system during off peak, the average night consumption was between 10 and 11 kWh/night. This shows that during the night the radiators nearly don't switch on. I wouldn't be surprised if the difference comes mainly from the water heater as the water it gets is colder and the temperature difference (so thermal leaks) between hot water and inside air temperature is greater. Since we start the heating system during the last 1/2h of off peak, we have a 13 kWh consumption by night which correlates the 6kW during 1/2h. This morning I looked at the counter when the heat system stopped and the day consumption was at 9kWh which is 90 minutes at 6kW. I'm working from home this week so I'm always at home now. I let the programmers go on "cold" mode and the temperature got down by 3°C in 5 hours while the consumption is only at 12 kWh (my wife launched a laundry machine which is 2 kWh iirc). I don't thing my radiators can be switched on partially. They are at full power or switched off. So when the programmers switch from "cold" to "hot" and back, I think it's some pulse 'n glide moments with very big changes in temperatures (>3.0°C), so the radiators don't change their state during hours... During a period ("cold" or "hot") to keep the temperature "constant", the radiators are switching on (100%) and off (0%) but I don't think they are partially powered, so this is a pulse 'n glide moment with very small changes in temperatures (<0.3°C), so smaller durations in each state. Denis, who gonna put the living room's programmer on "hot"...
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12-30-08, 12:36 PM | #7 |
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We don't keep the house a particular temperature since we no longer use the central heat. We use space heaters and just run them until it's warm. Even if one has to run continuously, it still uses far less power than the central unit.
At night, we use the mattress pad that was a birthday gift. A very handy gift indeed because it uses even less power than the space heater and has multiple settings including a pre-heat cycle. It'll keep you as warm as you like with very little impact on your usage. We usually only heat when it falls below 50 F. |
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