Henry Pelly

An excellent positive article about the modern wonder that is the energy transition

I’ve been renovating my house since 2021, which included upgrading the heating system to run at a 40C flow temperature at -3C. So I replaced a few radiators and added extra pipework. When I installed the heating system pump I joined two heating systems with a large pipe as well.

Yes. It’s was a nice constant warm temperature all winter. I have small children and a wife who hates being cold and works from home. So our house was a constant 21/22C.

No solar. But battery, off-peak electricity tariff and an efficiently operated heat pump

So heat pumps like bigger pipes to suit higher flow rates. Big heat loads need big pipes. So if you can reduce the heat load of the room you can easily reuse existing radiators and pipe work for the heat pump and run it at much lower flow temperatures. Which can mean even bigger cost savings.

Also insulating/reducing heat loss means that pipework and radiators don’t need to be upgraded. Heat pumps are much more efficient when the temperature of the water in the system is lower. They also move water through the pipes much quicker than gas boilers and a bit quicker than an oil boiler.

Much cheaper. My gas bill in the middle of the winter was as much as £400 a month and I spent about £300 a month on electricity (three small children and a lot of laundry). Now my monthly electricity bill is £300 in mid-winter and about £100-£150 a month in the summer.

It helps that I work at an engineering practice (Max Fordham) that has put Solar Panels on Kings College roof and switched Wolfson College (listed Brutalist building) onto heat pumps. So I know that HE support all kinds of decarbonisation measures

Home microgrids: a blueprint for the future of sustainable household energy? Once the preserve of doomsday preppers and sustainability nerds, these autonomous mini ‘power plants’ are gaining wider traction among homeowners and housebuilders — despite the maze of obstacles

The FT wrote something on it. I’ve got some big batteries that make it affordable to run. www.ft.com/content/e8cb...

I installed a heat pump on my Grade II* listed house. It’s in my garden which is a scheduled monument. Historic England and my heritage officer were very helpful. I think it’s worth your followers knowing that you don’t need any thermal improvements to make a heat pump work well an old house.

Planning change makes heat pump installations easier for homes The rule requiring planning permission if a heat pump is within 1m of a neighbours property has been removed.

Sooo... the government has removed the 1m planning rule in England, and the BBC have opened the comments section on their article...😱😳

Because I clearly hate myself, let's do a quick fact check on some of the most popular comments...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There’s loads of low-cost heat reducing ideas here. My favourite is painting yoghurt on your windows. www.heatwavetoolkit.com

There’s also a good case study on how a heat pump and batteries make my ‘thermally-challenged’ listed house cost-effective to run.

My suggestion for an initial solution is to remove the levy from smart-metered electricity that is below a certain carbon intensity threshold. I.e when renewable generation makes up 50% of the grid. It would incentivise smart meters, demand shifting and create fewer losers.

A screen shot from open energy monitor showing the SCOP of my heat pump to date is 3.98

My heat pump. A basic Samsung with manufacturers controls. The house is big and listed so minimal insulation. It’s got a SCOP to date of almost 4. This is typical for decent installs. I’ve more than halved my energy bills with battery. If it works in my house it can work almost anywhere.

Pinchbeck acknowledges debate over cost of net zero. Says there is investment and cost required over the next 10 years, especially in grid and home retrofit, but the modelling shows benefits start to outweigh costs around 2040 and then continue to amass beyond then.

Pinchbeck: 'Apart from EVs if there is a key technology in the Carbon budgets it is trees, because it takes 25 years to grow a tree to maturity.' Says if there are two things the government needs progress on now it is buildings and trees.

Other key challenge is residential buildings and electrified heat. There needs to be more progress here to get to half of buildings having electrified heat by mid-2030s before then ramping up through to 2040.

Pinchbeck: 'Our primary recommendation for government is to make electricity as cheap as possible'. This relates to the major challenge for this government of decarbonising heating over the next decade.

In Defence of the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard There’s been a bit of controversy over the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (NZCBS) in the last couple of days. On Friday, Simon Sturgis, the godfather of Embodied Carbon assessment in the UK, publi...

www.linkedin.com/pulse/defenc...
I wrote a defence of the new Net Zero Building Standard. There's a bit too much focus in the industry on perfecting ideas and not enough on doing things better....

Best explanation of why energy prices are so high in the UK you will find in the media. Watch this ⬇️

(Spoiler alert: it’s not green policies that are the problem)

BUT it’s a clear sign that highly-educated and bright people still don’t understand that 1. heat pumps have been here for decades and 2. They will be the dominant heating technology within a decade or two. Wind, Solar, Batteries and Smart Electricity tariffs will make sure of that.

In the case of the BBC they are an arms-length government organisation, funded by a tax on TV watching. Its long-term survival (and funding model) depends on its impartiality. So I understand their caution….

BBC muzzling one of its best presenters from making an excellent, wholly factual programme because heat pumps are “controversial”. An organisation badly in need of new leadership.

100% agree. It’s a decision that shows how ignorant the BBC’s management is of real-world engineering. Most commercial buildings in the UK have heat pumps. The decision was almost certainly taken in a room that was heated by one. The BBC’s management aren’t serious people.

An Easter Duckling

Thanks @betatalk.bsky.social for a great chat. We covered a lot of ground from low energy sports centre design to the benefits of (MCS) certification despite the pain it causes.

Yes, I agree. Longer duration storage is not something batteries or behaviour can easily overcome. I guess I’m trying to say that the need for within-day load shifting is unlikely to outstrip the growing need for it.

I do think that people who can afford to load shift (via batteries or behaviour) should do it as much as possible as it’s a social good. It keeps peak electricity cheaper for those that are unable to reduce demand at those times.

I think load shifting behaviour won’t keep up with the growth of renewable generation that needs the demand response. The closer we get to 100% renewable generation the bigger load shifting will need to be.