My smart home

Discussions around the latest tech at home: EVs, solar, smart heat, battery storage and more

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426 Topic threads

Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
TransparentCarbon Catcher***
Posted in My smart home

Heating Strategies: Domestic Heating How To series Part 1Tutorial

Part 1: Heating Strategies Whilst the majority of UK homes use water-filled radiators to provide heat, there are a number of alternatives Each type of heat-emitter has its pros and cons. In these times of greater awareness of Climate Change it’s becoming increasingly important to assess which heat source would be more suitable.Should we continue to regard the heat emitters as an integral part of the house structure, or can we make changes to better suit our needs?If we’re converting the attic or adding a sun-room extension, can we choose a better/different heat system to that in the existing house?This Topic considers the alternatives and provides the practical background information to help readers make more informed choices. As with most things in life, there are trade-offs to be considered:   Installing domestic heating is costly. About one-half of the expense is taken up with labour… of which the majority doesn’t need a qualification or very high skill-level!The obvious solution is

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Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 year ago
S
Carbon Cutter*****
Sean TCarbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

Grid-connected or off-grid battery - What's the best option for my planned solar panel installation?

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful. I’m in the North West and I am interested in what sort of real world electricity production I can expect from a 12.5 kW system? My installer has estimated 10,299 kWh/year. Do these estimates tend to be quite accurate or do they tend to be over- or under- in the real world, taking an average year of sunshine (if that’s possible these days!). 

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S
Carbon Cutter*****
1 year ago
Gum168
Carbon Cutter*****
Gum168Carbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

New gas boiler vs air source heat pump (ASHP) - What's the best boiler replacement option for an integrated heating system?

Hmm. Interesting! Thank you for that.We've been thinking what to do, and it's brought up all sorts of conversations about the way forward. In fact the boiler is 13 years old, so then we got to thinking it will need replacing at some point, so maybe wait until then and get a fully integrated system at the outset. Then again, what about heat source pumps? Should we be thinking of that next time anyway? Can we afford it, even with the grants coming next year? Should we also look at storage batteries, to make the most of our solar generation? So many options have started to occur to us, so for now we've decided to continue the way we have been. Every radiator except 1 has a trv, with rarely used rooms off most of the time, and we are pretty good with a routine of turn on bedroom about a hour or 2 before bed, depending on outside temperature and off in the morning after we are dressed. The thermostat is kept low during the day if we are moving around, and turned right down when we leave the

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juliamc
Plan Zero Hero
1 year ago
Tim_OVO
Community Manager
Tim_OVOCommunity Manager
posted in My smart home

Air source heat pumps (ASHP) and drainage - Why do heat pumps emit so much water?

Updated on 19/04/22 by Jess_OVO As we’ve got plenty of Air-Source Heat Pump early adopters here, we’re hoping you might be able to share your experience of a little discussed aspects of your heating system: drainage. Have you noticed your outside unit emitting water? If so are there any factors that increase or decrease the amount of water released? 

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juliamc
Plan Zero Hero
1 year ago
Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
TransparentCarbon Catcher***
Posted in My smart home

Wet Underfloor Heating systems: Domestic Heating How To series Part 2Tutorial

Part 2: Wet Underfloor Heating systems Whatever is the final floor surface, water needs supplying to the heating pipes at around 45°C. That should allow the surface temperature to be maintained at about 22-27°C.Wooden floors can be damaged at higher temperatures whilst tiled/stone floors cease being comfortable in bare feet.The optimal method to supply the required 45°C to the distribution manifold is to use a Thermal Store. A Thermal Store looks similar to a traditional hot-water tank. However, instead of the main body of water being that which comes out when you turn on a hot tap, the tank is filled with the water that supplies the UFH pipes and is heated by the boiler. The tank must be tall enough to provide a thermal gradient from bottom to top. Taking out water at a midway point creates the required 45°C for UFH. In the above diagram I’ve added one top-coil to generate domestic hot water (DHW) on demand, and one lower coil to provide a second heat-source besides the boiler. In pra

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
eezytiger
Carbon Cutter*****
eezytigerCarbon Cutter*****
Posted in My smart home

What's really going on with your heating system - Bluetooth data loggers may help you find outBlog

Hi. I have recently posted in a discussion about some Bluetooth data logging thermometers that I have been using to gain a better understanding of what's happening with my radiators and to fine tune my heating system. Here is a little more detail about the way I got there. Maybe my tale will be as boring as watching paint dry, but possibly of interest to some, so here goes.(Pictures at the bottom) BACKGROUNDI'm just your average homeowner with no knowledge, skills or even interest in heating systems until a few weeks ago. It was 29th September and I turned on the gas central heating for the first time this season. I didn't set out to explore/review the system, but I was very shocked to find how tepid the radiator was in the master bedroom, when the little used box room was scorching. This led me down a rabbit hole of research and discovery. As I'm retired I have the luxury of time for such things. BALANCING THE SYSTEMFirstly I learned about balancing radiators. My system (apart from th

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S
Carbon Catcher**
1 year ago
Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
Jess_OVORetired Moderator
Posted in My smart home

Air-Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) and radiator replacement: How to work out the optimum radiator size for maximum efficiency?

Updated on 14/04/22 by Jess_OVO We’ve been keeping an eye out for some commonly asked heat pump questions our community members might be able to offer insight on. As we’ve pretty thoroughly covered pipe insulation, now it’s the turn of the radiators. How many of you were able to keep the existing radiators when your heat pumps were fitted, and if these needed replacing how were the new radiator sizes worked out?  Do any of you have heat pumps powering underfloor heating in any part of your home and was this existing or has it been added along with the heat pump?  How is someone that’s considering a heat pump able to review their current radiators to know if they’re suitable or will need replacing? Tips and advice needed here! Be great if anyone’s happy to share any before/after photos of any changes made to their radiator/underfloor heating set-up too.

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S
Carbon Catcher**
1 year ago
PeterR1947
Carbon Catcher***
PeterR1947Carbon Catcher***
Posted in My smart home

Permanently plugged in mobile chargers - A wasted energy discussion

Updated on 20/04/22 by Jess_OVO Wondering about the energy used by your plugged in chargers or standby devices ? Check out the member discussion on this topic below. All tests have been carried out by members themselves so can’t be verified by OVO. We had several conversations at the VIP day about the load created by plugged in mobile chargers with no mobiles connected, @Transparent if I remember was very vocal on this issue.Anyway, I plugged my energy monitor into a 13A socket and plugged in an Apple iPhone charger; I left it for ten days. Result 0.00kWh usage PF=1, I have to say I was surprised

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
M
Carbon Cutter*****
Mbu1982Carbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

The import readings on my Secure Liberty S1 meter don't match the energy purchased figure on my Solar PV and Home Energy Inverter - Which figure is correct?

Updated on 21/10/21 by Jess_OVO - Note that this discussion originated on our Secure Liberty 100 Smart Meter guide topic Hi Tim, Can you please confirm if the Historical data shown should match to the import readings? For instance the historical data says I used 600kwh for September and the import readings say I used 800kwh.  Should these figures match?  If not, why not? Thanks,Joe

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M
Carbon Cutter*****
1 year ago
D
New Member***
DaveRalphNew Member***
Posted in My smart home

How can I link my Tado smart thermostat to my OVO account?

I have a Tado system, had it before joining OVO, installed it all myself with the wireless extension kit as our combi boiler is in the loft and TRVs on all Rads.Best solution I could find as the system supports the OpenTherm bus standard (amongst others) for those boilers that can use it.I saw that there is meant to be a way of linking your Tado account to your OVO account. I had a Smart Meter installed a couple of months back and was hoping that this would trigger the ability to link, but still nothing.I have called customer services, but they aren't sure. I have sent an email over 10 days ago, but only had the auto response saying please allow 5 days for a response. The help topic mentions a Smart Devices option in the Menu, but it isn't there for me.Does anyone know how this is meant to be achieved?Are you meant to have purchased the system through OVO to get something to kick in? Thanks for any advice.David

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Mw2870
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
Jequinlan
Plan Zero Hero
JequinlanPlan Zero Hero
Posted in My smart home

My Electric Vehicle (EV) Holiday Experience - From Surrey to Devon (and Back)Blog

Updated on 26/05/22 by Jess_OVO BackgroundThis year was my first year of owning a full electric vehicle, absolutely no backup of a polluting  combustion engine. I took delivery just before COVID-19 hit, so had not really had the experience of any long range trips. I had done some homework though. I knew the stated range: 239 miles, and I too knew this was not going to be achieved as it was hot, the boot was absolutely rammed full following the traditional game of car boot jenga, and we had 5 passengers. As if this wasn't enough of a challenge, we were going from a part of the UK where chargers are many to a village in deep dark surrey, down roads which are lucky to call a shack a "services" and then onto the vast expanse of last century technology called North Devon. Atop of all this, I had an additional challenge, and one that I honestly didn't realise that would become the hardest to overcome. The impact taking an EV on a family holiday has to planning and the emotional impact it can

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PeterR1947
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
Gum168
Carbon Cutter*****
Gum168Carbon Cutter*****
Posted in My smart home

One year on review - loving our BMW i3! Electric vehicle (EV) ReviewEV Review

Updated on 23/06/23 by Tim_OVO​: OVO are now fitting electric vehicle (EV) smart chargers.  The smart chargers we fit are compatible with OVO’s Charge Anytime add on, for super cheap EV charging any time of the day.  Considering making the change to an Electric Vehicle? Check out the great advice our community members have shared on what to consider when buying an EV over here.We’ve also got some great EV owner reviews like the one below and this Tesla Model 3 review. We bought our first EV in June 2017, so we are just over a year on. We have a BMW i3. I'll admit we wimped out a bit and got the rex (range extender), due to range anxiety. Turned out at should have saved the extra rex cost, as it's barely been used. We very quickly got used to checking where charge points are available. We haven't ventured from Yorkshire to London yet, but that's mainly due to the fact that we need a larger car to transport my elderly father and his wheel chair when there.We were keen to try electric, bu

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Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 year ago
Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
Jess_OVORetired Moderator
Posted in My smart home

Electric Vehicle (EV) Review Topic HubEV Review

Updated on 28/02/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO Our Community members give the Lowdown on their EV Wheels With the important role they play in driving us towards a greener future, we’re proud to be part of the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. Find out about our EV Add On Charge Anytime…  The leap to a new way of driving can raise many questions which is why we’re building a community of in-the know-users, on hand to share tips and advice. We’ve collected together some of the best EV Reviews they’ve posted over the past few years so you can find out more from their first-hand EV experience:        Want to find out more about a particular model? Why not ask below as there’s a chance we might just have someone with this EV already in our midst? Got an EV and want to share your own experience of choosing and driving it? Why not write a quick review over here (Don’t forget to include some snaps!) - You never know you might just see it added to this Topic Hub where it can help future and potential EV

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Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 year ago
Z
New Member**
ZapMyBrainNew Member**
Posted in My smart home

Just bought my first Electric Vehicle (EV) - Which home charger is best to use with a Tesla?

Hi everyone, Just recently bought my first electric car. I’m look at having a home charging port installed. I’m currently looking at the Easee One (https://proev.co.uk/easee-one) & The Zappi (https://proev.co.uk/myenergi-zappi). Is there any advantage of using one over the other? The car is a Tesla if that helps. Thank you, Sam

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Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 year ago
G
Carbon Cutter*****
GlaikitCarbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

Will gas per unit become more expensive when we decarbonize domestic gas and replace with hydrogen?

From my calculations, it looks like the decarbonization of the gas network will result in gas going from£0.04/kW to £0.24/kW, when it switches to Hydrogen.This is because it takes 55kW of electricity of to electrolyse water to produce hydrogen gas which gives 33.6kW of power.  Getting hydrogen from other sources either produce carbon, or are still in the very early lab phase.This does not take into account the increased losses in the network, or additional manufacturing assets. Is this what the future will be like - gas too expensive to use domestically? Anyone care to comment; are my assumptions wrong?  Who will use domestic gas in the future? 

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Tim_OVO
Community Manager
1 year ago
NeilG
Carbon Cutter*****
NeilGCarbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

V2G Analysis - Energy costs and Export Payments whilst on the V2G trial

Today I was looking at my OVO account and getting cross with the incorrect data it showed for my predicted mo mthly payment and the associated graphs, suggesting I need to pay nearly £190 per month…. so I have made my own graphs which are accurate…. I thought people might be interested to see...I have been in the V2G scheme now for 19 months and after sorting a number of issues with the smart meter (which meant I initially had little or no accurate data), I have just analysed the last 12 bills…. all of which were accurate.FYI…. We live in a 400 year old 4 bed cottage which has been made as eco friendly as is reasonable without upsetting its character or destroying anything important…  (so far      efficient house!) however, we have a first generation 1.2Kw PV installation on the garage roof and solar water heaters on the kitchen extension. Because of lockdown, our EV mileage is relatively low at about 6K for the year, so the car has been here to plenty for V2G!The spread sheet shows ou

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
Crìstian
Carbon Cutter*****
CrìstianCarbon Cutter*****
Posted in My smart home

I've recently installed a new Valliant Combi Boiler - what's the most efficient temperature to set?

Hi, fellow OVOers,About 5wks we [my wife & I] got a new heating system installed. Our previous one was a Vented System [with a cold water cistern in the loft & a copper boiler in airing cupboard]Our new heating system is a Combi Boiler [Vaillant ecoFIT sustain] Does any of you OVOers on here, have this system? If so I want to pick your brains, so to speak lol :)What is the best 'Energy Efficient' temperature to have Boiler at and also to have Rads at & Hot Water at? We have a 2 bedroomed up/down house, smallish kitchen & bathroom, bottom hallway, stairs, top hallway & a back porch of the kitchen no need for rad there, we have 7 [various sizes] rads in our homeI've been doing some online research on this subject but didn't really yet any straightforward answers, too many variables.  That's the boiler/rads temp.  That's the room temp but, we have the TRVs on the rads in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom, upstairs & hallways set at a lower temp than the living room. 

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Tim_OVO
Community Manager
1 year ago
Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
TransparentCarbon Catcher***
posted in My smart home

Open LV Trial - Making local substation data available to community groups

Updated on 20/04/22 by Jess_OVO Whilst the OpenLV project has now finished - Read the thread below for our community members take on the results...OpenLV is a ground-breaking project that’s making local electricity data openly available for the first time ever, to benefit local communities and the wider energy industry. OpenLV is led by project partners Western Power Distribution and EA Technology. It is funded by Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition. Project partner CSE is leading the community engagement, to support communities to access their local electricity data for local benefit. Regen is leading the evaluation of community groups taking part in OpenLV.The OpenLV Project is trialling an open software platform in electricity substations that can monitor substation performance and electricity demand. The LV-CAP (TM) platform is designed to integrate with third party products to enable network control and automation, and increased customer participation in network management. The

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
TransparentCarbon Catcher***
Posted in My smart home

Energy demand, supply and flexibilityBlog

Last month I needed to calculate Maximum Demand for my house. This is a technical assessment which adds up all the electrical devices, socket outlets and lights to arrive at an MD which truly reflects the possible peak current. This can’t be calculated from a Smart Meter because that shows half-hourly averages.My 3-storey house with 280m² floor-area, two workshops, 5 power rings and two electric ovens has an MD of just 19.6 Amps.This illustration of MD shows how the UK electricity demand would be more than doubled if we move along the Government’s Net Zero timescale for phasing out ICE transportation in favour of EVs.So in my case, adding a 7.5kW EV charge-point to the house last month takes my MD from  19.6A to 51.6A There are two separate calculations to be considered:a: Do our houses have adequately-sized conductors to deliver the current required for houses with EV charge-points fed from the local substation?b: Is there enough capacity to get that power through the 33kV and 11kV Di

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
1 year ago
Jeffus
Plan Zero Hero
JeffusPlan Zero Hero
posted in My smart home

Looking into getting an Electric van/campervan (EV) - anyone got any tips?

Has anyone got any experience of small electric vans?We haven't had a car for many years.Just have an 18 year old petrol little Suzuki Carry van that we have had since new converted into a micro campervan.

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Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 year ago
E
Carbon Cutter*****
EverythingNeedsAUserNameCarbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

Installing a tado Smart Thermostat - easy but yet difficult - looking positive and already helping

All was going swimmingly. The app installed. The tado arrived. I started the process and the app asked for the name and model number of thermostat and boiler controller. Happily it recognised my specific British gas models. Each device installation begins with scanning its QR code, and you are then given simple diagrams and instructions. The app led me step-by-step, screen by screen, through the installation, using in part generic diagrams and in part model-specific wiring guides. At each step, you have to touch the confirm button before the app lets you see the next step. You cannot look ahead.       First is installing the Internet bridge, which has short 25cm ethernet and usb cables. Happily my router had both an unused ethernet socket and a usb slot. So the power comes from that, and I didn't need the supplied mains charger. The app checks that it has connected up properly. I then got a welcome email from tado.Then you switch off the power to the heating syste

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Jeffus
Plan Zero Hero
1 year ago
H
New Member***
Hairy AnimalNew Member***
Posted in My smart home

How much will it cost to go to smart charging?

Having moved to an all-electric car a year ago, thanks to its great range we only need to charge it about once a fortnight, so making use of a smart-charge system would be easy as we rarely need to charge it with any urgency.  However, our early adoption of a smart meter (its serial no. starts with 17P) implies it’s not smart enough (it’s not 19P...) and our Chargemaster 7kW home charger presumably isn’t ‘smart’ either? So if we’d have to replace both the meter and the charger, how much is that going to cost please? 

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Jess_OVO
Retired Moderator
1 year ago
Crìstian
Carbon Cutter*****
CrìstianCarbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

Radiator Reflector Panels - Installation guide and usage reduction effectiveness

Updated on 09/05/22 by Jess_OVO  For the uninitiated (myself included) could you tell us a bit more about Radiator Reflector Panels. What they are? How they are supposed to work?     This vid may help: Savings of £60-£120!!! Right!!! I've been researching it online for the last few days. Saying you can save that much is a joke. On This Is Money's website they say you can save about £10 a year. I've ordered a roll of foil on Ebay, for £7-8 it will do my 3 radiators that are backed onto an exterior wall. As long as it stops heat escaping out through the back of the radiators, I'm happy. I wish it did save me £60 - £120 per year. I think the guy in the video was just exaggerating just a little bit lol   All done, the 3 rads backing onto an exterior wall, now have reflective foil between the back of rads and wall Hopefully should reflect heat back into our rooms                     Hope this is of some use.       So what was the verdict​​​​?- Did you see any improvements in

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Crìstian
Carbon Cutter*****
1 year ago
Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
TransparentCarbon Catcher***
Posted in My smart home

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels - Self installation GuideTutorial

Updated on 10/05/22 by Jess_OVOOne of our community members has written this guide to help if you’re planning a DIY-approach to installing some solar panels. It’s worth mentioning that the instructions below are followed at your own risk, If you’re not sure you can manage installing solar panels yourself we’d recommend consulting a MCS registered installer. Check out our solar hub for info of OVO’s solar panel offering too. I’ve been using PV Solar Panels off-grid for about 20 years. I have built a number of devices which can use the DC power directly rather than convert it to 230v AC mains first. I even have solar-powered chickens with timed coop-lighting which fools them into thinking they have Mediterranean day-lengths. Lots more eggs battery hens?This year (2021) I’ve started an extensive revamp of my rooftop solar panels, and had one completely new array installed professionally by an MCS-accredited company. That allows those panels to be grid-connected either using an inverter or

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
2 years ago
J
Carbon Cutter*****
James_NCarbon Cutter*****
posted in My smart home

Solar PV panels, iboost (PV diverter) and an air source heat pump (ASHP) is it cost effective?

Hi all, Just starting the process of getting solar installed (ie getting quotes). I’m sure i will have more questions on this to come, but here is my first.There is a product called iboost that takes excess electricity you are creating from PV, which is going back into the grid, and uses it / some of it to create hot water via the immersion.The question is, as I now have a ASHP, is this of any use? My thinking on this is that if I had 2kWh of ‘spare’electricity from PV, then via the immersion I get roughly 2kWh of heat. But (assuming a HW COP of 2) it would only take 1kWh of electric to do the same via the heat pump. That leaves 1kWh spare which I might get paid 5p for, or at least someone else can use as green energy.The only thing I can think is that the ASHP is only heating up to 50 degrees. The immersion could push that up to say 65 degrees. This has two benefits i think. 1) the legionella setting does this every 7 days, so I might be able to turn that off (maybe) and be using PV t

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Transparent
Carbon Catcher***
2 years ago

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