Park Collection Discussions on Costs and Charges

Energy (heat) saving measures

Wholesale gas prices are not expected to fall below 6p/kWh any time soon and are more likely to rise / remain high. So it makes sense to optimise your heating system. 

If you are in the Odell/Kingly/Parkhouse/Hadleigh buildings then you have a Guru Mark 1 meter and a separate, central heating controller (in addition to room thermostats). To optimise heat consumption, i.e. lower it, make sure you have set the central controller to the times and temperatures you want rather than using the wall thermostats as these will not optimise your usage.

If you are in Hartingtons/Willowbrook then you have a Guru Mark 2 meter but NO separate heat controller. This means you need to set the thermostat in each room, separately (it is a different design of thermostat). The instructions for how to do this are on page 3 of this document: CS17-touchscreen-programmable-thermostat-Installation-guide.pdf

To use underfloor heating effectively, heat needs to come on before you need it and can be turned off before you no longer need it. Under floor heating takes time to warm up. Using a timer wisely will always be better than leaving it on all all the time or relying solely on adjusting the room thermostats when you feel cold. 

My estimated heat consumption figures (see the tariffs discussion thread) are based on numbers of bedrooms and occupancy. These are estimates which I hope to improve in due course once more data becomes available. Use my figures as guides. If you are consuming more that what is shown, see if your thermostats are higher than 20/21C. Heat consumption seems to rise exponentially for each 1C increase so it's worth keeping room temperatures low if you are not in the room. 18/19C for most rooms is more than enough, is most cases, if you are not using them much.

Keeping internal doors closed is important to reduce heat loss if you have different room temperatures. The heating from the sun, even on grey days, makes a big difference if you are lucky enough to see it. Lowering blinds/drawing curtains before sunset helps to reduce heat loss. If you work from home and/or sit a lot, you will feel the cold more. Wear more clothes (a scarf helps enormously), move around from time to time to stimulate blood flow, and make sure to eat carbs (to fuel your internal boiler). It sounds obvious but, in my experience, many people seem to forget these basics.

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Replies

    • Find my 'estimated heat consumption by flat size' figures (for Block F) here: Insite/Berkeley Homes Energy Price Rises - Discussions - Park Colle...

      As per nationally accepted standards in the UK, these estimates are based on a temperature setting of about 20/21C. Every 1C increase drives a huge increase in heat consumption and therefore the bill.

      Don't forget that electricity prices are related to wholesale gas prices (even if you are on a 'renewables tariff'). So the rise in wholesale gas prices is leading to a rise in electricity prices too. If you are due to renew a fixed-rate tariff for your electricity, it would make sense to shop around and on different days to try to avoid fixing your tariff at a moment when gas prices are peaking.

      10166644890?profile=RESIZE_180x180&width=128&height=128&crop=1%3A1
      Insite/Berkeley Homes Energy Price Rises
      By now almost everyone on the Woodberry Down estate with energy supplied by Berkeley Homes and billed by Insite will have received notification of en…

    • 10051336290?profile=RESIZE_180x180&width=96&height=96&crop=1%3A1

      This is the link to the Guru meter instructions: Insite Energy (insite-energy.co.uk)

      10163260471?profile=RESIZE_180x180&width=128&height=128&crop=1%3A1
      Insite Energy
      Smart metering, billing and payments for heat network residents. 01959 463910

    Insite/Berkeley Homes Energy Price Rises
    By now almost everyone on the Woodberry Down estate with energy supplied by Berkeley Homes and billed by Insite will have received notification of en…
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