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Anomnomnomaly BSC SSCA very quick <a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> for the first week of April.We've had 7 days of lovely sunny weather, very unusual for this time of year, and another 5 days of it predicted until the weekend.How does that affect the running of the house?So far, we've spent £6.49 on electric inc standing charges £7.06 on gas inc standing chargesWe've earned£9.12 from exporting electricWhich gives us a balance of £4.43The standing charges alone for that week are £6.65So we've covered all of our gas & electric use and a third of the standing charges so far.The weather won't last... But it's reminder that a little bit of sunshine can do wonders, not only for your mental health and well being, but for reducing your reliance on energy. We've been using the conservatory (it has a laminate roof) as a heater for the house. It gets so hot in there, even in colder weather, that you can open the doors and let that warmth into the house, avoiding the need to have the heating on at all during the day.<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a>

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> My energy provider continues to be idiotic.I actually had a moan at them last week because they recommended upping my monthly payment to £130 from it's current £100 after I switched to a fixed tariff to avoid the price rises from the 1st April.They estimated my bills for the next 7 months at around £700, when based on the last 2yrs data... they would be in the £400 range and wanted us to make just over £900 in payments.As we had £655 credit on the account already, this would have given us a credit in the region of £900-1000So I told them off, gave them far more accurate figures (it's not like they don't have access to the smart meters and can actually see this for themselves).They agreed to leave the payments at £100 which will not only gives us a healthy credit to protect from sudden larger bills next winter... But leaves the total monthly budget for the whole house, at a set level without any surprises.So what do I find today... They've 'adjusted' their predictions to an even more ridiculous level, this time swinging so far under... that they're recommending the monthly payment (for gas & electric) should be £45.36... or a 55% reduction just a couple of weeks after recommending a 30% INCREASE.Utterly stupid.But not only that, some of the predictions they're making for bills are so stupid and so out of touch that they're laughable.Like predicting we will use ZERO amount of gas for April through August, when we will still be using gas for hot water.Predicting the total bills for June & July as £7... not a typo. Given the standing charges alone are about £30 a month and the most we've ever earned from solar export was £27 in a single month.So here's their predictions with the last 12 months of actual bills in brackets.March £118 (2 days ago it was £168, actual bill was £94) April £67 (last year was £104) May £30 (last year was £42 June £5 (last year £13 July £2 (last year £32) Aug £14 (last year £34) Sept £38 (last year £50) Oct £89 (last year £108) Nov £134 (last year £192) Dec £174 (last year £207) Jan £184 (this year £223) Feb £152 (this year £185)So, they think that 2 weeks after predicting our bills at around £700 between March-Sept and asking for £900 in payments for that period... We will now have bills totalling... £274 and they want payments of £371.86 (6x £45.36 as March already paid @ £100)When the actual bills last year were about £380 for the same period and we'd paid £700 in monthly bills (we build up summer credit because we easily have £200 a month bills from Nov-Feb due to heating and less sunlight).They have over 2yrs of data with the solar system in place and still don't have a clue that the actual import of energy is between 1800-2000kwh a year and now they seem to be assuming it's going to be around 1400kwh.Thankfully, they're only recommending lowering the payments at this time.But FFS, how can they go from recommending £130 2 weeks ago to recommending £45 now... If they're using some kind of AI to do these predictions... it just further proves how shite they are.<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Octopus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Octopus</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/DumbPredictiveBilling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DumbPredictiveBilling</a>

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> It's an early one this month because I'll be busy for the next few days with work and DIY (plastering)But the bill just dropped for March, and due to Feb being a short month it's only 28days billing (billing cycle is usually 29th of each month).It's been an amazing month for solar generation. Unusually sunny weather, and most rain has been either overnight or in the mornings & evenings. Leaving the majority of the days sunny and clearish.With the weather being clear and sunny today and reasonably good tomorrow. It's predicting around 32kwh of generation for the last 2 days of the month. So I'll be adding that to the figures, it will be within a couple of % of actual data (and the data is always 1-2% out anyway)So, let's compare March to the previous 2yrs first.2023 - 279kwh generation (avg 9kwh/day) 2024 - 309kwh generation (avg 9.9kwh/day) 2025 - 435kwh generation (avg 14kwh/day)I'm honestly stunned by that last figure. 435kwh of solar generation in March.... Errm... thanks global warning 🤔 😩 That's a whopping 126kwh higher than last year and 156kwh more than 2023.Of that we exported about 66kwh and earned £9.85.Due to the sunny weather, we were able to use the conservatory as a heater. It's old and tired with a laminate roof. It's like an oven when the sun is out and as such, kinda unbearable to sit in during the summer (we're going to replace it next year with a proper room). So, we open the doors to the conservatory and let the heat into the house, which means we don't need the heating on at all during the day, even when it's cold outside. This reduces the gas bill too.Now comes the fun part.Octopus, estimated our bill for March at £168Our actual bill after adding the £9.85 export credit was £94I'd been predicting a bill around £120-130 (before export credit).We spent just £33.98 on electric, of which £19 was the daily standing charge.We spent £69 on gas, of which £9 was daily standing charge.So we generated about 40% more electric than last year and reduced the bill (from the estimated £168) by 43%.We've spent 17 days effectively off-grid (where we import less than 1kwh of electric in a day) this month.We'll have another full battery today and tomorrow, and with the weather for the coming week looking good... The first week of April will most likely be spent pretty much off-grid too.With total consumption for the month looking to be in the region of 405kwh and total import (according to energy provider) of 63kwh and export of 66kwh... we almost had a net zero month (£13 spent on electric vs almost £10 earned).<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a>

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> If you'd like an example of how much we in the UK are being screwed on energy prices. You only have to look at the daily 'standing charge' we pay for utilities.It's currently 65p per day for electric and 30p per day for gas.It's going up in April to 68p and 32p on top of rises per kwh of use.It's not that bad you might say... But here's 2 charts, for the exact same period.Chart one is the total electric used inc the daily standing charge for the first 3 weeks of March.The second chart is just the cost of the electric.The difference is about 138%Less than £10 for electric, and almost £14 for standing charges.

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> It's been a pretty good start to March for solar. First 10 days data showing around 140kwh of generation and just 26kwh of electric import (energy provider data says 28.7kwh).If you extrapolate that into approximate data for the month. It could be in the region of more than 400kwh for the month (2023 was 279kwh and 2024 was 309kwh)... So I expect some more inclement weather to arrive in the latter half of the month to balance that out.But considering that Feb generation was 28% higher than 2024 (no complete data for 2023), I'm optimistic it's be in the 330-350kwh range.With extra sunny and clear skies of late, it's also meant it's much colder. No cloud to help trap heat. So gas use is not declining as usual and is on par with Feb, when I'd expect to see a 10-20% drop.So when the sun is out, I try and open the conservatory door to let the warmer air into the lounge/dining room where the thermostat is. Which means I can avoid the heating coming on as much between 11-3pm when the sun is shining most on the conservatory. That in the last few days has reduced the gas use each day from £3 to around £2 for the last 4 days.If this continues in a similar fashion for the whole of march, the combined bill is going to be in the £120-140 range, my provider is 'predicting' a £175 bill.But this years bills have been lower than last year by an avg of £30-40 per month in Jan-Feb (the winter Nov-Dec bills have been almost identical).<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a>

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> A quick mini one... Just to highlight what sunshine can do.Last week we had decent weather for the end of Feb and the start of March. Sun was out, so we could open the door to the conservatory during the middle of the day to allow the heat from that to help warm the home.The result of that, plus slightly warmer days meant a 74% reduction in both electric and gas use. Saving us £18 & £24 respectively over the avg from the previous much colder week.That's just 7 days, and a £42 saving.This week will also be quite low because we've had some decent weather again, Thurs & Sun predicted to be good, Fri-Sat cold and cloudy.<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a>

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> time again. We spent the last few days of Feb off grid since Monday morning. Haven't yet had a 100% full battery, but we did hit 94% yesterday. Which meant that there was around 50% left this morning, and whilst it's not as sunny as previous days, it's already charged back to 73%So onto a few stats.Energy use in the home 395kwh Energy generation 224kwh Energy export 3kwh Energy import 197kwhAs usual, the data reported is within a few kwh of actual use. It's somewhere around 98% accurate. If I look at the direct data from my provider, we imported 201kwh, and exported 6kwhIn Feb 2024, we generated 175kwh, so we've generated an extra 28% of power this year. But we exported some 20kwh in Feb 24 too, four times as much as this year. That's the difference between the old battery of 4.2kwh and the new extra batteries of 12.4kwhWinter bill for gas & electric (Nov-Feb) £807 vs £904 in 2023. I improved the insulation in the roof at the start of Dec and that has dropped the heating bills a fair amount.Energy use for Feb was down due to the shorter month, but also a little because we've been doing simpler meals or batch cooking whilst workers have been in doing DIY on the master bedroom and ensuite.<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a>

Anomnomnomaly BSC SSC<a href="https://beige.party/tags/SolarUpdate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarUpdate</a> quickie... We had a zero import day for the first time this year... In February!!!Last year, that didn't happen until the middle of April.We've been on solar & battery since Monday morning, less than 1kwh of energy imported on Tues (there's always a trickle of a few watts here and there as inverter and battery can take 5-10secs to adjust to loads).Weather forecast for the last few days of Feb are decent, we've already passed total generation for Feb 2024 and I'm looking at the forecast and thinking we could easily beat last years total by 20% or more.If you ever wanted proof of climate change... here it is. Good for our energy bills, not so good for the planet.But it's hard to be unhappy. Crisp clear winter days are exactly the kind of weather I enjoy. I don't mind the cold, I just hate the miserable grey dark skies.<a href="https://beige.party/tags/Solar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Solar</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Battery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Battery</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GoingGreen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GoingGreen</a>

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