Here are notes from our discussion/surgery from last Thursday.
Cooperation with the Teignmouth U3A
Three members of the group joined our zoom and shared some of their activities/plans. We agreed to provide support for an upcoming EV event later in the year. There is interest amongst U3A members to find out more about Energy related actions they personally can take and information they can share with others in their community.
ACT has many free resources on its website including:
- Resource Pack for councils and organisations.
- Advice/guides on Energy, Built Environment and Transport aimed at individuals and organisations.
- Self-guided tools to calculate ghg emissions and possible actions at many levels from personal/organisational to individual items/services.
- Training around Carbon Cutting to either gain greater knowledge/understanding or to be in a better position to explain this to others.
- Asking specific questions or becoming more actively involved.
How to interpret messaging
We discussed the following ‘advice’ from Carbon Coop, a well-respected Community Energy Society:
“Critics claim the technology is best suited to newbuilds – but studies reveal success with retrofits and in poorly insulated homes. This report from the Guardian shares the details.”.
This type of advice (message) can lead to a fundamental misunderstanding unless the reader looks more closely at the refence material and has the knowledge to correctly interpret what is actually being stated. So for example, just because it is possible to have a well-functioning Heat Pump (HP) in older properties, it doesn’t follow that a HP will be effective in an older property.
The Guardian article referenced is quite good in terms of providing ‘caveats’ and reasonably balanced wording. A careful read does make it clear that the “Science” based on monitoring 750 HPs by the ESC has not yet been published. Instead, it references a European study of ~300 HPs over 20 years which gives a slightly different slant in terms of Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF). Frustratingly, there is no mention of ambient internal temperatures, a significant indicator of levels of comfort.
The quoted 2021 BEIS CODE financial modelling report of UK housing stock for conversion to electric heating is well worth a read. It is very detailed and includes modelling of internal temperatures for ‘good’ comfort levels. Unfortunately, the statement in the executive summary has been picked up without regard to key concepts highlighted in the modelling report: “Decarbonised electricity offers the promise of very low or even zero-carbon heating for homes – without necessarily carrying out extensive deep retrofit work”.
There has also been a lot of messaging around a so called ‘fabric fifth’ national strategy to decarbonise heating, as opposed to ‘fabric first’, the current approach. While there are some useful points in this approach, it relies on some unrealistic assumptions and confuses the message around what heating systems individuals should opt for. Although ghg emissions are likely to reduce when replacing fossil fuel heating systems, there are still too many instances where overall costs may increase when electrifying mains-gas systems. Until certain market conditions change to a stable trajectory that ensures HPs will be more cost-effective in a majority of cases, ACT will continue to advocate its current approach of ‘fabric first’ as stated in our Energy Hierarchy.
ACT’s focus is to provide sound, evidence based, advice to those who are considering a HP for their properties. We are in the process of updating our guide on the topic to clarify some of the recent confusion and uncertainty. In essence, it is essential that potential adopters of HPs do not fall for the widespread cherry picking of arguments put for/against HPs. Instead, we strongly advise potential users to undertake at least some simple/practical assessment for their objectives and circumstances before making a decision. Watch this space!
Written by Fuad
Energy group coordinator