Energy Use

I managed to get British gas to unblock my online account last week and I was pleased to see they have tables of my meter readings and consumption going back to 2006 when I moved to Catford. I spent a few minutes to retype (no export function) all the numbers in to a Numbersspreadsheet. Here it is converted to a PNG image.

I arranged the gas graph by season and the electrical graph by year.

I am rather pleased. Looking at the raw figures, I could see in the gas figures the expected drop in the summer months and rise in the winter. I think 2008 was a mild winter wasn't it? But looking at total gas consumption, I see a significant reduction. This is probably due to gradually reducing my thermostat. It's now set to about 17 degrees, which is comfortable in winter with long sleeves and clearly means the system is essentially idle for half the year.

I think I need to check the electrical figures. Autumn 09 looks freakish, but the trend is also clear, and I'm particularly pleased to see the falling slope in 2009. This co-incides with my installation of the electricity monitor and remote control sockets. Well, I hope it isn't a coincidence, I hope it there's a causal relationship and that this trend continues. I need to drop 10% in 2010 please!

I have just bought something to help on the gas side. Heatkeeper energy saving radiator panels claim to save 20% of heating costs. 20%? Shame I'm getting these just after all the snow, but still it should contribute. Not sure what to do about electricity. Oh, I can switch the halogens spots to LED. Lets see if 2010 finally delivers some pleasant warm coloured lighting options in 2010.