Comments on: Trends in UK domestic electricity use http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76 A critical appraisal of issues in the move to a low-carbon economy Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:26:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Chris Goodall http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-480 Chris Goodall Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:24:01 +0000 http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-480 Adam, Thanks for your notes. One of the reasons I looked at rolling month by month moving averages is to try to avoid biases from changing weather conditions. The important feature of the last chart in the article is that every twelve month rolling average in the last year has a lower electricity consumption than the previous year. So short term variations in weather don't appear to explain the fall. Longer run changes in climate may tend to depress home electricity consumption but I don't think we'd see this over such as short period. Adam,

Thanks for your notes.

One of the reasons I looked at rolling month by month moving averages is to try to avoid biases from changing weather conditions. The important feature of the last chart in the article is that every twelve month rolling average in the last year has a lower electricity consumption than the previous year. So short term variations in weather don’t appear to explain the fall. Longer run changes in climate may tend to depress home electricity consumption but I don’t think we’d see this over such as short period.

]]> By: Adam http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-479 Adam Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:57:22 +0000 http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-479 I forgot the effect of light hours and rain - big determinants of electricity consumption. I forgot the effect of light hours and rain - big determinants of electricity consumption.

]]> By: Adam http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-478 Adam Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:55:40 +0000 http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-478 Mmmm, maybe you should have looked at electricity consumption in conjunction with effective temperatures. Surely an analysis of UK electricity consumption over a 2-3 year period is useless without taking into account temperatures over the same period. Mmmm, maybe you should have looked at electricity consumption in conjunction with effective temperatures. Surely an analysis of UK electricity consumption over a 2-3 year period is useless without taking into account temperatures over the same period.

]]> By: Robert Palgrave http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-434 Robert Palgrave Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:56:48 +0000 http://www.carboncommentary.com/2008/02/20/76#comment-434 Tongue firmly in cheek, I suggest one possible cause for this decline in growth in UK domestic electricity use is because more people are spending more time abroad on holiday. Perhaps the demise of cathode ray tube PC monitors is helping? They are real gas guzzlers compared to LCDs. The growing market for ground- and air-source heat pumps as domestic heating / cooling systems will have an impact. Individually they are heavy consumers of electricity; collectively, so far, probably not. But they will result in home heating energy moving from gas to electricity to some extent. Tongue firmly in cheek, I suggest one possible cause for this decline in growth in UK domestic electricity use is because more people are spending more time abroad on holiday.

Perhaps the demise of cathode ray tube PC monitors is helping? They are real gas guzzlers compared to LCDs.

The growing market for ground- and air-source heat pumps as domestic heating / cooling systems will have an impact. Individually they are heavy consumers of electricity; collectively, so far, probably not. But they will result in home heating energy moving from gas to electricity to some extent.

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