Government targets have been set for Net Zero
The decarbonisation of heat is an important part of this goal. There are many areas in any property that need checking or improving to support the push to decarbonisation. When installing infrared heating in any property we have to ensure that the property has enough amperage coming into the property to run all the electrical items in the property.
What is Amperage?
Amperage is a measure of electrical power. All homes and businesses have a feed coming into a consumer unit. The feed for a domestic property can vary with homes have 60-100 amps.
Why is it important for your property?
The total figure gives an indication of a total load that can be used with the property. With a total loading for heating (around 30 amps if all on at once) for a 3 bedroom property, hot water (16 amps), oven (16 amps) and other electrical devices (10 amps) a feed of around 80 amps would be required. The staff at Jigsaw and electricians see a trend with older properties and properties running gas or oil for heating to have lower amperage feeds.
What if my Amperage feed is low?
An electrical installer must consider if all devices can be turned on at once or not. If the incoming feed is set to 80 amps and the total requirement is over this there is a large possibility/certainty that you will get nuisance trips. This is where one circuit will just trip once it realises the building is overloaded. If this is the case, there will be a need to upgrade the feed. It is possible to contact the UK Power Network to carry out a site survey on the property and for the work to be carried out.
Electrification
In 2019, the UK Government became the first to announce ambitious Net Zero Targets. The Energy and Clean Growth Minister Chris Skidmore said:
“The UK kick-started the Industrial Revolution, which was responsible for economic growth across the globe but also for increasing emissions.”
“Today we’re leading the world yet again in becoming the first major economy to pass new laws to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 while remaining committed to growing the economy – putting clean growth at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy.”
We’re pioneering the way for other countries to follow in our footsteps driving prosperity by seizing the economic opportunities of becoming a greener economy.”
In order to reach this goal the decarbonisation of our homes and the commercial properties must happen as soon as possible. This means that all fossil fuels use must be reduced and eventually stopped. The electrification of grid is happening and growing quickly. The sales of electric cars are increasing year on year as ranges improve and confidence grows. Damian Carrington, the Environment Editor from The Guardian said:
“Global sales of electric cars accelerated fast in 2020, rising by 43% to more than 3m, despite overall car sales slumping by a fifth during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Renewables
The grid is becoming greener each year the BBC quoted:
“Great Britain’s electricity system was the greenest it had ever been at lunchtime on Easter Bank Holiday Monday, its operator has said.”
“When Britain went into lockdown, electricity demand plummeted and the National Grid responded by taking power plants off the network and the four remaining coal-fired plants were among the first to be shut down.”
Solar, hydro, bio and wind installations are growing with more homes, businesses and providers adding to the grids capacity. There is also a growing number of battery technologies that can store electricity at the cheap rate tariff and use the energy when needed. This will lead to a more efficient grid and one that is decentralised. Each home will monitor and maintain its own usage. More and more properties are ‘off grid’ supplying and using their own energy.
Will we run out of electricity?
Fossil fuels are being phased out with coal being one of the first to be reduced to the lowest levels. From 1 October 2024 Great Britain will no longer use coal to generate electricity, a year earlier than planned, Energy and Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced today (Wednesday 30 June 2021).
The renewables and other supplies of energy will grow as that fossil fuels are reduced. Everyone will become more aware of what is being used and when. Properties will use less electricity and cars and batteries will charge off peak.
Advice
Our clients are already thinking about what they can do to ease the use of power in their homes. The modern property will be highly insulated, have renewables built in as standard, have ways of storing the energy generated and it will be able to monitor and regulate the use of all the electricity. Our heaters, smart controls, water cylinder and batteries already offer the solution.
The standard feed being installed in a 3/4 bedroom property is 100 amps. One of the leading questions is whether this is enough for electric heating and car/battery charging. Some developer/homebuilders are installing 3-phase feeds. This is where there are 3 x 100 amp feeds. This would provide a 100 amp for the general home use, 100 amps for heating/cooling and plus 100 amps for car charging, solar panels and batteries (A car on 13 amp would take many hours to charge. A rapid charger using 100 amps will get to 80% in 30 mins – car model and capacity depending).
Jigsaw is in discussion with a number of Government Ministers on this very matter. The future is electric, how we do this rapidly and cleaner is the challenge that we are all facing.
