Electrical Contracting News (ECN) August 2016 | Page 35

HVAC

Smart grid
The key to unlocking the potential of smart
grid technology is to enable to consumer
to realise the benefits and in order to fully
exploit this, we really need smart meters.
In the meantime, however, there are
already a huge number of technological
developments that can give householders
greater control over their energy use and
help to spread demand on the grid.
With quick warm up times and huge
storage potential, electric heating products
including hot water cylinders and space
heaters offer some of the greatest potential
for smart grid connectivity.
There are 2.1 million electrically heated
domestic hot water cylinders in the UK.
Based on an average capacity of 150
litres, heating water to a temperature of
65°C, we can assume that each cylinder
can hold 9.6kWh of energy. Multiplied by
2.1 million cylinders, that is around 2GW
of stored energy in our homes – more
energy than the Ffestiniog pumped storage
hydro-electric power plant stores.
Around two million homes in the UK
rely on electric storage heating and this
is another area that has seen significant
innovation to enable compatibility with the
smart grid.
In total, Dimplex estimates up to
10.8GW of energy is stored in electric
storage heaters every night during winter.
With modern appliances like the unique
Dimplex Quantum off-peak heating
system, this energy can be stored and
used far more efficiently to give hea