As soaring temperatures put pressure on Britain’s electricity network, one Northampton home kept its air conditioning and entire home running all day, without drawing any electricity from the grid.
The property has no solar panels. Instead, a 15kWh home battery charged overnight, when electricity was cheaper and demand lower, then powered the house throughout the day.
The homeowner, Matt Stockdale, is founder of The 22:23 Community Interest Company, a not-for-profit working to make home battery storage more affordable for ordinary households.
He believes the experience demonstrates how domestic batteries could help Britain shift electricity demand away from periods when the grid is under greatest pressure, without asking households to change when they use energy.
“We were being warned that the heat could put additional pressure on the electricity network,” said Stockdale.
“My air conditioning was running and the house was operating normally, but my demand on the grid through the day was zero. The grid still supplied the electricity, I just bought it overnight, stored it at home and used it when I needed it.
“One house doing that makes no difference. But imagine a million homes doing it. Five million. That’s when home batteries potentially become part of how we manage electricity demand nationally.”
The approach is also saving Stockdale money.
His electricity costs approximately 28.6p per kWh during the day and around 7p per kWh overnight. Based on his actual household consumption, his projected electricity bill is around £64 a month, compared with approximately £180 if the same electricity were bought at the daytime rate.
That represents a potential difference of around £116 a month, or almost £1,400 a year if the same usage and tariff pattern continued.
Stockdale said: “We’re constantly told to shift our electricity use away from peak times. I haven’t changed when I cook, use the air conditioning or consume electricity. I’ve changed when I buy that electricity from the grid.
“That means the householder can save money while potentially helping move demand away from the times when the network needs it most.”
The 22:23 Community Interest Company has invited Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Stockdale’s Northampton home to see the system in operation and examine the household’s real-world energy data.
Stockdale hopes the demonstration will encourage a wider discussion about the role affordable domestic battery storage could play in Britain’s future electricity infrastructure. https://www.the2223.org/
