Gosh. Who could’ve forseen that coming? (back in 2017)
Closure of UK’s largest gas storage site ‘could mean volatile prices’ | Centrica | The Guardian.
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Headline translation: Centrica - we haven’t done our job properly
Well … they were probably told not to invest further in the nasty planet destroying greenhouse gas supply, as we’d all be on heat pumps and solar but now😂
Trust they will prioritize keeping the gas powered electricity generators running over domestic gas boiler users 
So I guess you’re worried about keeping warm ?
In principle 40-50% efficient, before transmission losses. The cooling towers do heat the fresh air though, and maybe the nearby watercourse if that’s involved, and they may also vapourise water. And the warm grid wires heat the atmosphere too.
In principle burning the gas where the heat is needed in a modern (condensing) boiler could deliver almost all of that heat into the building.
If we need heat then thermodynamics says we should burn gas locally rather than turn it into electricity and use that for direct heating.
The exception is if we have a heat pump. Then the electricity can deliver a lot more than it’s own weight in heat.
Average for 2023 was 49.9% for all gas in the UK in 2023 per government stats, though higher amounts are being achieved.
Be interesting to see what it is at low tickover overnight.
Have been reading up on boilers and discovered they have a feature called ‘modulation’ where it uses a digital connection to the thermostat and is able to monitor flow temp etc. This can then feather the boiler so it doesn’t always run at 100% if not needed.
Some boilers own products use it but the only general product that supports it is Tado and although it has been used in Europe for years they stopped selling it here for a while.
Turns out that after looking at configs they found installers were still only installing them in relay mode as it’s easier than wiring for opentherm/ebus etc.
Anyone using this and does it reduce gas bills? Curious as currently chewing through £200 gas per month 
Ouch!
I think that the boiler can use modulation internally, independent of the stat. But really the only inputs it has then are flow and return water temps. So if, say, all the radiator thermostatic valves have closed then the only water flow will be through the one rad without such a valve (there has to be one to avoid the pump trying to operate into a closed pipe). If that isn’t shedding much heat then the return water will be nearly as hot as the flow and the boiler will modulate the gas down to match that.
I wasn’t aware that you could get a stat that could control the gas modulation directly and I’m trying to think what the benefit would be over just on/off control.
Have you got a nest or similar as well? Saved us a chunk installing one, but no idea if it does this modulation thing
I don’t have any TRVs so it’s a toss up between buying those or a new wireless controller and thermostat with modulation control. I’ve switched off the radiators in the rooms I don’t use and keep the doors closed so there should only be 5x rads being heated.
A Worcester Bosch 25i with an EasyControl offers modulation options that allow the boiler to adjust its heat output based on the heating demand in your home, meaning it can fire at a lower power level when less heat is needed, maximizing energy efficiency; this is primarily controlled by the EasyControl’s ability to monitor room temperature and adjust the boiler’s output accordingly
Yes, currently have Hive as it was already in the house, it doesn’t support modulation and neither does Nest.
Problem with Hive is that the temp seems to really yoyo with it letting it get too cold and then overshooting the temp. Also the geofencing doesn’t switch the heating off, it just sends an alert to the app that you are away from the house (and is £4 per month). Where I go into the office on random days I always forget to turn the heating off
I would guess your main problem is lack of insulation.
Oh yes big time
Don’t think there’s any cavity wall insulation and the loft insulation is quite thin. Doesn’t help having old crittall windows in the kitchen that leak heat like nobody’s business either.
Those are longer term plans though.
Get your loft done asap, doesn’t cost a lot but of great benefit.
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I’ve already applied for the warmer homes funding for loft insulation.
Applied last year but after 3 months they replied saying the council scheme had closed
You’ll soon recover the cost.
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You can fit Hive TRVs and control each room from the app.
Works v well for us, and we dont use Hive+
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was reading that TRVs can be flakey, as they are so close to the radiator they heat up and switch off early so need to be setup in zones with an associated thermostat to monitor the temp?
We have HW + 2 zones, with a room stat each, and 16 TRVs, been running it for 2 years, its fine and saved a metric f tonne in gas over that time.
Big house so we also have 2 signal repeaters as TRVs in a couple of rooms kept dropping off
Set room temps to varry by time of day and days of week based on typical occupancy, v useful
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might just be the Tado ones then, they are moaning like crazy on the forum about how they don’t work very well.
I like the Hive app as it’s nice and simple so may buy a couple and try them out.
Not had any inclination to check out central heating forums tbh