PowerSwitch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23283198

Please take care, and watch out for neighbours who may be vulnerable.
Remember that heat kills as well as cold, and that after a run of relatively cool summers people may have become less used to heat or less well prepared.

Will this push up gas demand?

I noticed that MR storage is down again, even with demand below seasonal average. Met office predicts above average temperatures for the next month, more or less.

High pressure over the Beaufort Sea is finally introducing a (relative) heat wave onto part of the arctic ice, with the predictable consequences.

I would not expect any significant increase in gas demand.

Gas powered air conditioning and refrigeration does exist but is very rare.
Hot weather certainly increases electricity used for refrigeration and air conditioning, this of course would tend to increase gas burnt for power generation.But this tends to be offset by less gas used for heating.

Electricity demand in central London can rise to alarming levels due to the air conditioning load, with risks of breakdowns.
Overall though more gas (and electricity from gas) is used for heating than cooling.

And of course PV production increases in sunny weather, most of this is not metered in real time but simply shows up as reduced demand.

Ah, well now, solar pv doesn't seem to be working any where near like it used to. So far this year I have had only one morning, till about 12 o' clock, when I got what I expected out of my solar pv. That was in Rickmansworth, am now back in London since yesterday and have had less than 40% of normal. Temperatures have been slightly higher though. I have noticed/realised that the Met office reduces temperatures by precisely 5 degrees C for the duration of summer, and has been doing so for at least the last 3 or 4 years, since I have been making a note of it. So temps are slightly up on what I would expect, but the solar that my panels need has been down by 50% or more - except for that one morning when the planes contrails didn't result in a thick misty cloud layer, they seemed to evaporate within 20 minutes or so leaving a reasonably normal looking blue sky, and that only lasted till lunch time, the contrails just went back to normal after lunch and hung around dissipating into the grey mist at highish altitude again for the afternoon. Here in London today, the contrail mist is so thick and hazy that normal clouds are almost getting lost in it. Amazing what ice crystals can do when mixed with the excessive smog of ultra - operational industry and auto-mobile use on the busiest day of the working week - SUNDAY!!!! (And YES, I have checked and re-checked my wiring and tested each panel individually on my solar array, could find nothing wrong).

Does anyone know why, the MSM during this heat wave, not only have to tell us 'phew what a scorcher' type headlines, but have to inform us that Brits are rushing to the shops to....
"Retailers and supermarket giants reported booming sales figures as the soaring heat saw shoppers spend thousands on the high street and in an online blitz on barbecues, food, sunscreen and garden furniture."
Lazy journalism, orders from above,
And how much of that garden furniture, barbecues, will be useless, ruined, by March next year.

acman wrote:And how much of that garden furniture, barbecues, will be useless, ruined, by March next year.

Good planning, as it encourages economic growth when everyone buys more in the next heatwave.

I've got some new garden furniture. Thanks to my tenant and his chainsaw mill, the materials came from a couple of hundred yards away, and will make nice firewood when they need replacing!

OH has decided she wants decking! I hate decking, but even more so when the whim is based upon just a few days of hot weather. You can buy now pay later, for something that will be pretty shabby after a year.

Decking has to be kept clean, even then slightest moss/algae growth on the stuff makes it really slippy when wet, also as E fan says, soon looks shabby, most I've seen does look poor in a relatively short space of time, then usually taken up.

I must say that I have been very glad of PV powered air conditioning in the present hot weather.

The need for air conditioning often represents poor design or unsuitable materials for building the structure.
This is true in my case, but since it is a rented property I cant do much about the design.
Basic air conditioning unit, £250.
Electricity is free from an off grid PV system. Although the capital cost of the PV was substantial, the capital has already been spent to provide sufficient electricity in mid winter. This results in a large surplus in sunny weather, which may as well be used for cooling me.

Old stone cottages may be hard to keep warm in winter, but they come into their own in this weather. 26 deg. outside today, 19 deg. in the kitchen and lounge. We've also had a fresh breeze the last couple of days, which has kept us comfortable. Could do with some rain though.

Hope you folks down south are bearing up in the heat. Take care, and stay hydrated. My mother is roundly fed up with it, and looking forward to moving up with us later in the summer.

If it were not for family and other reasons, I would probably move somwhere cooler.

Large modern buildings in London are effectively unusable without considerable mechanical cooling.
Electricity used for cooling at work is at least 600KW in hot weather which makes replacing lamps with lower energy alternatives seem rather paltry, though of course every little helps.

As buildings are refurbished or improved, energy use for air conditioning tends to increase as expectations increase. For example, 10 years ago only the actual office space and reception areas would be cooled, but now toilets, lift lobbies, stairways and the like are expected to be cooled.

The present fashion is avoid cooling towers due to legionaires disease, and instead to use air cooled chillers which, other factors being equal, are less efficient.

Although hot weather brings no general increase in electrical load, there is undoubtedly an increase in London, which may result in a blow up !

It's hot as feck here and I seem to have spent the whole of 2 weekends just dashing about like the proverbial blue-arsed. The trouble with arrangements that we make (outdoor play performances, running bits of summer fairs, birthday parties, family visits and the like) is that when the weather decides to turn the whole of the UK into a sweatshop you can't get out of it all and just go and lie down in the shade!!

RenewableCandy wrote:It's hot as feck here and I seem to have spent the whole of 2 weekends just dashing about like the proverbial blue-arsed. The trouble with arrangements that we make (outdoor play performances, running bits of summer fairs, birthday parties, family visits and the like) is that when the weather decides to turn the whole of the UK into a sweatshop you can't get out of it all and just go and lie down in the shade!!

It's too bloody hot.




There....

I said it.

A suggestion:

Go outside into the sun for 10 minutes and tune all your senses into experiencing the weather; the heat, the sweat running down your neck, the smell of the vegetation, the brightness of the sun. Drink it all in and mentally bottle it.

Then, next winter, when we're in the middle of a cold, grey Siberian blocking pattern, with a raw easterly blowing, unbottle it and savour the pleasure!

Tarrel wrote:A suggestion:

Go outside into the sun for 10 minutes and tune all your senses into experiencing the weather; the heat, the sweat running down your neck, the smell of the vegetation, the brightness of the sun. Drink it all in and mentally bottle it.

Then, next winter, when we're in the middle of a cold, grey Siberian blocking pattern, with a raw easterly blowing, unbottle it and savour the pleasure!

I've been out in the sun for several hours and my senses can be definitely said to have tuned in to experiencing the weather along with experiencing the copious amount of sweat running down the crack of my arse whilst laying 50 square yards of turf.

It's too f***ing hot....