Earth Notes: General Bibliography (govUK2021CODE)

• [govUK2021CODE] Jason Palmer and Nicola Terry Cost Optimal Domestic Electrification (CODE) (accessed 2023-04-18), UK BEIS / UK DESNZ (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero), 2021-09, report/number 2021/051, PDF (report) (BibTeX).
  abstract

  Decarbonised electricity offers the promise of very low or even zero-carbon heating for homes - without necessarily carrying out extensive deep retrofit work. This project shows that Great Britain's homes can convert to electric heating at a cost far lower than the accepted wisdom. This can be achieved with no threat to comfort, and greenhouse gas emissions will fall very dramatically as a result.
  note

  [Used EnergyPlus for model, based on Shoeboxer. Uses 15Y time horizon (typical life of heating system). Quote: "A research study modelling energy use in homes to understand the costs of converting homes to electric heating." Quote: "...we defined 12 house types, which collectively represent 90% of Britain's 28 million dwellings." Quote: "Detailed modelling of energy costs and evidence-based assumptions about capital costs found only small differences in costs over 15 years between low- or high-temperature heat pumps, or air-to-air heat pumps, or storage radiators. Typically the difference was only 10% between the highest and lowest cost." Quote: "The work focused on total costs of ownership over 15 years. For most house types and most electric heating systems, the cost-optimal packages of measures have very limited fabric improvements - most commonly just draught-sealing and top-up loft insulation." Quote: "Avoiding very disruptive measures - such as replacing radiators with larger ones - also has a major effect on results, and this makes high-temperature heat pumps more attractive." Quote: "For the purposes of heating, each dwelling is divided into zones which can have different heating schedules and thermostat settings." Uses 12°C night setback, or 16°C/18°C for heat pumps. Quote: "Looking across all 12 archetypes, there is an even split between low-temperature air-source heat pumps (LT ASHPs, with heat pumps supplying the existing system of radiators and a hot-water cylinder) and reversible air-to-air heat pumps (Air2air, without radiators, and with a separate system for providing hot water). Six of the 12 house types select LT ASHPs as the lowest-cost combination, and six select air-to-air heat pumps." [On a ToU electricity tariff eg Octopus Agile.] Quote: "The low disruption scenario, where measures that would be very disruptive to occupants were excluded, did not alter any of the optimum packages for flats ... the need to avoid replacing radiators with larger heat emitters precluded the use of low-temperature heat pumps, and avoiding air-to-air heat pumps in houses (where complicated ducting is usually needed), meant that high-temperature heat pumps were preferred. Inevitably, these run less efficiently, so the total cost over 15 years increased between [8%] and [24%], depending on the house type." Quote: "The total costs of owning [a retrofitted] cost-effective electric heating are not so much more than the cost of sticking with the existing heating system - on average 46% higher."]