Simulator Input Parameters
Click on one of the inputs below to learn more about it.
Postcode
Your Postcode is needed to find the solar and temperature data for your area.
If you are located in an area with below UK average yearly temperatures and solar irradiance (sunlight) the heating appliances will require more energy to heat your home, and the photovoltaic panels will generate less energy per unit area.
Address
Your address is needed to allow us to automatically find your home's floor area and yearly space heating energy usage, which can be found on your home's Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
This can be found automatically only if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. To find your Energy Performance Certificate manually (required for addresses located in Scotland) check out the UK government website.
In the case your home's EPC does not contain either a floor area or space heating estimate you can either enter it manually or select a neighbour's address whose home is of similar size to yours and has similar heating requirements.
Thermostat Temperature
The temperature which you like your home at, in degrees Celcius, is used when simulating heating technologies for your home.
Setting a higher thermostat temperature will require more energy, resulting in higher estimates for operational expenditure and emissions.
Floor Area
- The maximum number of solar panels and/or solar thermal collectors your roof could support.
- The amount of air in your home which has to be heating to your desired thermostat temperature.
Don't worry if you don't know your homes floor area, we automatically find it for you when you enter your address. Click here to be taken to an example EPC page which contains the floor area of a property.
EPC Space Heating
An Energy Performance Certificate tells you on a scale of A-G, the energy efficiency of your home. They were introduced in 2007 as a legal requirement for any building sold, let or constructed and are valid for 10 years. To find your home's Energy Performance Certificate check out the UK government website. The most efficient homes are in band A, but the average UK home is between band D-E. Find out more information here.
An Energy Performance Certificate provides a Space Heating value, which is an estimate of how much energy is requires to heat your home. We use this value to simulate heating your home. Click here to be taken to an example EPC page, where the space heating value is located.
If your home has a low efficiency, below rating D, it is strongly recommended to improve this before considering changing to a low-carbon heating technology. Your Energy Performance Certificate even provides specific recommendations on how you can improve your home's energy efficiency, the cost of those improvements and how much it could save you on your energy bill.
Thermal Energy Storage Size
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) simply refers to your hot water tank. Other methods of storing thermal energy do exist, but a hot water tank is the most common option and is the one used for simulations.
A larger TES volume, in units of meters cubed, allows your heating system to prepare hot water in advance. This is beneficial as it allows your heating system to heat the hot water tank at off-peak electricity times (often overnight), rather than heat water on demand, which is often at peak times, when electricity costs are highest.
The cost of electricity during peak and off-peak times depends on the type of tariff you have. This is why we simute 5 different electricity tariffs and tell you the best tariff for each heating system.
