Could you soon be heating your home through a heat network?

The two Conversations highlighted by Wavechange have 175 and 115 comments. The CMA letter highlights the ridiculously uncontrolled nature of this in the housing market. I am not convinced that there is not more that can be done.

My comment last year of avoiding such schemes as a purchaser still applies. At least as a renter you can move elsewhere. Without having the pleasure of reading a contract I am nervous that if there is a large number of people making minimal use of the system all the operating parameters will be out of whack.

I do know from a source that at least one scheme had an unfound leak in the supply pipes which quite likely are buried deep. That in itself will be something all will be paying for.

The wonders of a planned economy by the state. Then the democratic view that people have choices which often are probably financially not the best but do provide flexibility.

I might be agnostic as to the benefits results but currently it looks like a very bad deal for purchasers. I am aware that there are considerable heat loss differences depending where a particular flat is within a block. There is also the case of solar gain that might be considerable for some and negligible for others which might need to be fleshed out when telling people what their expected costs will be.

I would not be surprised to see a 50% difference in heating costs quite easily between nominally identical flats with similar usage profiles and same temperatures.

Perhaps I am unduly pessimistic about flats being designed for looks rather than practical matters – including long term maintenance.

That’s how we roll 😄 Warm all year round, efficient and not so expensive. I never knew heating in the UK doesn’t follow the same scheme, but the best thing about the Solviet Union are never ending showers

In the context of district heating schemes the gas versus electricity argument changes because of course you have to take into account the heat losses and complexity of the piping. This complexity means high capital costs from inception and for eventual replacement let alone potential breakdowns.*

I think it probably is possible that electricity could be a viable competitor particularly if electricty generation costs reduce. For the moment ignore HMG’s nuclear aberration and overall the costs of production are falling.

* I am aware that there are almost certainly district heating schemes that work. The experience in Eastern Bloc countries makes me wonder if the capital costs etc were borne by the state rather than the actual flat dwellers.

Subsequent delving through the excellent Wikipedia article leads to this article with an excellent executive summary of the UK rush to District heating.
maxfordham.com/assets/media/images/publications/Widesread%20use%20of%20district%20heating/District_Heating__CHP_Study.pdf

” We have at one recent example from a housing association who have found that a community heating system is more costly to install and uses more energy than a conventional system that they would put in. Over a 25 year period the additional costs would be £40,000 to £52,000 per dwelling. On the basis that it costs considerably more to install and run and uses more energy, we cannot see any justification for expanding the use of this technology. “

Folks, please don’t feed the trolls!

We have machines installed on the radiators which measure how much heat they are giving off. You can control each one individually when you don’t use the room. The also have thermostats to keep a normal temperature in the room.