I'm in the USA, so I don't know about UK, but I see little reason why
the UK would do things differently. We have a mix of privately owned
power companies, a few co-operatives, some power companies owned by
cities, and some by the Federal government. Increasingly the federal
government makes the rules, that all are required, more or less to
follow. Electricity is valuable durring the peak demand period which
occurs most days shortly before sunset. At other times the value is
low as the big plants run 24/7 at reduced output, so they can produce
more power at very low cost, except during peak demand. Commercial and
industrial users often pay a large premium for electricity during the
peak demand period, especially if their duty cycle is low. Generally
private homes, and other small users pay a flat rate that includes
several fixed charges and kinds of tax and fees. A few suppliers
instal remote control shut offs on private hot water tanks and air
conditioners, so that the utility can shut these off for about 15
minutes during peak demand, especially when the wholesale cost of
electricity is very high.
Generally it is too costly to recyle heat, due to problems which
occur. In theory refrigerators, deep freeze and air conditioners could
be water cooled, and the warmed water used as preheated water for hot
water tanks. Problems, storing large quantities of warm water is
costly, Micro-organisms grow rapidly in the warm water, the chlorine
sanitizer is not effective above about 35 degrees c, and the heat
exchangers contaminate the hot water that some people use for cooking
and making tea or coffee. Neil |
