The energy price cap has risen by 54% – what is the solution to ever-increasing energy prices?
It’s of no surprise that the cost of living is increasing and bringing increased hardships to millions across the country, putting further strain on those already struggling to pay for basic necessities – but as reported recently, energy costs have risen even more. This drastically increased energy cost comes as a result of record increases in global wholesale prices for gas, passing on the increases to the end consumer – with annual household bills having risen by around £700, or 54 percent. Plus, Europe’s gas supplies are taken from Russia, and in-line with economic sanctions will drive costs up even further.
Daniel Burton, Wondrwall Founder & CEO says “The impacts of this price rise are being felt by the entirety of the UK. The only way to reduce ever-increasing traditional energy costs and ensure stability is to turn to clean energy, which guarantees a dramatic cost saving and reduces the carbon footprint, transforming your home into a net-zero one, ensuring its longevity and affordability for decades to come. But – to meet the net-zero goal, this needs to be tackled from the top down – with house builders integrating clean energy systems and technology into new homes from the get-go, with minimal cost but huge returns. The benefits are twofold;
Firstly, homebuilders now have a more desirable product that guarantees its desirability to the end consumer thanks to its cost-benefits – with no extra “retrofitting” required by the end-user to add solar panels – for example – as one of the steps on the journey get their home up to net-zero status. Secondly, the homeowner benefits from a drastic reduction in energy costs, thanks to Wondrwall’s fully integrated domestic solution, which comprises of three key components;
Domestic Energy Management | Capturing and analysing in excess of 20,000 datapoints every day to plot the optimal performance of the homes lighting, heating, cooling, security, EV charging and energy assets.
Gas-Free Heating | A complete range of intelligent heating and hot water solutions capable of reducing a homes energy consumption by 50% when combined with the Wondrwall Home Automation platform.
Net-Zero Energy | Lastly, Wondrwall Intelligent Homes can achieve carbon Net-Zero with the integration of domestic renewable energy generation and high capacity energy storage, optimised to maximise solar and stored thermal energy while minimising grid costs.
A great example in practice would be one of the latest 3 bedroom homes we’re collaborating on with Elite NuGEN. If Elite NuGEN use a traditional method – gas central heating – the annual bills increase from £784 to £1528. Switch that to a heat pump and the prices increase from £914 to £1690. But, if using the Wondrwall system, the energy bills increase from £231 to just £327!
The reason for this comes down to a combination of renewable energy and the intelligence of the Wondrwall system; Firstly – our Domestic Energy Management uses AI to ensure optimal performance of the homes energy use based on the occupants at the time, reducing extraneous energy consumption. Secondly, the majority of the energy used is free, thanks to solar power, which is intelligently stored in the battery, or distributed across the property as required. If a “top-up” is ever required, then energy is sourced from the grid, but at drastically reduced off-peak times, ensuring minimal cost.
Ultimately – the UK has a target of achieving net zero status by 2050, which means that there absolutely has to be input from the government and local bodies to introduce this change at a rapid rate, otherwise we’re clearly going to fall short, as a country. From 2025 – just 3 years away – all new-build homes must be net-zero. While retro-fitting existing homes is indeed effective – and can deliver the same savings – it’s more expensive, and less efficient overall. In a recent article in The Guardian, zero-carbon pioneer Professor Ljubomir Jankovic states that we would have “to retrofit approximately 1,870 houses per day to reach the goal of Net-Zero by 2050. That puts the scale of effort required into perspective.”