We’re using our Guru smart metering and control platform to do real-time monitoring of district heating at Octavia’s flagship site in NW London. Our aim is to eliminate the two biggest risks that DH operators face: bad debt and hidden inefficiencies. Here’s an article summarising what we’re up to.
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Good article. I liked the part about landlords being “fearful of inadvertently making a profit” with regard to setting tariffs – leaving little room for error in the network.
I’ve seen plenty of examples of schemes being staged developments, connected to a single plant room. Therefore effectively being an “oversized” heat network until the last block is connected. It can take years before such a developments efficiencies are properly understood – by this stage D&L periods can lapse and property management could have changed hands.
Owners/operators are usually reluctant to set high heating costs early, opting for fully operating industry norms and end up subsidizing heat over the entire development – losing an unexpected tens of thousands each year for several years. All could have been avoided with different design, project management or commissioning – possibly even tariff setting assumptions.