Our Rutger switched from a fixed to a dynamic energy contract and is trying to find out the smartest way to use his energy and appliances. He tries the Mill connected convector heater.
Until recently, I didn’t think much about my energy consumption. I had fixed my energy prices five years ago and laughed my way through the price increases, but that contract was about to expire and I switched to dynamic energy from Tibber for a Bright video. My prices change every hour, so I am currently still in the phase where I check 3 times a day whether I should turn on the washing machine, dishwasher or dryer or not. A bit like the first few weeks of electric driving. Once I understand how it works, it will probably be fine, but for now I’m still trying to figure out what’s smart and what’s not.
Electric additional heating
Experiment 1: the not so hiply named Mill CO1500MAXWIFI3. A 1500 Watt convector heater that can be operated with WiFi. This required a number of updates after I turned it on, but after half an hour I had the heater working and the WiFi connected.
This heater costs €239.99 and is recommended for rooms up to 22m2. You can operate it with buttons on the device, Mill’s app itself or add it to Tibber’s app for extra functionality. If you click on ‘smart heating’, it will heat more when electricity is cheap and less when electricity is more expensive. In addition, with day savings you can automatically turn down the heating if Tibber notices that you are not at home. With night saving you can lower the temperature a few degrees while you sleep.
High energy prices, does that make sense?
This is practical for those who have one thermostat for one room in their house, because then you can smartly heat your workspace, laundry room or bathroom, for example, with an electric heater. Independent from the rest of your house. Since I have a Honeywell Evohome system in my home, I can already control each room independently. So that advantage disappears. Electric heating with a convector heater is also more expensive than gas. If you convert gas to kWh (instead of m2) it costs about €0.13. Your electricity is by definition more expensive per kWh in winter. At best around €0.20. At peak times about €0.40. Does electric heating with a convector heater like the Mill make sense?
Sometimes yes. An electric heater can bring a room up to temperature quite quickly. So if you have to work for an hour, it is better to turn on the electric heater than to heat up the radiators. This makes integration with the Tibber app somewhat redundant, because to keep a room at a constant temperature, it is better to heat it with gas.
It works in Scandinavia
In Scandinavian countries gas is not used, but electric heaters are often used. The last time I was in Norway I only paid €0.09 per kWh. Tibber and Mill both come from Scandinavia, where a stove like this is much cheaper to use. In the Netherlands you have to think more carefully about the costs when using the Mill than in Norway.
This does not alter the fact that this Mill CO1500MAXWIFI3 is a nice additional heater, which you can also conveniently operate remotely and easily move to the room where you need it. A shed where you have no heating can quickly be made more pleasant with this Mill. It can also be used in the bathroom. As a smart permanent heating solution for a main room, the Mill will remain unused with us, but it will be used regularly in the bathroom and the handyman’s shed. Without using the smart Tibber features.
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Source: www.bright.nl
