We’re net positive again in 2020!

We used 7,921 kWh and generated 8,143 kWh for a net of 223 kWh for the year.

This is part of our quarterly home performance reporting. All data is posted at netplusdesign.com

Note: I’m 11 months behind in finishing this update. Back dating the post to January 4 when I started it.

It was very close. After 2 years of missing our target by roughly 100 kWh, it feels good to be back in positive territory.

This was the first year of Covid so I was interested to see if there were any pattern shifts. You could say I’ve been exercising a hybrid work style ever since we moved out of the city. Some years I worked in the office more, others less. Jill continued to work at an office till a few years ago.

So were there any noticeable changes? Maybe a slight uptick in stove/oven usage. I do recall Jill doing a bit more baking as did the nation which is how we had a flour shortage. And the refrigerator usage was up a bit. But otherwise, no big changes.

2020 was our 3rd highest energy usage year and our 6th highest solar generation year.

2020 summary: 11% warmer, 2% less usage and 2% more sun

Here’s our progress for the first 9 years in the house. Yes, 9 years. You know what that means? I’m planning a 10 year house anniversary edition blog post for next year. Hopefully it won’t be 11 months late like this edition.

This will be a short edition as there were no big surprises that needed analysis.

Year-over-year comparison

Chart showing solar and usage values for last 9 years

Our usage and generation have been steadily converging over the years. Although the overall trend has been up for consumption and down for generation.

Not much change.

Again, fairly close to averages. Above average, but no extreme bounces.

Circuit-by-circuit

No big changes here.

Net-zero moment

Our net zero moment in 2020 was July 26 at 11am.

Chart showing total mix of solar and grid supplied elect.

Chart showing mix of solar and grid supplied electricity by month

Air-Source Heat Pump performance

Turned on the heat Oct 29th this year.

Chart of ASHP usage values Oct-Arpril, 2012-2020

The grey line shows the 2019-2020 heating season. We ended up in the upper middle pack. And for the start of the 2020-2021 heating season we seem to be staying in the same general area.

Chart showing ASHP, Solar and HDD together

Chart showing kWh used by ASHP in 10 degree buckets

You can see the right shift with generally less super cold temperatures this season.

Chart of temperature buckets year-over-year

Chart that correlates HDD with energy used by ASHP

Middle of the pack again in 2020. The heat pump seems to be working fine.

Temperatures

The average temperature was 50.6, the highest since we started measuring outdoor temperature, and certainly the biggest change we’ve witnessed. It will be interesting to see if next year is higher of lower.

Water

Nothing exciting here either.

Hope you enjoyed this (much late) edition of the yearly Up Hill House Energy Report.

Happy 2021!

You can see heat maps and detailed charts of temperature and electrical usage at netplusdesign.com. View hourly, daily and monthly values for solar, usage, net usage, temperatures and HDD.

We're net positive again in 2020!