Eco Home Lab - Manchester

Thu, Nov 13 · 6:00 PM GMT

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Online

EcoHome Lab: Demo of new tool for retrofit planning/energy performance contracts

Online

At EcoHome Lab we're always looking for new ways that data can support more effective home retrofit/energy-efficiency work. One method used for commercial and public buildings is energy performance contracts, where a company verifies and guarantees the energy and cost savings of improvements. This incentivizes high-quality work as it moves the risk of under-performance from the building owner to the contractor.

We've been involved in an EU research project called EBENTO, which has developed an integrated platform designed for householders, public organizations, and energy communities to expand the reach of energy performance contracts into new areas.

By acting as a "one-stop-shop," EBENTO aims to streamline the renovation process, encourage innovative business approaches, and build confidence in achieving environmental and energy goals for buildings across Europe.

The platform includes three main tools— Energy Performance, Monitoring, and Simulation—to manage guarantees, track energy efficiency and comfort levels, and model potential renovations. We're keen to demonstrate how this platform works at our Eco Home Lab and gather your insights on its potential and how it could be further developed.

We can provide logins for those interested in trying the tools out for themselves.

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Now in our regular monthly slot - every second Thursday of the month. A hangout for people taking control of their home energy usage and generation. We focus on open-source hardware and software to gain a better understanding of energy in our homes, how to make the best use of the energy we generate and reduce energy wasted.

Catch up on some of our previous sessions and presentations.

Unless there's a specific title to the session, it means we have no scheduled speaker and it will be an open session. We welcome contributions.

This is a Carbon Co-op initiative working close together with the broader open source community.

Regular discussion topics include:

• Home energy monitoring.

• Retrofit performance assessment

• Sensors - electricity, gas, temperature, humidity, air quality...

• User interfaces, dashboards

• Smart houses and automation

• Flexibility for lower cost and carbon

Who is it for?

• Anyone with skills in physical electronics, web development or programming who wants to use that knowledge to reduce energy and carbon!

• Householders interested in using new technology to map their carbon decent.

Thu, Dec 11 · 6:00 PM GMT

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Online

EcoHome Lab: Battery optimisation strategies (winter)

Online

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As we enter the darkest month, we thought it would be interesting to share strategies for making the most of battery storage (without the sun). We'll be hearing from a couple of people with fully electric households on how they maximise the use of off-peak energy to reduce costs and carbon.

• Best simple 'fit and forget' scheduling for battery charge/discharge and how to tie this in with schedules for heat pumps or EV charging.
• Home Assistant automations to take optimise further and take advantage of turn up and turn down events.
• If there's time we'll also have a short intro to the Batpred addon for Home Assistant, which can fully automate your battery charge and discharge.

All welcome and please do get in touch if you've anything to share on the night.

Now in our regular monthly slot - every second Thursday of the month. A hangout for people taking control of their home energy usage and generation. We use open-source hardware and software to gain a better understanding of energy in our homes, how to make the best use of the energy we generate and reduce energy wasted.

Catch up on some of our previous sessions and presentations.

This is a Carbon Co-op initiative working with OpenEnergyMonitor, Home Assistant and the wider open source community.

If there is no specific topic mentioned in the title it will be an open session where we welcome 'show and tell' from members. If you've something you'd like to present, discuss or demo, please do get in touch and we'll schedule you in.

Regular topics include:

• Home energy monitoring.

• House energy performance assessment

• Sensors - electricity, gas, temperature, humidity, air quality...

• User interfaces, dashboards

• Smart homes and automation

• Taking the power back! - Making better use of the surplus power we generate

Who is it for?

• Anyone with skills in physical electronics, web development or programming who wants to use that knowledge to reduce energy and carbon!

• Householders looking to control their energy use and reduce their carbon.