Why baseload matters – focus on summer holidays
Another summer holiday over, where did the time go?! We’ve been reminiscing about the holidays in our own way – by looking at energy consumption statistics! We’ve been comparing this summer with last summer (the energy use, not the weather).
We know not all schools completely close down during the holidays, but even those that do open are often not at full capacity so there are often many opportunities to save. Saving money and carbon while you’re not even in school feels like the best way to do it.
65% of our schools managed to reduce their electricity consumption with an average saving of 3,500kWh and about £500 and 55% of our schools managed to reduce their gas consumption with an average saving of £6,000kWh or about £200.
Something that has made us sit up and take notice, is the effect that a change in baseload can have on summer holiday energy use. Electricity baseload is the electricity needed to provide power to appliances that keep running at all times. It’s the equipment that rumbles away in the background – your fridges, freezers and servers for example. Because these things tend to remain on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year AND because electricity is expensive, reducing a school’s baseload can really make a difference to energy bills.
Let’s take a look:
The school below saw a 1.5kW increase in their baseload back in March. This sudden increase might suggest a new piece of equipment or something that was previously on a timer to switch off overnight that is now on all the time.
This happened at about the time that energy bills went up for them so any increase in costs are likely to have been assumed to be associated with that. Looking at total electricity use on the Energy Sparks dashboard, it’s also not a large and obvious increase.
However, this school’s summer holiday electricity consumption more that doubled compared with the previous year – a 127% increase, costing an additional £557 on top of the energy price increase. If this school’s baseload remains at this level (1.5kW higher than before March), it will cost them an additional £4,000 per year, based on their current tariff.
So what can schools do to prevent such a rise, and reduce their baseload?
Firstly, sign up to our weekly alerts and make sure to check them. If you see an alert saying that your baseload has increased, investigate what has caused the change. The numbers can sound small, but remember that every 1kW of baseload uses 8,760 kWh over a year which will cost £1,314 if you pay 15p per unit or £4,380 if you pay 50p per unit!
Investigate any sudden increase:
If there is a sudden increase as seen in the school above, the likely cause is a single piece of equipment that is either not working properly or has been left on accidentally. Take note of the day it happened. Does it coincide with an event at the school, an engineer’s visit, or even a very cold day (someone may have switched a heater on that you don’t know about). Is it a new piece of equipment, and could it have been set up incorrectly?
Make a note of what equipment MUST remain on at all times – has anything changed with them? Are they all functioning properly? If you have electric heating or air conditioning units, could someone have changed the temperature settings? Use this situation as a reason to get organised – create a holiday switch off list for each area of your school. Try to work out what things are most likely to be left on accidentally or tampered with. Make it someone’s job to check these things at the end of each day or week or term.
Good news story:
It would be no fun to write a blog like this and show only a school that has used more energy this summer. What about a school that has reduced their baseload and therefore saved money? Damers First School were our scoreboard winners last year. They logged more points from pupil activities than any other school and managed to reduce their electricity consumption by a healthy 12% last year. It’s difficult to attribute their reduction in electricity consumption and baseload in particular to any one action they have taken as there have been many. But the chart below is quite handy, as well as being able to log actions on Energy Sparks to try to find links.
Although the school’s baseload is higher during the winter than summer, for the last 12 months it has been lower than the previous 12. A particular drop can be seen at the beginning of the Easter holidays 2022. This is when the school introduced their holiday switch off check list and is also when the freezers were defrosted and door seals cleaned and repaired.
On average, the school’s baseload is 21% lower in 2023 than it was in 2022 which will save the school approximately £1,300 based on their current tariff. And their summer holiday energy consumption was 27% lower in 2023 than it was in 2022.
And remember both of these schools a small primary schools. Improving the baseload of a large secondary school can save tens of thousands of pounds a year.
