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The future of residential building electrical installations

Arran Cameron
This is a spin-off from the discussion What is the best way to wire ceiling lights.


What do you think is the future of residential building electrical installations in 20 to 30 years time? Will they in modern and modernised houses be significantly different from what they are today or will they most likely be barely changed from what they are today?


Will consumer demand be a driving force for change or will electricians only make changes from the status quo in order to comply with updated wiring regs?
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    I have read that hot water storage in houses can be used to reduce peak demands but the majority of modern houses are built using gas Combi boilers and a lot of older housing stock has been converted to combi boilers and the old  hot water cylinders taken out. While the removal of gas as a heating source for new homes in 2025 will increase the overall electrical load despite the introduction of higher insulation standards.  While modern houses are reasonably well insulated there is still a lot more that can be done and I believe we should be aiming for a standard approaching Passivhaus. Having seen new houses built with large bits of insulation missing, poor weather proofing  and poor draft proofing I am not convinced that future build standards will necessarily be any better. 


    It appears all these initiatives place the cost burden on the householder with heat pumps, thermal stores and associated control systems being more expensive than a simple gas boiler. Maintenance then becomes an expensive nightmare with manufacturer specific parts being required for everything, why do all main circuit boards cost close to £200?  If you factor in everyone having to buy new super energy efficient intelligent appliances is it really going to be affordable and green? Cutting local CO2 emissions is not a lot of use if we are increasing generation elsewhere to manufacture the appliances, systems and mine the various rare minerals that seem to be needed.

    The on top of this everyone will require electric cars.
    To some extent how we charge for electricity is irrelevant we will somehow end up paying more.
    While I can envisage solutions I am not convinced that there has been sufficient joined up thinking and instead a lot of independent knee jerk policies.  

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  • 0
    I have read that hot water storage in houses can be used to reduce peak demands but the majority of modern houses are built using gas Combi boilers and a lot of older housing stock has been converted to combi boilers and the old  hot water cylinders taken out. While the removal of gas as a heating source for new homes in 2025 will increase the overall electrical load despite the introduction of higher insulation standards.  While modern houses are reasonably well insulated there is still a lot more that can be done and I believe we should be aiming for a standard approaching Passivhaus. Having seen new houses built with large bits of insulation missing, poor weather proofing  and poor draft proofing I am not convinced that future build standards will necessarily be any better. 


    It appears all these initiatives place the cost burden on the householder with heat pumps, thermal stores and associated control systems being more expensive than a simple gas boiler. Maintenance then becomes an expensive nightmare with manufacturer specific parts being required for everything, why do all main circuit boards cost close to £200?  If you factor in everyone having to buy new super energy efficient intelligent appliances is it really going to be affordable and green? Cutting local CO2 emissions is not a lot of use if we are increasing generation elsewhere to manufacture the appliances, systems and mine the various rare minerals that seem to be needed.

    The on top of this everyone will require electric cars.
    To some extent how we charge for electricity is irrelevant we will somehow end up paying more.
    While I can envisage solutions I am not convinced that there has been sufficient joined up thinking and instead a lot of independent knee jerk policies.  

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