How much can I save with Luqas?

With Luqas, you can save in several ways:

 

  1. Autoconsumption: Luqas ensures that the energy generated is effectively consumed or buffered in the house. Buffering can be done e.g. by setting the hot water tank of the heat pump or the boiler to a higher temperature.
  2. Peak-shaving: the new electricity bill calculation penalises you if you run too many appliances at the same time, causing peaks in electricity consumption. 1 kWh will cost you 40 euros excluding VAT on an annual basis. Luqas will avoid your peaks by automatically charging the electric car more slowly and by turning the heat pump or boilers to a lower setting if you use too much. And if that's not enough, Luqas will send you a message if you do threaten to exceed your quarter-hour peak, so you can intervene yourself if desired.
  3. Less consumption through awareness: by receiving messages when you consume too much, by putting a home in Efficient - Comfort - Boost via the Energy Slider, by being able to monitor your energy consumption on the Energy Dashboard, you become aware of your energy consumption and will also keep it more under control.

So how much you will save depends on the major consumers in your home. If you have no heat pump and no charging station, savings are only based on avoiding the quarterly peaks (peak-shaving). If you also have a heat pump and charging station, in addition to peak-shaving, you can also save by using your own generated energy (auto-consumption) instead of selling it back to the grid at a price much lower than the price at which you have to buy energy.

 

Based on average energy consumption, test cases in residential environments, feedback from heat pump manufacturers (savings through autoconsumption) we arrive at the following savings:

 

  • In a home with a digital meter that heats on gas/fuel oil and does not control any large consumers, Luqas reduces the quarter peak by an average of 2kW (from 5kW to 3kW), and there is a minimum 5% energy saving. This gives a total saving of 167€ per year.
  • In a house with digital meter that heats on gas/fuel oil and has one charging station, Luqas reduces the quarter peak by 10kW (from 16kW to 6kW), and there is 8% improvement due to auto-consumption. This comes to a saving of €680 a year.
  • In a house with digital meter heating with heat pump without charging station, Luqas draws the quarter peak 5kW lower (from 9kW to 4kW), and there is 15% improvement due to auto consumption. Here, Luqas saves €762 every year.
  • The house with digital meter that heats with heat pump and has one charging station enjoys the highest savings: a drop of 12kW quarter peak (from 20kW to 8kW), and there is 18% improvement due to car consumption. In such homes, Luqas provides 1470€ savings per year.

This means that even in the situation of the house that heats on gas/oil and where Luqas does not control any large consumers, the purchase and installation cost of Luqas is recovered in less than 2 years. As soon as a charging station or a heat pump or boiler is connected, Luqas pays for itself in less than 6 months. If both a charging station and heat pump or boiler are controlled, Luqas pays for itself in 2 months.