SteamyTea

https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/MQGasSensors But you could just do it on noise. Or sense the 'strength of grip' on the staining bars.

It is not the same problem; the grid was set up for centralised and coordinated generation. But it may be an interesting way of getting your line upgraded. My biggest load is my kettle, and that is only on for a few seconds. Pre FiTs and the ridiculous 41p/kWh + 5p/kWh deemed export rates, people with PV wanted 'net metering', then it was about 10p/kWh which is close to what we get now. The MCS scheme was not just about payment rates. It was also meant to protect householders from dodgy traders and unsafe installations. May not have worked in all cases, but generally most people are satisfied with their installations. Remember that switching DC is a lot harder than switching AC, and there may be some other safety implications to take into account. You are not dealing with an ELV. https://electrical.theiet.org/media/1425/low-and-extra-low-voltage-direct-current-power-distribution-in-buildings.pdf

Most kettles are about 2.8 kW, so a fair size generator. If you want a good one, go Honda. They can be linked together (I think Yamaha have a similar model). Otherwise go cheap and get a lower powered kettle. Camping stoves are pretty good and cheap.

I had a girlfriend that would thumb the blade around so that she could line it up, while her finger was still on the switch. Scared me shitless. I used to turn it off at the wall if I was nearby.

My view is that everything built should be included except fittings i.e. kitchen, bathroom, internal doors. Or to look at it the other way, not the ground the house sits on, but all the professional fees, licence fees, unexpected works, utilities. Basically the only things that are not in the calculation are the things that can vary wildly in price for the same utility value. So basically cost it out on what you want except the vanity items.

What thickness woodfibre did you use? And has any of the render gone mouldy. There are some places down here that are now green and brown.

What we talking about here. LGBT or fixings. My advice is the same, take your finger off the button, or put your finger on the button (been a while since I have been told off on here)

You plumbers always like old pipes, dirty bugger.

They do. They have a big database of what is where and what it is capable of (the database was designed by an old girlfriend of mine, should have stuck with her as she sold her company for 5mil). The DNOs don't give too hoot about what you connect, all they are concerned about is keeping the network going, as that is their job. Then you are into politics. I don't hear many people saying that we should go back to mid 1970's income tax rates i.e. 500 quid tax free allowance and starting rate of 33%. What I hear is that people want more FiT money, and you are going to pay me it.

The problem is that the worse cases have to be taken into consideration, not the norm. We would all get a bit pissed off if every time the sun came out from behind a cloud, the electricity failed. Especially if you had just fitted a PV system.

In rural areas, with non standard diversity (usage patterns), and an old infrastructure, they potential can cause a problem. Trouble is that a fault can pass back up the line and cause a bigger fault somewhere else. Down here during the micro generation boom, there was a warning sent out the local grid was at saturation in some places and no more microgeneration was going to be allowed.

Re: Camming Out and Screwdrivers. Not all screwdrivers are equal. Apart from size, the points can be different, Some are pointy, some blunt, then the angles can be different. It is a pain in the arse to be honest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives Then you have thread types. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw_thread And then the ongoing debate about screws and bolts (I know the correct answer). And there really is a Sex Bolt, flat packed furniture uses them a lot.

Yes they can, and have done. When I was working for a dodgy PV company, they had fitted a 4kW system on a farm. The DNO asked us to disconnect it until they had checked the local transformer. In all fairness to Western Power, they dealt with it all within a few days. It has to be remembered that the power grid was designed as a centralised power network, not a distributed one, so you can't have every Tom, Dick or Harry hanging whatever they like on the system. Do that and you get an American or Australian type system that fails frequently. Or to bring it closer to home, imagine a single spur on your house, you would not try to to overload it as you now that the fuse will pop, or if you put in a larger fuse, the wiring will catch fire.

I was in MacSalvors today, they had piles of OSB of different thicknesses. Did not look at price as I was in a hurry.

It isn't. They have had the right to either refuse connection or ask for an upgrade payment since before the FiTs system came into force. it is not always used, but it is done for good reasons about grid stability. Then design an off grid system. There are 'islanding' systems that can deliver power when there is a power cut, just a modification of that really i.e. as soon as you are generation you automatically disconnect from the grid. It will need storage, which s expensive, and approval from your DNO for safety reasons. So probably easier to just run a local off grid storage system that runs a few appliances. It might blow the company fuse. There have been cases where HPs have been refused, SarahSW from eBuild had hers refused (though I think that she abandoned her project in the end if it is the old church I frequent pass).

Hard to show drawings over the phone. I did my apprenticeship with an American company, all our drawings had an appropriately sized grid on them. Was easy to reference an area of interest then.

Angle grinder with a metal cutting wheel. Just don't be fearful of it (called being a pussy, which I know you are not). If I get time tomorrow (got a show on this weeks so a lot of driving) I shall make a video of how to do it and how not too. Bit like one of the old Kenny Everett ones.

And finally the wind speed. I had to change the Cornwall location, so picked St. Marys on the Scillies. Eigg has a much better resource, but I am not sure that height the modelling was based on.

And now the sunshine hours and rainfall. The solar resource is pretty good, though the power will be lower for Eigg than Camborne. The rainfall is a bit higher in Eigg, though again, not by much.

I just had a look at the weather data for Tiree (probably not so different from Eigg). I have only looked at the temperature so far and compared it to Camborne. The interesting thing is that if you take the heating period as anything below 12°C (I use 10°C in a slightly improved 1987 minimum building regs house), the heating times are start only 3 weeks earlier than Camborne and and 2 /12 weeks later. I shall now have a look at sunshine hours to see how much generation could be had from a PV system up there. I still think that a single larger turbine would be a cheap way to generate RE power (larger turbines are more efficient, are high up so get higher windspeeds for more time and are cheaper per kWp to install). Here is a chart to be going on with, it shows the median monthly temperature by month from the last 40 years.

So have I. Does that mean I can write a report. Simple pricing structure, 10% of build cost, about the same as an architect, and we know they add value.

I am sure there are some handbooks on how to make napalm and agent orange. Apply a year before application and then show them a lovely picture of what it could be i.e. of what you currently have. When I did my module about the Town and Country Planning Act, I don't remember a single point reference at all. I think this is part of the problem we have with planning the environment. For every rule we have that says we must do something, we have at least one that says it is illegal.

I think you are probably right. Part of the problem is that we are now used to having unlimited electrical energy on demand. Reading some of the comments on that Eigg report shows that a lot of people are missing the point, including the author. Comparing, what is in effect, a stand along system by using the ratio of demand and installed capacity is just wrong. But there are some relatively easy upgrades they can make i.e. more storage (thermal and electrical) and much larger wind turbines.

Here is a picture of MacSalvor's Customer Relations Department. Now how many companies have an effing torpedo in the yard.

You have never been to MacSalvors, if you saw their yard, and some of the stuff they sell, you would not dare ask for a bulk discount. If I remember, I shall take a picture of some of the stuff they keep, then you will see what I mean.