SteamyTea

Transport fuel is my greatest single expense, but the fact that I did an discretionary journey to go walking and then anther one to have a coffee, shows it is really way too cheap.

Fuel poverty is really a social construct to highlight low wage and earning gaps. I am not saying it is not real, but we do have many other ways to combat it i.e. minimum wage, tax credits, family allowances, pensioner allowances, unemployment benefits[1], moving, cheap loans, FiT, RHI (not that I really like those subsidies). Part of the taxation to equalise fuel type prices could be used to pay for upgrades to property or wages. [1] I lived on a student loan for 4 years, which is a lower amount of money than a single persons unemployment benefits

Possibly is. You are in Scotland, a country that is try hard to install renewables, mainly windpower, with some new hydro and experimental tide/wave. The point about price is a valid one, if we put a price on emissions, and used it to equalise the kWh price for all fuels, while at the same time removing all subsidies, or in other words, pay the real price, then this sort of market and environmental skewing would not happen.

On your other points: I said (over at the other place) "I still fail to understand the argument that it is alright to burn timber in a low populations area. It is not acceptable to dump asbestos is a low population area, or kill a cat, or stop education of young people, so why should it be acceptable to allow a heating system to pollute the environment."

So that will be zero for both then

"Never answer the question that is asked of you. Answer the question that you wish had been asked of you." Robert McNamara Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/robert_mcnamara.html

Just for a laugh, but connected to a conversation over at the other place, if there was a tax introduced on domestic solid fuel burners, say something like the TV license i.e. fixed amount per household with them, how much should it be? There is an alternative, taxing the fuel at source, if so, how much should that be per kWh. This could be an assumed amount based on size of a home with a burner i.e. £/(kWh.m2). So if a house had a deemed usage of 50 kWh/(m2.y) and it was set at 2p/kWh and the house was 100 m2, then the annual tax would be: 50 kWh/(m2.y) x 2p/kWh x 100 m2 = £100/year. So think on it and give me two prices: Fixed fee Usage and Size price

Not quite that long ago there was an art installation at the Exchange Gallery that was 2p bits on the floor. I added some to it when no one was looking.

Oh, that looks useful, thanks.

I had thought of that, but I can get a relay for a tenner, and it should be pretty easy to wire in (not actually seen the pump yet). An alternative is a small PSU that can drop down to 3VDC and sense that voltage. Not sure how to wire it into the Raspberry Pi as it will not be the same as the unit powering the Raspberry Pi. Maybe connect all the neutrals together.

Does anyone know of a cheap way to do this with a Raspberry Pi. All I want to know is when a pump is on or off, I don't need to know the current or the voltage. I am thinking that I could use a contactor, wired in parallel with the pump, and just sense when it is closed with a GPIO ports/pin. It would be nicer to use a non-invasive method such as a CT clamp, but not too sure how to set that up as a simple detector. Thoughts anyone?

Bit in the Telegraph about air pollution in London being worse then Beijing. Wood burning stoves are partly to blame. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/24/air-pollution-london-passes-levels-beijingand-wood-burners-making/

There should be. The problems seem to stem from a change after the final design is agreed on. Take a kitchen extractor and MVHR. The two do not play nicely together, and both involve punching holes in the house. The same is true of a wood burner (not that these are recommended for so many reasons). If these are not agreed on at the very beginning, and space made to fit and maintain them, then some reshuffling can cause problems later. The last thing that you want to happen is that someone drills a hole through the vapour barrier, then decide that the pipe of cable would be better off 150mm to the left or right. It is also worth decide if you want a cold or warm roof at the very beginning.

" It looks as if it was put in by an Indian. " Prince Philip

Welcome This all depends on what experience you have in both areas. From what I have read on here, and my own experiences as both a project/production manager (different industries, but sometimes related), I would go for a project manager and a timber frame until made weather tight. Then organise your own subcontractors. Initial design is where you can save the money. Make it complicated and it will cost you, make it high tech and smart, it will cost a lot and probably not work. All a house is, is a thermally insulated, airtight box. Then you start to put 'holes' in it for things like doors and windows, heating and ventilation systems, wires and plumbing (and a cat flap). I often get the feeling that people start thinking about designing a house the wrong way around. The interior can become more important than the structure and this complicates things no end.

At least that is a start. There are only 6 houses where I am, we have 3 different meters, but only 1 DNO. This is something that the industry sort sort out, not exactly an anticompetitive move.

Why is it so messy in the DNO boxes. I would have thought by now that they would have come up with a nice neat design that incorporated a DP switch after the fuse and meter. Really is ridiculous that they have not moved on since the 1940's.

All I got for that sort of money was a Penguin Job, which sort of sound Welsh!

welshwife@interuptus.com It was just me mucking about, but got some interesting contacts

Self cleaning glass, a combination of toughened and laminated (they fail differently, bit like carbon fibre and kevlar combination, one snaps, the other holds the bits together).

Oh, I was once asked (in the late 90's) to make a transparent stair case for a show. The company was based in Amersham. Not sure if it is the same people (I dealt with an Architect). Had to point out there was a big disadvantage, all their staff should wear trousers. There is an Art Gallery in Penzance (The Exchange) that has some 'posh glazing'. Looked good when it was new, now it looks a bit tatty (silicone has discoloured, a few panes are broken, lighting now mismatched). Was a nice idea at the time though.

You could be a bit more subtle than that and put up a large pair of beady eyes looking down. Doing this at a university bike shed reduced the number of thefts and vandalism. Maybe a little sign under it saying "Like what you see, want to know more, email us at xxx@yyy.com"

I have a nominated and clearly defined parking area, don't stop the neighbours using it. There is one space per house here. But for some reason, neighbours feel they can park where they like. Even across the access and in the turning area. So take any cash for it and just keep using it

Jeremy's ASHP is very quiet. I have a sound meter and logger on my phone (AndoSensor). It is currently showing around 15 dB. Turning my fan heater on (about a metre away) and it shows 30 dB. Not sure how accurate it is , but good enough for comparison I should think. Just got to go out and find some ASHP that are running now.

I suffer from increasingly worsening tinnitus, silence is the worse thing there is. Not that a modern ASHP that is designed, installed and maintained is noisy at all. I am tempted to go and measure the noise levels from a few to see what it is at 1 and 10 metres distance.