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newhome

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Everything posted by newhome

  1. newhome
    Hmm, not sure. How can I tell please?
  2. newhome
    I don't think it's easy to address this issue, because in many cases it's not about homelessness, it's about mental health which is not easy to address at all.
  3. newhome
    Storm Ciara seems to have done something to my back door as it no longer seals properly against the frame and there is a draught coming through. I’ve tried adjusting the mechanism to push the door nearer to the frame (see pic) and that has helped to a degree but if I adjust it any further the door doesn’t latch properly and the locking mechanism won’t work. Photo is of the middle section. There are 2 similar adjusters at the top and bottom. The seal looks ok I think in that it’s not perished anywhere but if I press the door against the frame when it’s closed the door moves in and the seal clearly works because the draught stops. Do they do thicker ones? I reckon it’s a few mm out currently but the effect is massive from a draught perspective. Anything else I can try please?
  4. newhome
    Indeed. I have been paying the full annual allowance into my pension ever since the tax rates were raised in Scotland. I now pay a lot less tax than I used to before the change. I will be rethinking that if the relief drops to 20% or even 25%, plus I’ve hit the lifetime allowance now too. Reducing my hours to reduce my tax bill seems to be an attractive way forward. Like you I’m on PAYE so am restricted to a handful of things to reduce my tax liability, eg purchasing additional holiday and buying the maximum number of shares in the SIP scheme. Small fry when compared to the pension tax relief however.
  5. newhome
    My old one was 1600 rpm but when I wanted to replace it I had to move to a 1400 one to get the other things on my wish list (the main one being that the fast wash could use the highest spin speed since most fast washes seem to cap that to 800). I have noticed that the clothes are wetter at 1400 than 1600.
  6. newhome
    Never do ironing here. Life’s too short. Another reason for using the dryer. Most stuff comes out crease free.
  7. newhome
    God I had one of those once. The drying was horrendous. I think it would have dried better if I had rolled everything up in a tight ball and directed a fan heater on it. Separate dryer only from now on.
  8. newhome
    How does it ‘use’ cold water? Mine isn’t connected to any water source. I thought the warm air is just passed through a heat exchanger and the resulting cooled water collects in a tank?
  9. newhome
    Thinking about that some more .... so if they cap tax relief at 20% those on the higher rate of tax who are paying into their pension will pay 20% (or 21% in Scotland) tax on that money immediately. If they end up with a decent pension pot they could then be paying higher rate tax when they draw their pension. Doesn’t that have the effect of being taxed twice on the same money? These doctors you speak of could be in that position.
  10. newhome
    Yep I have had condensing dryers for the last 20+ years. I have a different heat wasting issue just now anyway. I opened the back door last night just as a huge gust of wind hit it. Now it no longer seals to the frame properly and there is cold air rushing in. I will do a separate thread about that tonight as I need to know if I can adjust it somehow. I closed the door to the utility room last night (generally the warmest room in the house as the boiler and TS are just off the utility room) and the temperature dropped from 21 degrees to 16 degrees overnight.
  11. newhome
    I use my dryer most of the time. Can’t hang washing out 90% of the time as it’s too windy and can’t stand wet washing hanging inside. I don’t find that the dryer is too expensive in the great scheme of things. I check mine if I have bed linen in there and take it out and shake it periodically. That’s something I won’t be able to do if I move to a cheap overnight tariff though.
  12. newhome
    41% up here. I read that re tax relief. Wait and see I guess. The change would likely be a disincentive to people paying into a pension. People are distrustful about pension rules changing in general and a big change such as this would just confirm their suspicions.
  13. newhome
    Welcome! There are many from Scotland here and most of us were terrified once upon a time ?.
  14. newhome
    That's a pretty good price. Haven't heard of them as a supplier however. Mine is 8.x for heating (available 18 hours a day) and 14.x for other use (24 x 7). Standing charge is quite expensive - 34p. The flexibility to use the heating more or less when I want to is a big draw (and my biggest cost by far) so probably wouldn't swap tariffs for a modest saving (I would need to get the meters rewired too). I would have gone for the Octopus Agile tariff if I had been able to switch though. I could have worked with that pretty easily. Maybe next year ?.
  15. newhome
    Did a little 'how much electricity do I use' experiment today. Pretty rough and ready as I could only read the numbers from the meters but I used 1kwh of 'standard use' electricity (just the normal stuff like fridge freezers, laptop, lights etc.) during the peak Octopus Agile period of 4pm and 7pm. I used 45kwh for the 2 hours my boiler was on however! ? it's probably as cold as it's been this year so far however. Over the last 2 months I've used an average or £5.31 of electric per day, or circa £160 a month. With the overnight electricity often being half what I pay now if I were able to swap to Octopus Agile you can see why I was keen to do it. Damn 3 phase!!! I can't see a better priced tariff that provides me with as much flexibility as I have now however (18 hours of cheap rate electricity for heating) so looks like I'm stuck with them until the tariff expires in September and then hope that it doesn't rise too much in price from then on.
  16. newhome
    Lol, not now as it seemed to be overkill with just me living here but there is space / plumbing / wiring for a washing machine and dryer upstairs. The 2 I use currently are in the utility room. Should have included 2 dishwashers really as if this house was fully occupied that would be useful.
  17. newhome
    Here is the CU that feeds the charger (marked EV).
  18. newhome
    I tried this last night and it appears to have charged ok so that seems like a good option although someone told me I wouldn’t find a timer for a 30A charger. I have visions of sticking a post it note up to remind me to switch the circuit breaker on and off! I’m going to do some rough stats gathering over the next few days to ascertain how many units I use in the 3 hour peak period with just the normal stuff running, eg lights, fridge freezers etc. as that will all cost more than I’m paying now. Then run some tests so that the boiler comes on to warm the slab up and provide DHW overnight, so that I can assess how much it has cooled by the following evening to see if it’s viable to change the boiler switch on timings. If the slab has cooled too much I guess I could stick the thermostat up by another 1 degree if the electric is half the price?
  19. newhome
    Octopus have replied to my query as follows: Thanks for getting in touch. At present we are just taking down customer details who are interested in this and then we will look at demand and come up with a plan. Would you like us to add your details to be contacted? Then they have asked the following questions. Not sure I know the answer to all of them. Some of them sound like the sort of questions you would ask a business. If you do want to be added we need the answers to the following if possible? Where is the location of the electric meter? Will we have access to the main fuse? Is there space for a smart meter to be installed? The required space is 600mmx600mm. Does the property have any PV/Batteries/Chargers? Are there any high loads at the property? If so, what is the shutdown sequence of the high loads? Can a duty electrician be available to aid shutdown and start up? Does the property have any storage heaters? Are there any time switches? Are there any other management systems with utilise CT clamps? Are there any alarm systems that may need to be reset? This will help us answer if it's possible. What’s the thing about the high loads, shutdown sequence and duty electrician? I have a 24kw boiler that runs for about 2 hours a day which is why I have 3 phase. I presume that doesn’t count as a high load, and clearly I have no shutdown sequence or duty electrician. I don’t have storage heaters so can answer no there, as I assume that a TS doesn’t count, but what are time switches and CT clamps? I assume I enter no there too?
  20. newhome
    There appears to be little appetite for producing a 3 phase smart meter as it's considered to be a niche product. I read that 3 phase is pretty standard in Germany so why they can't adapt a 3 phase meter from there heaven knows. Apparently the government target is to offer all homes a smart meter by the end of this year. Not holding my breath! I'll probably be blamed for having 3 phase to begin with!
  21. newhome

    Newbie

    newhome replied to DOIGAN's topic in Introduce Yourself

    You should be able to look up the plans containing this sort of detail from the council website? Building control should also have air test results, SAP etc. Maybe they will email you those if you ask?
  22. newhome
    Although heating up anything at 15p per kwh is always going to be costly. Mine is affordable at 8p and it's not right that these guys have to pay double for a similar system from the same supplier. The 'change my tariff' option in Scottish Power's app is bullshit too. It tells me that I can reduce my £140 per month payment to £55 a month by selecting one of the 2 suggested tariffs. When I look they have only taken the standard meter into account and note that my annual usage is circa 3000kwh. My actual usage is over 14000kwh. Oh, and the 'cheaper' tariff on offer is over 17p per kwh (I pay a touch under 15p for standard use currently).
  23. newhome
    I had to evidence a drains pressure test. The council building control inspector came out to witness it. I’m Scotland though. Not sure if you need that in England.
  24. newhome
    I've got one already. It's a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV hybrid that doesn't have the ability to set charge times. I don't worry about when it's charging now as I'm on a flat rate but had I been able to switch to Octopus Agile charging during the 23p - 27p rate would be prohibitively expensive. It's moot now though since I can't get a smart meter and my current prices are fixed until September and I don't think I will better them.
  25. newhome
    Thanks, but it seems that my plan to move to that tariff is a no go as they don’t have a smart meter for 3 phase ?
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