Russdl

@joth that looks really impressive. I can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy! I’m hoping to build a carport with a completely solar roof and was rooting round the gb-sol website yesterday so it’s great to see a picture of your installation. Thanks for posting it.

Or... a battery system that you fill up with their ‘bargain bucket’ 35p stuff and sell back to them at over £2 a pop. Just a thought...

My thoughts exactly. Ive seem all of those letter before, but I’ve never seen them arranged in that order ? What is it?

As it happens, we’re not. The Agile import rate is hitting its capped price of 35p/unit early in the morning, 07:30 today, and staying there til late at night, 23:30 today. It’s a similar story most days. The export rate exceeds the import rate at 16:30 today (49.49p a unit) and stays way above the import rate til 21:00. It peaks at 235.93p/unit at 19:30 - over 6 times the import price! It was way above 200p/unit yesterday evening as well.

@pdf27 that’s an interesting/troubling report.

@SteamyTea interesting stats but why does the first day back at school cause such a spike? @joth Agile has been very hit and miss for us, they seem to have plenty of problems but so far, with time, they’ve fixed our import/export issues. It took months and it’s all going Pete Tong again now but I trust them to sort it... eventually. @pdf27 so why the high spot gas prices? Is that all connected to the kids going back to school? I don’t get the connection at all. I guess I’m just slow!

Octopus Agile prices are going off the scale, yesterday it was at its capped limit of 35p/unit for most of the day. Agile outgoing rates were equally wild, at one point reaching over 60p/unit for export - all be it for a brief period, I’m pleased to say it was a brief period that the sun still shone on my panels. Equally nuts today. What’s causing this? Light winds and not enough sun?

@puntloos we have the Internorm 3G windows with the Venetian blind on the outside. The Venetian blind unit is combined with a battery pack and solar PV to re-charge the battery, so no drilling/wiring etc. All of this is protected behind a forth pane of glass that is hinged for access. The blind/battery/PV can be removed in a matter of seconds. We’re very happy with them. Throughout the fleeting sunny spells they’ve been titled to keep the sun out but have let oodles of light in. Pass. Standard Venetian blind privacy performance, you can flash to the neighbours should the urge arise or keep it all well hidden. Again, standard Venetian blind stuff here, light leaks through when it’s fully closed. IMG_9045.MOV

@richie9648 you could use a pedestal system to support the new patio

@Ralph I hope it helps, the current arrangement looks pretty unsatisfactory. (FYI the link I posted was just an example as opposed to a recommendation)

If that will introduce an unwanted cold bridge then you can get GRP angles that will overcome that. Our doors and sliders are supported on them.

That’s a fair point. I guess you could commission it prior to closing up the plywood boxing. Another fair point. I haven’t got around to it yet and it seems to be performing just fine.

Seems like an elegant solution to a tricky problem, I can’t see why it would be a problem.

@ProDave I’m on Octopus Agile Outgoing and use the on line portal, I have the app as well but prefer to use the portal. I have a SMETS2 meter but there have been problems with being paid for what I’m exporting, it gets fixed every now and again but the last time I spoke to them they said they should have a proper fix some time this month. I’m thinking of switching to their ‘Go’ tariff over the winter when there is likely to be even less sun than there is now so that I can charge the Sunamp and run the Willis heater when required on the cheaper overnight tariff.

@Triassic I’ve got the all electric Sunamp so no ASHP in the equation for me but plenty of solar PV. Works a treat, but I suspect our first full winter of occupation (which seems to be fast approaching) will highlight how little the sun will play a part in our master plan.

@Triassic obviously depends on the model, the largest is around the £3300 mark from Midsummer

@Mandana can you elaborate on that felt. We’ve been looking for something to do the job but found nothing we like yet.

Couldn’t possibly say. We haven’t scratched ours yet but when that day comes I suspect there’ll be a certain amount of bitterness, so I’ll go with: ‘yes’.

@Mandana we’re equally obsessed with not scratching our hob because, why not? I got a hob protector from Lakeland, cut it in two and it works a treat and doesn’t look too godawful when it’s in place - which is only when we’re using it. We don’t use the hob as a chopping board...

Hi @Ralph I didn’t use any thinners with the Osmo Oil, just stirred well and applied a thin coat, thin enough so that you couldn’t see any obvious signs of pigment once applied. I left that for 24hrs and gave it a very light sanding and then the second thin coat. As it dries it goes vaguely grey.

@tanneja I went for the DeWalt, corded, can’t remember the exact model. Absolutely brilliant, creates factory style cut edges on pretty much anything you cut, and can be mm perfect, but that’s up to the user. So far I’ve only used DeWalt blades.

+1 to what @jack says. Our track saw has proved invaluable and helped me make silk purses out of sows ears.

@pocster at home the ‘chime’ that is plugged in always goes off a second or so before the phone and the chime is normally a second or so behind the event. When away, phone notifications are normally reliable but probably a good couple of seconds behind the drag curve as far as notification goes but conversations are not a problem. It’s not a 100% hit rate on motion detection, but I think it is on bell presses but of course I could be missing loads and be none the wiser.

Generally yes we can. Occasionally, by the time we get the phone notification of someone at the door, they’re walking away.

We have a Ring doorbell. Subscription is optional and allows you to review captured video yonks afterwards, I don’t recall how long yonks is. If you don’t pay, you can’t. When the building was unoccupied the Ring gave fantastic peace of mind, a proper little CCTV experience, You don’t have to wait for someone to press the bell, we have a footpath running past the property and the Ring ‘wakes up’ and records for a minute every time someone walks past, it also records the audio (yes. I know.) It also picks up the rabbits eating the flowers by the front door. All of these settings can be adjusted.