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Apart from one small rug, the only wool in our house is in my wardrobe: suits and merino jumpers, merino base layer and woollen socks. Almost half the year we have to ventilate the place with open windows. Lights at night attract moths. Is there a way to co-exist with them without sacrificing my clothes? I keep my merino in plastic bags and try to keep my suits in plastic suit bags, but it’s not always possible. A family member had his wardrobe built out of cedar wood but it’s too late for us, we went with Ikea. We’re have little balls of CEdar wood in our wardrobes, and try to top them up with cedar wood oil every 4 months or so, but it’s not full proof. Anyone got any good tricks to deal with these (expletive deleted)ers?

Horses for courses. Sometimes zoning can be very useful, particularly in a house as big as the OP’s where usage patterns for different rooms might be very different.

I wouldn’t go too thick with the slab. Anything thicker than about 100mm or 120mm will have a very poor response time. It will take you 3hr or between switching the UFH on and feeling the warmth. Although if It’sa heat pump system, maybe your plan is to run it almost all day at a low temp.

Oh no, that looks virtually identical to my side gate, save that mine is made by another manufacturer.

My plan is that the lockbox will be the final “envelope” in a series of envelopes. Some of which are lockable, others are hidden.

Was about to buy this Master Lock lock box from Screwfix which is generally well reviewed, both on screwfix and Amazon, until I saw that one reviewer on screwfix had given it a 1 out 5 score because he was able to pick the lock quite easily. For a tenner more, Screwfix also sell a “reinforced” version, which has some sort of French certification that it complies with a security standard there, but this still isn’t equivalent to “police approved” over here. The reinforced version also had a couple of shockingly bad reviews, despite most reviews being positive. The lock box is going to be well hidden, so I may be overthinking this, as to get to the lockbox, one has to know where to lock AND get past a security gate which either requires knowing the combination for that gate, or climbing over it, but… anyone have any recommendations for better lockboxes that cost less than £40?

They are not. I’m not sure I fully understand the benefit of rechargeable batteries, vs taking disposable ones to a battery recycling centre. But this may be because I be used to use rechargeable batteries a lot in the 1990s and didn’t think they were very good. Have things improved considerably since then?

I understand that Energizer Lithium batteries last 40% to 50% longer than their top range Energizer alkaline batteries and wondered whether anybody had real world experience of lithium AAA? At three times the cost, I am not considering using them for most of my needs, but there is one tado thermostat which unlike the others I have is in an awkward location to change. Anyone have real world experience of Lithium AAA?

At least you have a cavity.

Trying to find affordable ways of cooling our sleep environment. Somebody suggested bedding made from Tencel Lyocell, which is a type of fabric made from cellulose fibre and eucalyptus I think. According to Google: There are many types of lyocell, but TENCEL™ lyocell tops as one of the most innovative types of lyocell. TENCEL is 70% more moisture-wicking and 3x more breathable than cotton, making it a worthwhile bedding upgrade. Anyone think this might be hogwash? Having said that, M and S sell bedding made out of this stuff, so maybe it’s reputable. Another retailer is promoting the virtues of “Q-Max 0.43 Japanese cooling fibre, which works to reduce skin temperature by two to five degrees almost instantly for quick cooling comfort” but I cannot find much online about what this material is.

You could buy it in 5 or so separate orders, to keep it under the £135 threshold. Might need to do it gradually, and possibly to different addresses to avoid triggering some flag.

Yeah, I should have done this. I just assumed all microwaves would have a quick start button. The three I’ve used in the 25 years prior to this one all did. oh well.

Very impressive @saveasteading. Well done.

@S2D2 I’m jealous. The controls on the zanussi are just so stupid. First you select the microwave function, then you select the microwave power with a dial, then you press another button so that the same dial will adjust a timer, then you turn that dial to choose your time, then you press start. Five steps when most microwaves just have a single button which will give you a quick start and go up in sensible increments. Oh, and there is no turntable.

Are you referring to a mis-selling claim brought by investors against stock brokers? If so, that is totally different to the claims I had in mind, which were claims brought by investors directly against RBS and (in some cases) RBS’s directors, in both cases under section 90 of the Financisl Services and Markets Act 2000.

I don’t understand this. Why can’t you operate the Veluxes remotely? Aren’t they Velux Integra?

Are your blinds internal or external? If external, they should block out 100% of the solar gain.

Sounds very well thought out. Have you thought about dangling a really long pendant from the apex of the void/vaulted ceiling down to about 60cm above the dining table?

What is the sequence of steps you need to take to microwave something on, say, 800W for 15 seconds?

Are you sure about this? My understanding is that all cases were settled by 2021.

Plus 1. Though I wouldn’t worry too much about bulb changes, just buy very high quality LED light bulbs. These should last a minimum of 30,000 hours, but some brands state up to 75,000 or even 100,000 hours.

In our previous place we had zannussi oven, washing machine and dryer. All worked fine. Hence considered and stuck with them for these purchases. They were competitively priced for the regular oven and warning drawer, and okay priced for the combi oven microwave, but Ghosh how I wish we had bought something else. The microwave controls are simply infuriating, and after living in a rental place that has an entry level Bosch oven which pre-heated in a fraction of the time our zanussi one does, I wish we had just gone with Bosch. Stupidly, the reason we avoided Bosch on this occasion was that couldn’t find an affordable range that was all black, and for aesthetic reasons we wanted that.

https://www.current-news.co.uk/mcs-express-concern-as-octopus-drops-accreditation-requirement-from-smart-export-guarantee/

No, unfortunately. Looked into it at the time, including by contacting the contractors approved by a Mayor of London subsidised scheme. Was an absolute ripoff. This was back in 2019, before prices went crazy.

Not sure about annual, but taking an average of the two coldest months last winter and two warmest months this summer, we used: in winter: 475kwh of electricity per month; and 2700kwh of gas per month. in summer: 440kwh of electricity per month 490kwh of gas per month We cook only with electric, but we heat our HW with gas, so that explains the minimal fluctuations in electricity. I’m sure I’ve mistyped the SI unit, so no doubt @SteamyTea will correct that.