Mattg4321

I often use Integral Led. Also Osram, Sylvania, Bell, Phillips. None of them are totally bulletproof. The integrated lamps are more reliable and efficient (but of course you can’t change them easily as an end user/obtain direct replacements sometimes in years to come). They’re cheap enough not to worry about it though, most last years.

Rhymes with… c…

I generally steer clear of LAP. It rhymes with a good description of its quality. GU10 lamps are meant to be quite good, and I’ve heard that from a few sources. Integrated downlights - not good. Switches and sockets are comically bad.

The expensive ones are no better than the good quality ‘cheaper’ ones. No need to spend more than £2-3

It would be unusual not to have a valve at the meter in the pavement. Have you got a picture?

*IET If you decide not to follow the recommendations of the relevant British Standard (In this case BS7671) regulations, then you better have a very good reason should you end up in court.

Govt website lists the official guidelines https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-refunds-for-new-builds-if-youre-a-diy-housebuilder#goods-you-can-or-cannot-claim-for

Been bailing Scotland out since 1707! Even with the oil money Scotland deficit is very large. We could stop the debate here though if Scorland continue to send us the electricity in exchange for the money 😁

Reform the Barnett formula so citizens of Scotland get the same spend as England/Wales and you can have it!

Tell the sparks he’ll be running his cables from above. Ridiculous idea to put them in the screed when not absolutely necessary

Much better installing a duct with a rope through.

It appears ‘somebody’ put pressure on octopus. I wonder who. Hopefully an incoming government will use the opportunity to distance themselves from the previous administration and pull the rug from under the MCS parasites.

But the scam that is MCS still has to be complied with to get SEG payments. As a sparks, the amount of absolutely shocking PV installs I see is frustrating. It’s not cost effective for me to go MCS for a few systems a year, however I’m just about to fit my own system (which will actually be done properly, unlike most MCS installs!), which I won’t be able to get SEG payments for. Ridiculous.

Also worth looking at DIY Kitchens. Better quality than Howdens imo, having DIY fitted both. The only downside being the delivery can be a bit of aggro. They’re usually cheaper than Howdens though.

I don’t want to do that either!!

I can’t be doing with changing batteries all the time personally

You’ll need to ask the suppliers/installers of whatever blind you go for. Imagine it will need power inside the window recess, probably at one end or the other. I’m thinking of using the below when we do our extension, but not got round to looking into it properly, so please update the thread if you do the legwork for me!!! https://www.poweredblinds.co.uk/electric-roller-blinds/serene-electric-roller-blinds/

You’ll want 2x flexis right the way up into each socket if you’re doing it that way. Make sure you can actually pull the cable through it though. Mostly that stuff isn’t smooth on the inside and can be a pig to pull cables through more than a few meters. If you’re going to all that trouble though you may as well just 1st fix the ring entirely, cables and all.

In an ideal world don’t run the cables through the floor void where they are more susceptible to rodent damage and damp. Drop them down from the ceiling void above if that’s an option? Easier than messing around with flexicon

He’s correct in that it’s against the regulations. However in practice it’s unlikely to cause a problem at a domestic level with relatively low currents. You’ve also got issues there with basic insulation of the meter tails being visible and cable thus not mechanically protected. The meter tails are not properly supported and also quite likely IP rating to top surface of consumer unit not to IP4X. Nothing major, and all could be argued C2 or C3 depending on exact circumstances. It might just be worth getting someone to tidy them up - doesn’t have to be original inspector, you just append the invoice\certificate for the work to the original EICR to show the remedials have been carried out.

As far as I know it’s not mentioned in BPG4. Might be hard to change someone’s mind on this though as it’s ultimately the inspectors opinion. https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/media/2depcuen/best-practice-guide-4-issue-6.pdf

Eddy currents maybe? That being the case though a C3 seems more reasonable if no ill effects are observed and it’s been in service for that long.

If steel conduit then no because of risk of eddy currents. If plastic then I don’t see what the conduit is offering. Can you run in SWA as it sounds like meter tails are not ideal here?

Careful or you’ll have the net zero stasi after you!! Think what this shows more than anything is the heat source isn’t really that important from a cost point of view certainly. What is extremely important is insulation and air tightness.

The whole thing looks like a shambles to be fair. Need to get hold of a good electrician to come and give you some advice. Seems like the last few haven’t been very good, including the PV installers shoehorning a Crabtree MCB into an M2 board. OT slightly, but why are solar installers nearly always so bad? MCS scheme is a total mess imo.