Ferdinand

Sounds like you need someone with a private explosives licence.

Ideally you want front-vented things. Also those 600x600 porcelain tiles, trimmed slightly. are very useful (and cheap). You need to consider whether you want gloss, matt etc. The last lot I had I used one for a wall-protector behind the hob, one as a floor protector and easi-slide for the fridge, one to turn a previous-built-in-oven-hole into a hot plate standing area, and one for windowsills. They cost £11 each. This sort of slightly lighter grey might work. Glazed porcelain, 600x600, £20 per sqm. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Toronto™-Steel-Glazed-Porcelain---600-x-600mm/p/225446

Remember that you may have separate District and County councillors, and that in a non-unitary area Roads and Public Footpaths etc will be County.

On the 6ft fence, it looks to me as if a 6ft fence reducing visibility on that corner could be a threat to road safety for people / kids coming out of the side-lane. That would be the Highways Dept at the relevant local council (here it would be County not District).

Appliances Direct: up to 40% discounts on a number of freezers, including upright Miele freezers down from £2000+ to around £1200. Refurbed, but look worthwhile. https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/ct/refurbished/refrigeration/freezers I got my Liebherr as an ex-display one from there for £1400 not £2400, and it has been great. F

The other advantage I can see for a chest freezer is that they are significantly less expensive for the same volume of storage - being basically a cool box with a cooling system built in. And a disadvantage is that the shuffling-around-space is insider the freezer for a chest freezer, whilst it is outside the freezer for an upright - so the upright has 100% useable volume vs perhaps 75-80% for a chest freezer.

Not actually entirely convinced - his main distinction is cold air escaping. My upright freezer has solid glass shelves and full depth solid plastic baskets in each shelf. So the air is kept in just like a chest freezer, almost none escaping from the other shelves / baskets. So I can get the benefit of no need to go rummaging and a smaller footprint, with far less sacrifice than suggested. IMO. And I don't - checking the specs - see much difference in energy required between simlilarly sized upright an chest freezers. F

There seem to be a couple of wrinkles in how the baseline against which the reduced usage is compared are generated. Presumably the £3 comes partly from not having to pay a premium to compete for the inflated peak price. Will it also save having to pay money to eg diesel swing resource generators? Have not got my head around that. And do consumers have to be compensated for power cuts? So avoidance thereof saves money.

Two easy ones, that may not meet your need: If you are with Octopus you can download a file with half hourly readings from the website. Or you could put the Smart Display in the outbuilding, and read it directly out there. My Smart Meter display does not take gas readings from the Smart Meter due to the ~15m distance, but I do not especially miss those so it is not a big issue. It does hget the Elec readings, which are more of interest. F

The next one won't use any because solar PV.

I can confirm that the 650g loaf of bread I just made has used about 0.8 kWh of energy to make 🙂.

The short answer is no, we won't run out in any serious way unless it is a 1 in 100,000 case. Our media take a 1 in 100,000 case, and go "this *could* happen to all of you" - Panic. Panic. Panic !!!. That is a problem with an almost universally tabloid and political media. Did the forecast £6500 energy bills happen? All this happened last year. and there were hysterical articles then. Extensive power cuts did not happen then either. Example: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/07/risk-of-uk-power-cuts-this-winter-has-increased-says-national-grid With ref to @Billit's National Grid outlook reports, the Gas ones are here: https://www.nationalgrid.com/gas-transmission/insight-and-innovation/winter--outlook and the Electric ones are here: https://www.nationalgrideso.com/research-publications/winter-outlook It's worth reading one of each at least once to appreciate how they do the modelling. When I looked at the early outlook reports back in August (ish), the risks of cuts were about the same as last year, and it did not happen then. They measure to something like "five times this winter a few people may have short power cuts at peak demand time if it is a really, really cold day". ie Not very likely. Then the media go ape for clicks / attention / to poke the Govt / whatever; just a problem of the UK media. AFAICS the risks are not much different to last year, though supply is perhaps better in that we have much more renewables and interconnectors on stream than last year. Plus our main North Sea Continental Gas field has not been under maintenance this year. In 2022 over 2021 UK domestic oil production is up by 10%, and gas by 50%. See the most recent Energy Trends report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1107461/Energy_Trends_September_2022.pdf Gas demand is down on last year by 5-10%. And we have been happily exporting huge amounts of both gas and elec to the continent to prop up the European Grid throughout the year, because we have 20% of Europe's LNG import facilities, and a whole fleet of CCGT Electricity Stations currently producing Elec for France and the continent. The UK has been a net exporter of electricity this year for the first time since 2010. The shift in terms of trade is around £5-10bn - not small. Plus Rough gas storage came back on line last week at 20% capacity - increasing our storage capacity by 50%. From small to rather less small - but we have domestic production so don't likely need to cover 100% of our usage. So what if Mr Putin sends his subs to wreck all our offshore infrastructure? I'd say we are resilient to interconnectors going off, as we are exporting. And taking all the offshore wind off stream would be quite an ask, but would be more of a potential disruption. So me, I'm fairly relaxed, but I do have a Super SER in the garage. F

I think herb lawns end up taking more effort and maintenance than you would prefer, though Herts sounds possibly quite benign a place to do one. There is a National Trust version of one at Sissinghurst in Kent after the experience of Vita Sackwille-West *. There is an article about it here. They found it tricky and have now replaced with something more like a big stone paving patio with Thyme in the gaps: https://sissinghurstcastle.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/the-thyme-lawns-revisted/ https://www.facebook.com/SissinghurstNT/posts/vita-was-a-great-lover-of-bringing-the-indoors-outdoors-and-her-desire-for-this-/2814891468540481/ Ditto chamomile, aiui. We have one of their two large herb gardens near here at Hardwick Hall which I visit regularly, which is a bit windswept and I have never seen any thoughts of trying one here. My suggestion if you do not want a feature needing maintenance is to consider how green roofs are done, which need to be hard wearing and tolerant, or look for what the dominant creeping plants are on your local soils similar to your potential lawn. F * I do hope Sackville-West was the inspiration for the Sackville-Bagginses in Tolkien. Perhaps as an aristo she was in the habit of stealing spoons. Too young, probably, however.

Heh. Personally I bought a couple of gallons of surgical spirit to clean everything during Covid, and I still have a fair bit left. Technically, Absinthe would do the job 🙂 .

I think this is getting close to an answer. I would make 2 points: 1 - Fit something at the front to prevent cars on their own or drivers with slippy feet-on-pedals entering your lounge window by accident. It needs to be aesthetic and discreet, but strong. Options are something like a lowish fence with strong posts, which would also help with the falls issue depending on the level change, or just posts. I wonder about knee high lighting posts? You need ones that are hoon-proof, and will stop the car. Perhaps the place to look is at attractive products from bollard-suppliers. eg https://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/outdoor/post-bollard-lights.html Or you could do something like a slightly ornamental bike stand so that visitors could lock their bicycle there. 2 - That set of step look to be 1.6-1.8, wide, so their should be space comfortably to incorporate a set of wheel ramps for your bin, and letting you trolley or slide big items into the house. This sort of concept but adapted for your dimensions and style. I think it needs to be at one side, so normal pedestrians have a clear path. You get a bonus wheel ramp for bikes, and potentially wheelchairs and prams and pushchairs if your dimensions and slope are suitable. F

I put it on the bottom half of a kitchen window when there were 2 kitchen windows facing across a path. I used a product by the Rabbitgoo people: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RDVE71W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Up 4 years. OK so far. The important thing is a clean, product-free window (use eg rubbing alcohol as your cleaning agent to remove any detergent etc left). F

I'd get a Statement of Truth from the existing users, dated, documenting their use and the period over which it has been used. Make copies for each user - just to spread it around. That will help if anyone moves away, and you find yourself in need of evidence at a later date. If you wanted to you could even get it notarised inexpensively. You can also play proof games such as getting a sealed copy filed with your solicitor etc. There is also stuff around Mitigation of Obstructions, but that risks becoming a touch confrontational. Can you dismantle the fence without damage, or take the gate of its hinges? This is a good question for the Gardenlaw Forums if you need more. Ferdinand

Does the fan have a backdraft shutter in it? If not you have a hole in your wall, Dear Soapstar, Dear Soapstar ... 😉. Fix is a replacement fan with a backdrafts shutter (from about £30), or even an HR fan - which I think would be justified in a utility. F

You could try putting in an FOI to your Council for records, and that might smoke something out. Or go and visit the Planning File. (WIth adanced earnign and an appointment).

This pole https://cpc.farnell.com/nilfisk/128470040/telescopic-roof-cleaner/dp/SI19150?ost=si19150 and this brush https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001U3X9Q8/

<visits thread out of respect> How goes the DIY plumbing? Do you hate it yet?

Though iirc if it is not part of the original house, you are perhaps more likely to need PP - as I think extensions that poke out both to the side and behind (ie cover the bit that is on the diagonal from the corner) require PP. @DevilDamo may know on that. From what we have on this thread, I think your way to avoid the paperwork costs is to put it behind the main section of your house at dimensions of say 4.7ma cross by 3m front to back. But the paperwork costs may be small enough just to swallow.

Just a check - are you sure it is an extension? The check would be that there are others that are identical, but without the extension. Back then a looks-like-an-extension utility / loo on the side would not be unusual. I suspect that it may not make much difference, though. F

I think you are answered on the PD question. My comment: make sure that your roof form is maintainable, that you can get where you need to get, that the form you chooses takes leaves and muck towards the outside not the inside, and that there are no inaccessible corners that catch material.