Ferdinand

That's the illustrative graphic from the Octopus website just to help bods here identify the particular display version I have.

Smart Meter installed, and after a couple of days has connected itself to the Octopus electrical service. It turns out that mine is a Chameleon ID3 display unit, and that it displays the amount of electricity going through the meter in both directions - which when exporting gives me the *Net* amount of export. This is on the "Now" screen. (Which means of course that I cannot disaggregate how much my house is actually using). When exporting it displays a symbol of an arrow going into a pylon. There is a chat about the symbol on the Bulb forums here: https://community.bulb.co.uk/t/pylon-symbol-on-smart-meter-monitor/54932 This is the home screen appearance of the IHD3:

I haven't tried anything at all yet 🙃. As I can't find how to do anything in the portal. Digging, there is help in there - but it is aimed at installer / maintainers, not customers. Looking at the SE website, there is a knowledge base. Digging required. https://www.solaredge.com/uk/service/support/system-owner I should confess that I have always been happy just to have the panels working, and that it went off in March 2016.

My pv solar system (Dec 2015) uses Solar Edge units on each panel for optimisation, and Solaredge inverters.. When installed it came with monitoring via the Solar Edge online portal. The company who installed my solar PV got out of it some time ago, and logging back in using the original details I see that monitoring is no0t happenng. Does anyone know if I can get that up and running again, or do I need to switch to a third party type standalone meter? Any similar experiences? Thanks Ferdinand

I don't think it has been mentioned how "ground level" is measured for fence height. There's stuff about measuring from the original ground level, whatever that means, and also how slopes are handled, and also how being next to a building affects it. But for now just be aware of the issue, and only dive into it if you need to.

Smart Meter now connected to the Electricity Data. Still waiting for gas - interestingly gas meter is rather further away. May be more than the nominal 10m - hmmm.

The concept of land use is separate from the concept of land ownership. Often supervening usage rights are held by third parties, such as Govt Departments. For example, in many places the plot boundaries extend up to the middle of the road. So the land under the road is owned by the householder, but the road and the pavement have a supervening right to exist on it as a public use, and you will not get away with fencing in your portion of the road. Similarly for a public footpath across a farmer's field, or a private ROW to access a mid-terrace via the back garden of the end terrace. When I did a PP I proposed a road widening to accommodate a junction, and that required the land between people's fences across the road and the edge of the pavement. There was a great kerfuffle about "butbutbutbutbutthat'smygarden", but it had been "highway land' for at least half a century designated for a future widening of the A38 - which was exactly why the fences were set back a little - and the Highways Department of the CC were able to provide a map. I had a hell of a problem once when the buyer for our family's house of 38 years refused to believe we had a right to drive into our drive because the carriageway had been moved a few feet further away when they built the M1 as it was realigned in 196x. And documentation was light about who owned the bit of land where it had been moved. I think in the present case the Council are going to insist on their amenity land unless you find a loophole that sticks, and have gone quite a long way in allowing even a 1m fence, as the character of the estate is fairly clearly designed to be open and a garden fence will disrupt that. And it is prominent. I would go for a 2m fence around the side of the house to enclose a front to back private footpath, which route I do not think the OP has.

The Smart Meter is in, so the next experiment can begin after it has connected itself. Which trakes 5 minutes to 2 weeks. Allegedly.

If you are well insulated perhaps put them on inside walls - closer together and fewer pipes..

I thought it was a Robot out of Arthur C Clarke...

IMO the biggest error was for the Govt to go for a demand side, not a supply-side, intervention. Free market Tories not transcending their inappropriate for these circs neo-Thatcherite limitations.

I think this one will go away rapidly, since the cause is covering the costs of companies going bust etc, and that is a one-off, and Standing Charges should go back down. The system may be changed, but the current issue is a short-term crisis.

like VED? VED is also a tax - it goes into the general tax pool. The difference between a standing charge and a tax is that the standing charge goes to a company providing an electricity or gas supply, not to the Government into the tax pool. The 'charge on the general industry for industry wide temporary problems' does not make it a tax imo. Which is why I think it is a category error to compare it to a tax.

You could put it on Google Storage, and allow access whilst talking about it, and then remove the access at the end of the chat - just leaving some reflections to keep the thread useful.

I think this will be OK, and @Russell griffiths is being a bit of a Jeremiah 🙂 . Importantly, don't forget your ventilation. and to do things in the right order if you are doing EWI or something sealing the walls. I think you might find that the top end of 2G might do it these days. Worth a look. If IWI-ing, I'm guessing around 75-100mm of celotex is the ballpark, perhaps plus cavity wall insulation. For the suspended floors, one way some people have done it is to seal the void from water and completely fill with polystrene beads. Another is to attach your insulation to the joists, where you need either ventilation to keep them dry, or to guarantee ansence of moisture. When I did a suspended floor, I did rockwool with a staple gun, and celotex on top (new or trimmed doors), then a click-fit laminate on top of that. With services all running in a void in the new subfloor along the inside walls. UFH is possible in a thickness of 18mm using systems such as Wunda. Or oversize rads or use air. https://www.wundagroup.com/underfloor-heating/ As to where you could be getting to, I suggest aiming for current new house building standard as a reasonable target. Detail is everything. ATB.

OK. Playing. Installed the app on the mobile phone. It managed to switch the aircon on with nearly all the settings I wanted (something funny with setting target temp and time duration, which did not make it to the device) at the time I wanted. I'll see if it switches it off in 3 hours. I need to understand how much intelligence is in the app, and how much is in the device, and whether in fact I need a resident iPad or similar to be in the house all the time to control it. Hopeful. Ish.

The gadget I didn't know I needed !!! Thanks! A couple of cautions. 1 - The examples there show things like hanging plants not gates. Are they man enough to support your gates? This one is the biggie imo. 2 - There are other similar things: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Postfix-Slotted-Concrete-Fence-Brackets/dp/B00AD8EVEU https://www.rivelinglenproducts.com/wire-anchor-size-1-132-p.asp 3 - Are your posts actually in already? One other option could be to get your local fencer to make you a couple of posts with holes in (they just put a bit of pipe in the mould). F

You may find that the previous report-writers may update for a lower fee than a whole new one, due to it being a re-edit rather than a new report. Maybe 1/3 less?

I'm partly with you on that one, but the source is always important to know as it affects the content of the case being made. In this piece, for example, they claim that my SC is about 10% higher than is actually the case - 46p vs 42p per day. A problem with tabloid journalism in all of the papers. SC are regulated, and have gone up to cover costs related to companies going bust and increased fixed costs (eg fuel), which are being shared across the county. That also suggests they will go back down in time. The costs will move to somebody else if SC is reduced, which needs to be taken into account. And zero standing charge tariffs have been tried previously, they have not exactly set the market alight. This isn't a tax, though - it is a payment for a service.

Example of an adult cat stuck in a tiny gap between 2 houses: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61810606

A gap that small is a *very* bad idea. It will fill up with gunge with no sensible way of getting it out. How would you deal with a wasps' nest, for example, or an ant hill? Or 2 inches may trap a small animal, such as a teensy cat that falls in. What if it slipped higher up the roof, for example. IMO what you need is to key in to their wall with an agreed roof drainage strategy. I don't envy your conversations with your neighbour. Perhaps try chatting to your local Building Control at the Council - they may talk to you about your issue and have some ideas informally if you are thinking around it. F

Hmmm. 🤔 Daily Mail article using poverty as a reason to support abolition of standing charges. They did not mention that people with empty houses and second home owners will love it - no energy bills at all whilst they are not occupied. Straight abolition is not a subtle enough policy imo.

At this point then, it's get it done PDPDPDQ before someone goes "Hmmmmm. We need advice" in your local Council. F

When I dryline I tend to do it traditionally framed out rather than dot and dab, then I include a membrane to help isolate the insulation from the ventilation, then install some sort of modest forced ventilation.

Not in the area. I normally suggest a local one with more than one branch, and some sort of specialist land expertise so it's available in case you need it. So you get to deal with one experienced person, with backup available. I generally recommend against regional companies big enough to imagine they are in a different league with rates. For a specific recommendation I would ask a Chartered Surveyor or most experienced member of staff in a long-term trusted local EA. That is the middle-aged one in the backroom who looks as if they have been dragged through a hedge backwards, and has their tea out of a chipped cup marked "Lawn Mower Racing Championship 2006. Third place.".