And now the fuse is lit...

Now one of my CFLs has failed -though far less spectacularly than KCs did. Which is just as well as it's directly above my bed.

All my similar era incandescents are fine - so much for the botox that CFLs last 15 times longer...

EssexHebridean wrote: »

That's an interesting one on the bulb Z - ours have been changed over gradually over the past 10 years and so far none have blown, while we've replaced the two rarely used remaining incandescents (in the front room with the dimmer switches!) several times in that timescale.

Well reading around the subject, it seems that the closer you are to a sub-station, the higher the voltage and the harsher it is on your lighting - electronically driven stuff being more susceptible than full mains capable stuff. Also it seems that high frequency electronic noise/overvoltages can kill the electronic stuff quite quickly whereas the tungsten response to that can be summed up by the word "meh".

EssexHebridean wrote: »

A lot of our lighting in the new kitchen is LED - fingers crossed that lasts as long as they say it should!

That depends who you've been listening to. The trick people use is to take the reliability of the classic red gallium arsenide LED (which is essential bomb-proof), extrapolate it to all types of LED, then completely ignore the driver circuitry and other bits & bobs and say "Look! It's really reliable!"

How the white ones work is that multiple blue LEDs excite a phosphor (in a manner very similar to fluorescents) which emit the white light you see. The phosphor fades over time. A single LED can fail ("The black dot of death") which usually puts strain on the others, so another will fail. This eventually leads to a slow-motion cascade of failure.

Also, beware of the cheap but dangerous replacements - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keaE7QTKTYE

In terms of which is more reliable - LED, florescent or incandescent. They all last 20 seconds past their warranty - surely you knew that? :rotfl:

EssexHebridean wrote: »

On the power thing - a friend of ours works in the industry - he's been saying for a while that it is *only* by the skin of our teeth that the lights haven't gone out here yet - at least for "planned outages" - frankly it's more by luck than judgement,

And the margins get slimmer every year.

EssexHebridean wrote: »

and the fact that getting people to use less power is actually working (and that's the thing I gather that has surprised the power co's the most).

Well actually people are using slightly more power, but less electricity. Gas is making a comeback - which will cause fun and excitement in its own right.

However have you heard the one about the Government mandating all cars to be electric, and the National Grid stating that sub-stations can only charge 6 cars together at any one time, and that many houses won't be able to do anything at the same time as charging their car? No - not a badly named episode of Friends, neither is it a joke.

But I must admit that when I read it, I laughed, and laughed, and laughed... :rotfl:

Butti wrote: »

So Z if you had a knackered gas fire in a shallow fireplace and you wanted to replace it what would you do?

Well that depends on the context. When you say "shallow" do you mean "front to back"?

If that's what you mean, then I take it there's no back boiler?

Is it used much? What kind of gas fire is it? (living flame/ceramic blocks etc)

Butti wrote: »

It has no back boiler. It's ceramic blocks and when it's not on (the last time was about 18 months ago as it's stopped working! ) there's a draught!

Well the draught is a good sign as it means your chimney (technically flue) is unblocked. Now you're a bit vague about "not working", but assuming the blocks are undamaged, have you thought about just having it repaired? They are pretty simple in design after all, just a gas supply, a valve (or two) and a burner which plays on the blocks.

If that's not possible, I personally, would be looking at the costs of getting a multi-fuel stove - but that's because I really like them.

If it's prohibitive (or you don't like them) then there are outset (sticky out) gas fires available, but they're all "living flame" which are less efficient than the radiant ceramic block ones.

Yes, I know - options not recommendations. But it's difficult without knowing the details or your tastes.

Has anyone had any experience with those electric taps you can get such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rayinblue-Electric-Kitchen-Instant-Heating/dp/B071S16WFF

Are they any good?