Simple living in the country - back to basics

starnac

Oof don't look when you put the kettle on!! The spike we get from kettle usage from the solar panels is unreal. I literally got a thermos flask for my birthday after having them fitted so that I only boil the kettle infrequently but can still have a cuppa whenever  

Glad it was an easy job and that he got lost giving you time to get dressed. 

themadvix

Yes, the kettle and the electric shower are the only things that we can’t cover entirely with the battery and the panels even at midday on a sunny day (obviously depends on battery size and panels).

beanielou

Yah to it being done.

EssexHebridean

I flipping well love my IHD - and I've been surprised how engaged MrEH has been by it too. I'd have gone the smart meter route years ago through choice - but with us being on economy 7 in the flat, and always having tended to be with smaller suppliers, I was just a little twitchy about the idea of getting SMs installed and then getting transferred to British Gas if a supplier failed - as BG are known to not be able to cope with E7 through smart meters...I decided that discretion was the better part of valour on this one! of course now we're in the house that just had smart meters already - hurrah! MrEH was always a bit of a smart meter sceptic, not in a "but they'll fry your brain" sort of way, just in a slightly suspicious "but they can use them to charge you more when you want to use the power" sort of way - which is technically true, but can also be offset in various ways. I was quite pleased that he just accepted the idea of them being there, and has started to ask questions about use, take notice of what makes the little orange light come on, and that sort of thing. 

If you really want a chance to get geeky with the data, then have a look at the Loop app - also Bright, but I've found loop better so far. Really lets you dig deep, and also lets you do things like a solar comparison so you can evaluate whether a solar installation would be worthwhile for you, or not. Fascinating stuff! 

badmemory

I don't think the real problems with smart meters will happen until almost everyone has one.  Most of the current problems seem to be with the complete uselessness of the suppliers to deal with even the slightest issue as in general incompetence.  So nothing new there then.  I find it interesting that few complained about the competence of the cheap suppliers, which is one (only one obviously) of the reasons people moved to them, me included.  I got so sick of dodgy bills I moved, I probably wouldn't have without that.  I really miss - put readings in an hour later at most, your bill is ready.

Cheery_Daff

Thanks folks 😊 I've downloaded loop this morning 😁 Used 63p of electric so far apparently - there's just me here, had the kettle and microwave on a bit, and a shower, and I've got the dehumidifier on upstairs at the minute too, and laptop and extra screen. Really interested to see how it pans out - proper vexed that we don't have mains gas 😂 We did have a smart meter at the old house, but the in home display was very un fancy and hard to understand and got shoved in a drawer. This one is very clear - a green orange red scale at one side with cost per hour at current rate, and today's accumulated rate on the other side.

Mr Cheery was turning lights off before he went out too 😂

3.5 hours of meetings done this afternoon - all cheerful, and the final one especially reassuring after last week's difficult situation. Not going to go into more detail, but feeling much more that, while there is stuff to learn, it wasn't that I did anything hugely wrong. 

Anyway. Lots to do before I finish, and then we're going to have a nice hanging out evening tonight - no plans, no chores, just a nice tea and maybe a film 😊

Cheery_Daff

Oh! And I did download the Loop app - it's not collecting data yet. It's let me set up the solar simulation thing though, which is interesting - partly because I'd mostly been assuming we wouldn't be allowed, being in a national park, but the house it landed on as our postcode it seems does actually have solar panels 😂 (well, hard to tell exactly from Google maps, but at first glance I assumed it was our house but with panels superimposed on 😂😂). We have a large south facing roof so ideal - it faces a footpath, but theirs faces a road, so...

Anyway, that's a long way off - not in a position to be affording that right now, and I suspect they'd have extra requirements in terms of insulation etc, we'll see. 

Right, more tea!

EssexHebridean

One of the thigs we have started doing in the house is checking on the installed lightbulbs to make sure we've not got any higher power ones about. Need to get on with doing some more of that come to think of it as the evenings are starting to draw in now. No question - it definitely makes you think! 

I won't dwell on your situation, but bear in mid that sometimes people are looking for an excuse to be upset by something, and so will blow something seemingly very small out of all proportion. A very close friend did exactly that to me a good many years ago now - and when I say "close" I mean they were a witness at our wedding - that sort of close. I was shocked rigid - as the thing I'd apparently done not only felt insignificant to me, but pretty much all our mutual friends agreed that it was tiny, and at most should have merited a "I'd sooner you didn't do that again please". Instead it was blown in to a "never darken my door again" reaction - and it took me literally years to understand that it was about her, and where she was at in her life - rather than about me or anything I'd done in reality. At the time I emailed her calmly, letting her know some circumstances in the background that she was unaware of, apologising for having upset her, and saying that I hoped we could move on, but I'd understand if not. I never heard another word from her. It sounds like you've done something broadly similar, so you can be reassured that you've done the right thing, and you know there was no malice intended in the original incident. Hopefully those factors will let you move on and put it to one side.  xx

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, how awful, that sounds like a rotten situation to be in with a friend. At least this was someone I'd not met before. Very unsettling indeed. But thank you for sharing x

Pretty sure we're all LED bulbs here but who knows what we'll uncover! I suspect turning the oven on will be a revelation...

LadyWithAPlan

EssexHebridean said:

I won't dwell on your situation, but bear in mid that sometimes people are looking for an excuse to be upset by something, and so will blow something seemingly very small out of all proportion. A very close friend did exactly that to me a good many years ago now - and when I say "close" I mean they were a witness at our wedding - that sort of close. I was shocked rigid - as the thing I'd apparently done not only felt insignificant to me, but pretty much all our mutual friends agreed that it was tiny, and at most should have merited a "I'd sooner you didn't do that again please". Instead it was blown in to a "never darken my door again" reaction - and it took me literally years to understand that it was about her, and where she was at in her life - rather than about me or anything I'd done in reality. At the time I emailed her calmly, letting her know some circumstances in the background that she was unaware of, apologising for having upset her, and saying that I hoped we could move on, but I'd understand if not. I never heard another word from her. It sounds like you've done something broadly similar, so you can be reassured that you've done the right thing, and you know there was no malice intended in the original incident. Hopefully those factors will let you move on and put it to one side.  xx

A lot of truth in these words.... sorry you went through it and Cheery but people have a whole host of baggage that sometimes lead them to react in ways that you can never understand