IIRC many years ago the CEGB was thinking about putting fibre optic cable along the earth wire which runs along the "earth wire" which runs between the tops of the large metal transmission towers, to provide a data network for managing the grid switchgear, etc. Don't know if anything came of it.
I presume anyone who moves somewhere like that, doesn't *want* any of the above?
That was how the Energis network (that Demon's local PoPs piggy-backed on) worked, wasn't it?
That isn't necessarily so. We didn't want, and don't have any, neighbours, but the broadband is very useful.
There are people (not Harry particularly) who don't seem to relate watts to money.
A guy I know had 6 x 500W halogen floodlights put up over the front of his shop that were on from dusk to quite late every night. When he was having them fitted I questioned the cost of running 3kW of lighting (and the suitability) for so long every day and he just shrugged.
Then the electric bill came in and replaced the halogen lamps with CFL replacements.
Another guy I know had those little halogen downlighters everywhere and if he turned all the lights on on the ground floor at once it would trip the MCB.
We have had two 6' flouros in the kitchen for the 40 years we have lived here because they work well and are fairly economical to run. Luckily my Mrs is willing / happy to go along with anything that works well and allows us to spend our money on things that are more important to us than how 'good' a light *looks* (rather than functions). ;-)
Cheers, T i m
Is it an earth wire or merely some sort of strain support?
And yes - I remember watching the machine used to wrap the fibre optic round it crawling along the wire. Very clever. Must be something like 20 years ago.
Quite. A (reasonably technical) mate phone me to 'check' how much current a 250W electric towel rail would draw (to know what sort of size wiring he would need).
He had been online to try to check but whatever online calculator he found was asking him for the power factor and of course, that wasn't mentioned (because it wasn't relevant in this case, with the load being purely resistive).
I explained how you would calculate such but I don't suppose for one second he took it in or made a note of it etc?
But as you say I guess 'most / many people' wouldn't correlate say a '3000W kettle' with the size of it's cable, the rating of the fuse in the plug and therefore 'how much electricity it used'.
Them: 'How expensive is my new TV to run ?'
Me: What wattage (maximum) does it say it is and how much are you paying per kWh?
Them: Erm, dunno ... is it more or less than an electric fire ... ?
;-)
But then they are probably the same people who don't realise running aircon, driving with the windows open, having low tyre pressures or having a roof rack on your car would all reduce the mpg.
Cheers, T i m
It is a is an earth/ ground and is positioned at the top mainly to intercept a lighting strike before it reaches one of the circuit conductors.
G.Harman
But then you are going to think, "How much water does this bath take? Would I be better taking a shower? or "Should I flush the toilet if I've just done a wee? Am I going for a wee too often?" Should I say, "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down"?
Ah. The wealth of knowledge some have on here never ceases to surprise. ;-) Thanks.
Now part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs....
I have a septic tank and my own ground drainage. The water comapny tell me that they cannot separate a sewerage charge from the water cost, so I pay t o dispose of your sh8t and still pay for my own as an add on.
Besides, my current water bill is around £140 for the year and I can u se what I like for that.
The Which magazine have recommended that people do not have Smart Meters installed. They gave reasons and I am sure they are good ones.
I will not be installing these meters ( water or electric) any time soon. I am still entitled to an opinion and to express it freely. Its a pity others cannot allow alternative views to be expressed without making non sequitur comments.
Wow! That's cheap. I'm guessing you don't live in the affluent south of England!
Mine is about £300 a year, but when did they split water rates from ju st the rates of a property ?
I dunno, but I thought they used the same figure called 'rateable value'. I don't know what they base water rates on now since the introduction of council tax.
All the water companies can remove the sewerage charge in your situation. It is a perectly standard thing to do.
That is amazingly low.
SteveW
In this area you even pay separate companies to do it - Essex & Suffolk to deliver it, and Anglian to collect it!
yup, paying about £250/year just for delivery (have own drainage)
I thought it always had been - but to me "always" starts in 1977 as that is when I got my first house.
Most household customers who do not have a water meter receive a bill each year that is based on the rateable value of their property.
The rateable value was a local authority?s assessment of the annual rental value of an individual property. Rateable value assessments were last carried out on households between 1973 and 1990.
Rateable values were last updated in 1990 so any changes to your property since then will not be reflected in your rateable value. All properties built since 1990 have a water meter installed
see
We get a discount for not discharging our gutters into the sewer.
Andy
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