Search found 412 matches

by Phileas
24 Feb 2024, 7:54am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Rain and the Sturmey Archer x-fdd hub brake
Replies: 17
Views: 1016

Re: Rain and the Sturmey Archer x-fdd hub brake

I use the same hub and get the same issue. When I set off the next day after a wet commute home, the brake takes a few goes before it works properly.
by Phileas
28 Oct 2023, 3:59pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

rjb wrote: 28 Oct 2023, 3:42pm Ok bigger batteries will be more cost effective but this system will only return approx £5k over 10 years for an upfront cost of £8k and then you will need to replace the costly inverters. Doesn't make economic sense in my view.

And when electric cars become widespread those cheaper overnight tariffs may well disappear making it uneconomic.
I haven’t looked into this myself but it seems like using the stored energy oneself rather than selling it might be more “profitable”?
by Phileas
28 Oct 2023, 3:36pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

I’m not sure where you got your battery cost from but a 10 second Google found a 13.5kWh Givenergy All-in-one battery for just over £8k installed.
https://lr-renewables.co.uk/product/gi ... 66EALw_wcB

…not that making a profit is necessarily the best reason for getting one.
by Phileas
22 Oct 2023, 4:02pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

rjb wrote: 22 Oct 2023, 3:07pm
Phileas wrote: 22 Oct 2023, 2:14pm A heat pump used to charge a suitable heat battery makes perfect sense. 😎
Can't see how you would charge an electric storage heater with a heat pump?
No, because it’s not a “suitable heat battery”. 😊
by Phileas
22 Oct 2023, 2:14pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

A heat pump used to charge a suitable heat battery makes perfect sense. 😎
by Phileas
22 Oct 2023, 12:23pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

rjb wrote: 22 Oct 2023, 12:14pmThe cost of the homely gadget. These come and disappear with regularity looking for susceptible punters.
Can you point me to one of the, presumably many, examples of a device that does the same sort of thing?
by Phileas
22 Oct 2023, 10:38am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

rjb wrote: 22 Oct 2023, 10:04am I'd like to see some definitive peer reviewed tests of these devices to check if the claims can indeed outweigh the costs. :wink:
Note the claim is UP to 25%, so in reality may only be 0.5% which may never recover the initial outlay.
The costs of what, the Homely gadget or the heat pump? I”m assuming the gadget cost is not prohibitive in any significant way.

(We know heat pumps are expensive to install without a grant.)
by Phileas
22 Oct 2023, 9:31am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK energy
Replies: 952
Views: 163892

Re: UK energy

This gadget, https://www.homelyenergy.com/, works with heat pumps and smart tariffs and partly uses the thermal mass of a building as a battery to reduce energy costs:
https://youtu.be/oyQcyXGN_Is?si=flxAWswYxNMRi6FE
https://youtu.be/RjOCzbvSaws?si=rl_XAFNI8Xo8XwNz

(Edit: maybe this would be better off in this thread https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic. ... start=1890)
by Phileas
17 Aug 2023, 5:15pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: TRP Spyre disc brakes
Replies: 23
Views: 1918

Re: TRP Spyre disc brakes

I had those once. They had to be readjusted frequently, not because they were worn but because the adjustment screw became loose and wound itself in. :x

I switched to Avid BB7s.
by Phileas
26 May 2023, 4:59pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Mystery creak
Replies: 29
Views: 1703

Re: Mystery creak

Tcc wrote: 19 May 2023, 11:38am Still trying to fix this!
Not the pedals, greased the dropouts, changed the block, regreased the seatpost!
The noise definitely appears to be from the chainset so I’ll keep investigating
Thanks
Although my seatpost is greased and still creaking, my seat tube has a sleeve in it which will be the focus of my next experiment.
by Phileas
18 May 2023, 6:38pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Mystery creak
Replies: 29
Views: 1703

Re: Mystery creak

I also have a creak that might seem as though it could be from the crank but in fact is seatpost related.

At first thought it couldn’t be because the creak is just as bad when out of the saddle. But I recently raised my Carradice SQR bracket and it got worse which is what made me focus on the seatpost. If I leave the bag off, the creak mostly goes away, so it seems like the swinging weight of the seatpost bag is sufficient.

The creak is also considerably worse when the bike is warm after being in a hot bike shed all day.
by Phileas
9 May 2023, 8:21pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Heat in the home
Replies: 2292
Views: 133288

Re: Heat in the home

Biospace wrote: 9 May 2023, 2:00pm Now we're well into May, I was wondering how many are still having to heat their homes to feel comfortable?
I switched my heating off when May began, which I ritually do.

My boiler is also old, it was in the house when I moved in 16 years ago so I’m assuming 20+ years. I’m about to undertake a diverter valve replacement to fix a longstanding hot water problem, and each winter I wonder if something else will break - I don’t want to spend much money keeping it running.

So I too am thinking about heat pumps. Perhaps the installation costs will come down significantly before I have to make the switch.
by Phileas
23 Apr 2023, 6:56pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Covid Choice
Replies: 53
Views: 2547

Re: Covid Choice

Biospace wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 5:00pmSome existing forms of medicine have existed for thousands of years and prove very successful where modern Western medicine fails.
If a treatment is “proven”, is it not just medicine (i.e.,without a qualifier) or are you saying unorthodox medicine has a method of proof rejected by the West?
by Phileas
23 Apr 2023, 3:48pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Covid Choice
Replies: 53
Views: 2547

Re: Covid Choice

Biospace wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 1:52pm
Phileas wrote: 21 Apr 2023, 4:12pm How would define unorthodox medicine?
That which isn't in the orthodox camp, surely? However, there are many, especially higher up, within the NHS who would be regarded as holding 'unorthodox' views, but orthodox medicine itself shifts considerably so that someone considered as as 'on the fringes' a few decades ago could now be at the core of its thinking.
What I was trying to ascertain was whether you consider unorthodox medicine to be fundamentally different or just an area that requires more research, of the orthodox kind.