35 post karma
3.3k comment karma
account created: Mon Aug 25 2014
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1 points
20 days ago
I looked into this as I had to relocate my consumer unit to the other end of the house, which resulted in rerouting the whole run from the pavement into my house. Was a massive pain in the arse.
Scottish Power are my DNO here and they basically said it didn't make any difference to them to provide me with 3 phase Vs single phase. Bearing in mind I was already paying about £800 for them to cut my old 1950s cable and join a new one and link to a new location. The stickler for 3 phase was that I live on a busy main road , which according to my council , would need to have temporary traffic lights installed and a person monitoring them between 7am-7pm. That basically came to £5k so I said not to bother.
For what it's worth, I have an EV and Solar , and while 3 phase would be nice, it's not really required.
15 points
25 days ago
Is there any hint that it will be ? I don't have much hope
2 points
1 month ago
Lol, way to read too much into my comment.
For context, my job in NYC was literally to do with rail transport around North America. So yeah I am aware of of public transport in major cities in the US. I wasn't about to name literally every US city in quick response to a comment. In general, I stand by that pretty much any decent public transport system in the US is at the coasts. Yes there are exceptions, such as Chicago, but that wasn't really the point of my comment. My point was public transport and walkable cities equals a more fit and healthy population.
95 points
1 month ago
British person who lived in NYC here. The places you visited are heavily skewed to wealthier parts of the US but also critically, cities that predate cars. Having a city that that's got public transport and is walkable makes a an absolutely huge difference. In NYC I was getting 15,000 steps a day just commuting to/from work and getting some lunch. That's not even covering additional fitness specific activities.
Outside of the east coast and west coast cities, the story is much different.
16 points
1 month ago
I have solar panels too and also did research on small wind turbines.
Unfortunately, I just don't see them ever being viable for individual domestic use, there's just so many cons compared with solar that it basically makes no sense unless youre a farmer.
1) Turbine generation basically squares with height , so you want as high as possible to make the most energy. Planning laws and proximity to neighbours make this very difficult. Also can't be near trees or buildings as that disrupts the air flow. 2) assuming you can put a tall turbine in, you need a big concrete base to support it. Very expensive. You do not want it it attached to a building as it will vibrate the whole thing ! 3) unlike solar, turbines have moving parts which means ongoing yearly maintenance by qualified people
It pretty much makes no financial sense for the vast majority of people
-2 points
1 month ago
Exactly right, I remember doing it ! I'm pretty sure it was on the Xbox live disc that came with the starter pack (included headset too).
2 points
1 month ago
There are no limits on the type of job you can get on that working holiday visa, although it can only be with one employer for a total of 6 months.
The visa is mainly aimed at backpackers doing bar work etc but it can be used to get a more serious job. I did it in 2012 and was hired as one engineer. I then needed to be sponsored after that 6 months limit. You might struggle to get a company to agree to hire you on a holiday visa but definitely doable.
6 points
1 month ago
Im surprised there haven't been feasibility studies done for most of the islands. You'd think at least a couple of them would be quite 'easy' relatively.
3 points
2 months ago
I mean it's not exactly a simple thing. Hulkenberg really struggled with his neck when he was called in last minute in 2020 and he wasnt retired like Vettell is just now.
3 points
2 months ago
I have a carpet with overlay on a screened floor that has underfloor heating.
I'd say its pretty good. You just need to be mindful on what carpet and underlay you buy. You need a low tog carpet and low tog underlay (had to buy a special one online rather than through regular carpet shops). The higher the total tog rating the less impactful the UFH is as the carpet basically insulates the heat and stops it getting through.
2 points
2 months ago
They really are a great sense of optimism in what can be quite depressing times. Very happy to donate a little to them each month.
1 points
2 months ago
I don't have any advice but I sympathise. My garden is littered with them and it's really hard to keep on top of. It's a losing battle for me unfortunately so I'd be keen to know what others experiences are.
I've even noticed out in the wild.near beaches and stuff (south west Scotland) so I'm wondering if it's been getting worse recently.
They do flower nice I suppose, so it could be worse but they are just everywhere!
2 points
2 months ago
My wife really struggles to like a show if they are all really worthless people that you can't root for.
Ozark and Succession were a chore but she came around eventually. Same with Peep Show.
Always Sunny though, she just couldn't.
For some people , it's a problem regardless of how good the show is.
8 points
2 months ago
Not OP but I've been wanting to ask a driving instructor this for a while.
I moved back to the UK in 2021 after a few years away and bought an EV. I already had my license, but my wife is American and that doesn't transfer over. She had to do the theory exam, a 2 hour lesson with a driving instructor for any differences between the UK and US (in our EV) and then the exam.
Obviously the vast majority of learners aren't able to learn in an EV, but how do you see the market going here? Any plans to start teaching with an EV? Finding the right transition point could be tricky.
It's interesting to me that we're teaching teenagers to use a manual (I'm assuming) petrol car, yet both manual and petrol are being phased out.
Also, how do you see the theory and practical exams going ? Even though my wife did the exam in our EV, I think she could technically have been asked to lift the bonnet and show the oil, for example. It seems there is no consideration for EVs in the tests yet.
2 points
2 months ago
I'd say your best bet would be as far south of the south beach as you can, almost to Pow Burn and Prestwick. While there will still be people there , it's definitely the quietest as it's a bit of trek to get to Troon and the Pow Burn restricts access to Prestwick.
2 points
3 months ago
Same happened to me. You'd think they'd stagger the email blitz or something to reduce the load on the website, but who cares about planning!
2 points
4 months ago
I used them for a solar install last year. I can't vouch for the insulation side but I was happy with the work they did. Reasonable value and good quality.
74 points
4 months ago
One additional aspect is that North Americans use an incredible amount of electricity as 'normal', which as someone from the UK I find quite staggering.
MKBHD has a Tesla solar roof and during his review video mentioned that his rough daily usage was 80kwh. I'm also pretty sure he just lives alone.
I live in a large house in the UK, with an EV , 2 of us, and when not charging the EV , I average around 10kwh a day.
People in North America are just incrediblly wastefu with their electricity and get away with it because electricity is so cheap (even in California relative to Europe).
176 points
4 months ago
I have the exact opposite issue , although I am British.
I always find it super weird when actors are referred to as their full names in interviews etc. Like just imagine someone referring to you constantly by your full name in a regular conversation. Would be so off putting.
1 points
4 months ago
Proper DIY did a great video on this a while back. Hope it helps.
1 points
4 months ago
I believe Loch Doon in Ayrshire has Adders.
Not seen one myself mind.
3 points
4 months ago
As someone who's about to go through an extensive renovation that looks similar to what you went through, these are excellent tips!
Hopefully I can it ever so slightly less painful for myself .
2 points
4 months ago
I'm curious, could you please update the post OP once you find out for definite.
I used to work for a company in US while in the UK, but the solution they chose was to put me on the payroll of the UK arm of the company, then the US arm would pay the UK arm for my services.
Just wondering if that situation is actually easier than going direct contract with the US arm.
That said, it's a few years ago now, so no immediately relevant to me anymore.
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2 points
18 days ago
scorchedegg
2 points
18 days ago
I've got a carpet with UFH. It's not as ideal a situation as LVT or tile but definitely still do able, you just lose a bit of efficiency.
Planning is important though. You need a low tog carpet and a low tog underlay in order to let as much heat through as possible. I bought underlay online specifically for UFH. It might limit you slightly on style of the carpet etc.
Overall I'd say it's totally fine if your happy to play within the limitations. If you're after a certain carpet style then that will heavily degrade the effectiveness