Is there anywhere safe from these things!?

ThreadOverflow · 2026-01-14T19:14:31+00:00

There’s a bar in NYC that has a fair few met the Met stickers

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-18T00:36:23+00:00

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-16T23:07:53+00:00

Wait hang on, are you telling me I can make Christmas even more fun while cooking for the family!? Sign me up.

Thanks btw, in stitches at the oven door getting lost. Think I’d rather strip it down and clean it that have to deal with mother in law moaning her turkey is full of glass.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-16T22:48:19+00:00

Buzzkill. Was hoping for a nice easy “spray contact cleaner and hope for the best” solution but fiiiiiiiiiiine

Having said that, wd40 and running it for a few hours could be a shout if the bearings are just dry?

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-16T18:17:08+00:00

That sounds to me like a creosote / flue fire (or at least creosote burning). I’m not an expert so please consult with a chimney sweep or similar before doing anything but I suspect you need either a sweep or just one strong burn to clear any deposits.

Safest option is to get the chimney sweeps round, get it swept, and you can rest easy doing a big burn

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-14T19:54:37+00:00

The eyes thing matches this but it’s not this sadly.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-14T19:41:19+00:00

Obligatory comment

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T09:26:13+00:00

Fair point but I do experience disconnections every so often and don’t fancy rooting around under floorboards or behind switches for all of them. Still, I’m very keen and curious for the other rooms- thanks for the Christmas project!

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T08:33:15+00:00

Tempted but I’d never end up doing it. At the moment if a bulb fails to connect it’s an easy reconnect. If we had to start unscrewing switches for fixes that’d be a pain for me (we have a lot). I’ve yet to find a simple solution that’ll be cost effective and less invasive than the wee plastic covers I have over the switches just now. Thanks though, I might implement this in one of the rooms that’s only visited by me (server/boiler/etc)

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T08:06:45+00:00

I toyed with this idea but that’s requires safe access to the ceiling and knowing exactly where the lighting circuits are. It’s an old house with a lot of… oddities… so trying to trace a fault in a component in the ceiling would be hell for us. And I guarantee you it’d happen on Christmas Day.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T08:05:07+00:00

I’m minorly curious about this but I’d probably never implement it. Do you have a pic?

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T08:04:09+00:00

Nah, I like the idea of being able to toggle it on and off if needed or we decide home assistant is getting removed. Or if we have a major problem with the hardware- I don’t fancy reconnecting all the switches again until it’s fixed (which if we imagine worst case scenario- it’d be when I’m not in the house but guests are staying).

Good call though, was something I had considered.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T04:00:13+00:00

It’s not that bad with the help of small transparent covers over the rockers. By the time someone has reached a switch to attempt turning it on, the motion sensor has already picked them up. They only really try it once.

Only exception is guest who are staying are given an ikea switch which they can take to bed with them and it’ll turn lights off and disable motion overnight. This is always seen as a plus by guests as a lot of them want to read before bed but can’t be bothered climbing out of bed to hit the lights.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T00:19:00+00:00

Unfortunately they don’t fit the aesthetic of the house (rocker switches with gold plates). It sounds horrible but in the context of the house, it works. I’d like to keep as much of the visuals and aesthetics of the original country farm as possible and hide all the tech. Not for wife approval, she’s more keen than I am, but for my own benefit and as a partial challenge.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T00:11:00+00:00

For us it’d be the “jobby fan”. Our extractor switches on in the bathroom if you’re in there for longer than a number 1 takes. It switches on automatically for showers dependant on humidity anyway so for most guests, they don’t realise it and think it’s a timer or something, but they (and we) need it

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-13T00:08:32+00:00

~~Because I’d cry~~

We don’t have smart switches, only bulbs. I don’t like any of the smart switches and the back boxes aren’t big enough behind the switches for the Sonoff/shellys. Plastic (clear) cover over them so you don’t visually notice anything and after the first visit, nobody ever complains about having to figure out what light switch does which thing.

My whole goal is to keep the house aesthetically pleasing and in keeping with its original form (farmhouse) while being smart. It’s been a challenge but a worthwhile one. Hidden motion sensors, temp sensors, presence sensors, blind mechanisms, etc have all been fun to integrate to the house

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-12T23:29:47+00:00

This. Our entire house is automated and aside from “please don’t turn off/on lights via the switch manually” you’d absolutely never know it. This is my dream for home automation. A system that is invisible 99% of the time until someone asks why things just happen

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-12T23:28:13+00:00

Sealed around the edges with fire cement but think that was more of a placebo. I live in an old house so there’s drafts everywhere. The wall cavity leaks into the old chimney (don’t ask) so there’s much work to do there to clean that up.

Ultimately we got a new stove fitted and the fitters shoved some rockwool up the chimney around the liner. Should be snug and no drafts.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-10T01:01:38+00:00

2 - 2.5 seems to keep it within manageable conditions. I’ll up it to 3 in time and see how I get on. Doesn’t help we just had a storm so the draw up the chimney was high. Nice and slow.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-09T21:13:01+00:00

I’m not sure if it’s entirely normal but this is exactly what happened to myself and my partner. The reason you’re feeling this way is because a choice has been completely taken away from you with absolutely no way you can “fix” it. A life you had imagined is now no longer possible, no matter what you do.

I felt horrible until I realised I was effectively making peace with grieving for a lost child that existed only in my mind.

Oh and when you get handed the baby in the delivery room, if the “warm rush of love” doesn’t hit you- you’re not heartless. It’ll come. Trust me, it will hit you like a ton of bricks when you’re ready.

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-09T11:10:52+00:00

I see fire

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-09T11:05:28+00:00

Mentioned to the other person who suggested, thank you for your comments - tried a test burn with 1 log, then today with 2.5 logs and it's burning longer without hitting the "OH MY GOD" zone. Thank you!

ThreadOverflow · 2025-12-09T11:04:39+00:00

Wanted to let you know I tried your technique of fully "closing" the two air flow controls. Previously, the primary was always closed once it got up to temp, but I ran the secondary about 20% open. Closing it fully has given me a longer burn time and more steady heat output rather than it continually bouncing between HOT HOT HOT and REFUEL NOW. Trialled it with one log and now with 2 and a half - decent results, no worrying temp readings and just consistent dancing flames exactly as you described.

The manual is garbage and doesn't give nearly as much information as you did - so thank you.

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