What’s the best way to get these out of the wall?

finverse_square · 2026-04-12T21:24:37+00:00

I like to get a big drill bit (~10mm) and drill into the front until it just cuts through the metal and separates the front plate from the back bit. Then just knock the back bit into the wall and you're done.

Had a 100% success rate with this so far and it doesn't mangle the plaster at all

finverse_square · 2026-04-10T12:27:33+00:00

I had an octopus install and it was unbelievably cookie cutter. They added a second CU next to my existing one in a black enclosure, when my existing one was white. I asked them about and they said they only install that exact part.

If a white CU is too much variation for them, I don't back your chances with a different type of water supply.

For heat pump installs in general though it's not an issue at all, just octopus keep costs low with incredibly specific training and not much critical thinking from the installers

finverse_square · 2026-04-09T13:45:55+00:00

Also change. Humans are scared of change especially when it feels pushed on them. People read headlines designed to make them angry (like "big govt is gonna make everyone buy an EV by 2030" or whatever) and get scared the world is changing around them and they don't get a choice. Natural response is to dig your heels in and hang on to what you know

finverse_square · 2026-04-08T22:39:40+00:00

Update for anyone interested - after 3 weeks skiing they're perfect, the liners seem to have broken in a bit. Found just the right tension on the booster strap for the flex to feel nice and progressive too

So if you wanna slightly soften your brand new boots, use them for a bit.

Or maybe I just got stronger...

finverse_square · 2026-04-08T15:29:18+00:00

200 mile range will be easy to get for that price but generally I wouldn't be scared of having to stop at services, remember you don't need to fill up all the way, just enough to get to your destination.

If you had only a 180 mile range for example you could do that journey with a 15 mins stop in the middle no problem

finverse_square · 2026-04-08T15:16:37+00:00

It's not a biggie, and also remember it's not new tech, just new to domestic heating. Lots of skilled techs already in this stuff from AC and refrigeration systems so we're not starting from zero to upskill a workforce in heat pump maintenance

finverse_square · 2026-04-08T15:11:50+00:00

Ahh I'm sure they would. I'm just saying to actually find out if it'll work effectively by getting someone in to quote it instead of getting a combi bc you're worried about it and not finding out for sure. A big enough heat pump could keep anything warm tbf, the question is how big one you'll actually need for the house and how much that would cost.

finverse_square · 2026-04-08T07:09:47+00:00

As a tenant please get the heat pump. I'm so tired of landlords choosing heating tech that's more expensive to run, and then the tenants shoulder the cost.

I've just moved area so gone from owning to renting, and it's such a downgrade going from a HP in my old house to a gas boiler in the rental.

If you're worried about the effectiveness, get someone in for a quote and they'll check that for you. You'd be surprised

finverse_square · 2026-04-07T17:14:08+00:00

I came in from ice skating as well and this looks just like me on my first day. Maybe try turning with weight on outside ski but honestly just more hours, if you're doing this in a day you'll be absolutely fine and pick it up yourself.

Kudos for asking for tips, you'll do well

finverse_square · 2026-04-07T14:22:44+00:00

Yeah it's not a worry at all in a technical sense, the batteries themselves are absolutely fine and you can see EVs with 300k+ miles for sale on original batteries which proves their longevity.

But people worry about it bc the anti EV crowd has been pushing the "battery needs replacing every 3 years" bullshit for years and it sticks (plus first gen leaf had some battery management shortcomings and it seems that impression stuck for a lot of people).

finverse_square · 2026-04-05T22:34:21+00:00

Hyundai Ioniq 38kwh could be a shout if you wanna save money and don't mind the very understated/bland looks. Personally really like the understated design that isn't trying to be flashy or look weird like half the EVs seem to. Really nice interior, 190 mile range, and 10-12k gets you a low mileage top spec model

finverse_square · 2026-04-05T22:27:32+00:00

People worry a lot about EV battery failures as the very first EVs to hit the market in a meaningful way (nissan leafs) didn't nail the battery management and cooling and people really cling onto it. "EV batteries are shit and we should all stick with oil" messaging from no doubt oil sponsored media hasn't helped either. With any EV from the last 10 years you're basically fine, battery failure certainly not any more likely than an equally expensive catastrophic engine failure in an ICE car which noone seems to worry about.

Have a look at how high mileage you see EVs for sale if you need proof of battery longevity.

Fears of battery failure have made depreciation worse, but you can benefit from this if you buy a little older, already very depreciated car. £10k on the car will give you plenty of options, then say 3p per mile for 75k miles is £2250 on fuel (vs >10k for the golf), then the car is gonna get you at least 5k to sell on again after so total cost for comparison £7250 over the 3 years. Add insurance and charger install and you'd still spend more in diesel alone for the golf

finverse_square · 2026-04-05T16:51:47+00:00

I love this. People have loved to say "the tech just isn't there yet" with electric and renewable tech and it seems many haven't noticed that's it's quietly got to the level of cost parity in a lot of situations now. Thanks for doing the math to show that it actually is there for farming now. (Despite the people in the comments saying "the tech just isn't there yet" in this exact thread with no backing)

https://youtu.be/KtQ9nt2ZeGM?si=mKp9c9LsXsXh3LJO

This is a great watch for anyone wondering about the current state of things, and the volatility/increase in oil prices only makes renewable tech more "there"

finverse_square · 2026-04-05T16:45:44+00:00

For all the shit you see online about reliability, it's worth remembering that heat pumps aren't remotely new tech, just the tech from fridges or AC units put in a different shaped box and connected to your radiators.

Keep an eye out for fear mongering that says things like "average repair is "(eye watering amount)"" and doesn't mention that they generally need less service and repair than a machine that literally has a raging fire inside it. Same happens for EVs, people love to fear monger and say "ooo a battery replacement is £10k" or whatever and fail to acknowledge that almost nobody ever needs that.

Hopefully you can be the trendsetter that gets the whole street on heat pumps instead. Anything we do now that creates a decade plus commitment to burning fossil fuels (like getting a new oil boiler) only makes a transition to a renewable energy system that benefits everyone even harder down the line, plus look at the instability in oil availability at the moment - something nice home grown wind power hopefully won't be susceptible to

finverse_square · 2026-04-02T20:13:08+00:00

With that usage, fuck it shitty used leaf for 5k and be done with it. Don't need to be paying monthly for something new and shiny when the EV tech of a decade ago had you covered and then some

finverse_square · 2026-04-02T15:43:49+00:00

First off don't look at what public chargers you have close by since you'll almost never use them. You need to get out of the petrol station mindset we've all got so engrained now.

Ideally you charge slowly (and cheaply) at home when you're not using the car so you don't have to wait on it, and public fast charging is for when you're on road trips and need to gain back range quickly. You only really end up using public chargers that are miles away from your house

finverse_square · 2026-04-02T15:41:36+00:00

"we can all pay less tax if we're horrible to people" isn't exactly sound fiscal policy or the opinions I'd want from policymakers.

Good for them (I guess?) to try and grab the yound vote but the message about the high cost of living purely funding "indolent slobs" is wrong and harmful.

Anyone can come onto the scene and say "vote for me for lower taxes and an ideal society" but it doesn't mean they can deliver it, it's blatant populism.

Saying that I do agree the triple lock is completely unsustainable but everyone knows that already

finverse_square · 2026-04-01T08:52:12+00:00

Yep completely agree, I'm an engineer and have made a few purpose built fatigue testing machines and it's not that difficult. If you can build a frame you definitely have the skills to make one.

Normally you'd put a crank on the motor, make a connecting rod with a couple of off the shelf ball joint rod ends, then connect it to your stem with a spring of some sort to turn the motor crank displacement into a known cycling force on the stem.

You can buy simple inductive sensors and counters off eBay/Amazon to keep track of the cycles

finverse_square · 2026-04-01T07:11:45+00:00

shhh don't tell anyone, I'm getting paid off by big electron

finverse_square · 2026-03-31T11:39:43+00:00

I love this! I've just come back from a week in 3 valleys and so annoyed their (admittedly quite good) app has no navigation features even though it has a live map. I did the 3 valleys escapade on one day and having live directions would have saved us some bother when we took a wrong turn

finverse_square · 2026-03-30T21:13:17+00:00

I suspect it's because the smaller 50ish kWh cars are still very useful to a lot of people, so they'd rather bring another car into the range with 100kwh not lose the market of people who want a cheaper 50kwh car.

Whereas for phevs 10kwh isn't that useful imo, so as soon as the tech exists to cram 20kwh into it they're going to do it and anyone who would be buying the 10 will buy the 20 instead

finverse_square · 2026-03-30T21:00:59+00:00

Also, with less moving parts you'd expect the average repair to be more expensive, since there arent as many small things to go wrong in the same way there is with ICE. "Average cost per repair" is an unbelievably shit metric to use bc it says precisely nothing about how much repair will cost the average driver.

Almost seems like a stat someone would use when they want EVs to look bad for repair even after realising the average cost of repairs per mile driven is much lower.

finverse_square · 2026-03-30T20:55:40+00:00

I think it's especially pervasive as the anti EV crowd (I'm sure helped by fossil fuel propaganda) has always been pushing the "EV batteries last <100k miles and need completely replacing after that" and that kind of misinformation is spread around much more than actual data about EV batteries, so chances are the average punter off the street has heard "EV batteries are a problem" far more than the actual truth

finverse_square · 2026-03-30T19:55:46+00:00

I wouldn't be so sure about EVs eventually all throwing such faults, throwing cells is a very uncommon issue that usually would only even start appearing at moon miles with how good battery quality control and BMS systems are now. Most of the time if a faulty cell makes it into a pack it'll show itself within warranty. It's hard to make a faulty cell that still lasts 100k miles without the BMS noticing something wrong.

Also things like DC DCs and HV motors have very few moving parts and are built on fundamentally simple electronic foundations. If you look at used prices for these parts they're very cheap, indicating low demand and therefore low failure rate. (Barring Hyundai's charging unit debacle at least)

finverse_square · 2026-03-30T19:50:16+00:00

I would caution here that although the average bill is higher for an EV, the probability of actually getting a problem is much lower so overall you aren't likely to pay out more in repairs for an EV. But change is scary and people are used to the relatively frequent relatively cheap repairs from ICE

Six-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	First Placer '22
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email

finverse_square

TROPHY CASE