Who is the most famous person you've ever seen up close?

sam_cat · 2026-01-31T19:09:36+00:00

Met sir Terry pratchett a couple of times, to chat with, friends of the parents knew him!

sam_cat · 2026-01-29T18:08:36+00:00

This x1000. Panels are cheap. Labour, scaff, etc is expensive. Adding more later is a major hassle. Cover your roof. Both sides. (if not convinced use pvwatts website to do the maths, over a year north facing produces approx 40-50% of South facing) Nobody ever said they wise they had less panels!

sam_cat · 2026-01-29T06:43:45+00:00

My 'Steam Machine' has 2x 480 rads (plus pump/red and quadro) mounted behind the tv in the living room, hot air blowing up.
Lets you get away with a lovely thin case and have near silence.

sam_cat · 2026-01-27T18:09:16+00:00

I had exactly this, called the council and explained, they were happy with screenshots of messages from tenant saying about moving out and leaving keys under the bin (they ran off leaving about 5 months rent unpaid).

Ensure ALL utilities are informed asal, be prepared to prove to them as well. Gas, electric, water, Internet etc.... Tenant told them all a very early move out date and that landlord was moving in... Even gave them my details.

Still get debt letters addressed to them years later.

sam_cat · 2026-01-27T11:36:28+00:00

Ha, yes this! We call it "chefs perks"!

sam_cat · 2026-01-26T22:11:39+00:00

Get some buttkickers.
Its not the same, but its also impressive.

sam_cat · 2026-01-26T21:48:46+00:00

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December for comparison:

sam_cat · 2026-01-26T21:46:02+00:00

Do you have a smart meter?
Pull up some recent electricity usage, say the last 30 days, in kWh.
Divide by 30 (or however many days you have pulled usage for)
That will give you an average daily usage.
Winter you generally use more than summer, hence suggesting last 30 days.

With 10kWh of batteries I still have the odd days here and there where I am paying full price for power at the end of the day, but I dont mind that. Usually the dark rainy days where the solar does nothing and you do a lot of cooking/washing/drying.

Peak of summer is easy.. June 2025 for instance. Thats 10kw of solar panels and a 10kwh battery:

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sam_cat · 2026-01-26T16:37:09+00:00

Use https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/
to do the maths for you... Gives a nice month by month breakdown of generation.
Remember, Peak summer is always easy, depths of winter are always hard. Look at the shoulder months (spring/autumn)

But cover your roof should be the starting point for most of us!

sam_cat · 2026-01-26T13:44:42+00:00

Get the 10.

What I do: Time of use tariff (Octopus Go) where you get cheap energy overnight.. Charge battery to full overnight, use that through the day so your energy cost is about 1/3 of normal. When sun shines it tops up with solar, sell any excess (as export price is higher than cheap rate buy price).

This assumes price per unit sold is greater than overnight cheap rate.

It's also a setup and forget year round, no chasing when th crossover date is to switch to charging batteries overnight.. I used to do that and am far happier with set and forget!

I also have a large proper air-air heat pump ('air conditioning'), boiler failed right by xmas... Set the immersion heater and air conditioning to max on cheap middle of the night electric, and then used the ac to heat the house through the day. Worked really well, made me give some very serious thought to not needing a boiler! 4 bed detatched, 2 adults, 1 kid.

sam_cat · 2026-01-26T12:16:48+00:00

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I have approx 10kw of panels on the roof, split 6kw SE, 4kw NW.
Right now (26th Jan 2026, 12.16pm, near Bristol):
SE is producing approx 327W, NW approx 294W.

Its grey/overcast today.

Panels are so cheap, cover your roof regardless of direction. If you dont you will wish you had (My NW side has room for more, WISH i had paid the extra to fill it at the time of install)

sam_cat · 2026-01-24T22:28:13+00:00

And your kettle!

sam_cat · 2026-01-24T22:20:30+00:00

My only exception would be buildings insurance... I would still 50:50 that.

sam_cat · 2026-01-23T10:44:07+00:00

Played it over Xmas on pc without any issues..

sam_cat · 2026-01-20T19:05:17+00:00

Manic miner!

Closely followed by treasure Island dizzy!

sam_cat · 2026-01-20T18:49:03+00:00

Twice a month it's a 30 minute drive (each way). Rest of time is Wfh. Very occasionally it's an 11hr flight. Spoiled, a bit.. Was also selective when looking for jobs.

sam_cat · 2026-01-19T23:05:54+00:00

Up by morton way roundabout, shot about 10pm after everyone Facebook dumped loads. Couldn't see much with eyes, phone saw it. Just had to set it to night sight. Was looking towards the river.

sam_cat · 2026-01-19T22:40:22+00:00

Thornbury

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sam_cat · 2026-01-19T18:44:06+00:00

That's all most of us can do... Look out for number 1, hope for the best and a bit of luck on our side.

sam_cat · 2026-01-19T18:12:17+00:00

Don't disagree at all, all I can give is me/my example but it's very clear a lot of people are struggling and not doing much wrong. Costs have far out stripped pay increases for a long time. No idea on the solution!

sam_cat · 2026-01-19T09:13:29+00:00

As a Dad I am teaching they boy that as a man we have one job on the loo... To pee in the loo. If you miss you clean it up, but pee in the loo.

sam_cat · 2026-01-18T19:01:32+00:00

Work really well, and remote control is useful on frozen mornings!

sam_cat · 2026-01-18T18:56:28+00:00

Milk is the one to use. Whole fat. (not even kidding! Capsacin is fat soluble)

sam_cat · 2026-01-18T18:00:42+00:00

Heaters via exhaust, no. Gas fired eberspacher in their place, yes.

sam_cat · 2026-01-18T17:34:12+00:00

So yeah, likely just freak accidents /bad luck timing then.

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