ENERGY MATTERS

[Whyperion]

Checked EDF a couple of days ago, Gas down a bit , electricity up in price slightly, not worth changing from present deals for now.

[Stanley]

I shall call in at B&D and order 15 bags of coal this morning.....

[chinatyke]

When I was in Pingguo last week there was a special 3 day market in town, probably because it is Chinese New Year next month and people spend money like we do at Christmas. I noticed some LED light-bulbs on sale, 4 bulbs for a pound. I hadn't brought my specs with me so I asked a friend to read the info stamped around the bulb base. "5 Watts" he said. Great. I bought 36. Each one is tested before it is sold and he gave me 1 extra for luck. I have an open plan lounge and dining room with 30 ordinary incandescant 25W bulbs in 3 light fittings, and lots more throughout the apartment, so these would be a good replacement. When we got back to our apartment I found my specs and my 5W bulbs turned out to be 0.5W. My white elephant bargain of the year! Anyone want to buy 37 x 0.5W led bulbs?
Actually, when I tried them in a 5-light fitting in another room they seemed a lot brighter than I would expect from a 0.5W LED so maybe they are marked up wrongly. I'll try them in the lounge fittings next time I go to Pingguo. The possibility is that I could go from 30 x 25W to 30 x 0.5W, lighting 40 m² of floor space using just 15W of electricity, quite a saving.
These led bulbs are the way to go. Supposed to last 100,000 hours but I have had one 6 month old one fail already. I took it apart and it was a dry joint on the circuit board so it was quickly repaired.

[Stanley]

I ordered 20 bags. It's only gone up 20p a bag since last year, not bad.
China, they were talking about replacement LED bulbs on the TV last night and prices quoted were as much as £40 a bulb!

[Stanley]

Enough to last out the winter? Funny how I feel so much happier paying out £180 for 20 bags of coal than paying a gas bill.....

[Tizer]

BBC, 2 February 2015
`Waste not, want not - making money from rubbish'
"Tom Szaky talks 10 to the dozen. It's as if he doesn't want to waste a single minute of the hour-long interview I have with him. But then waste is a subject dear to his heart. He is the founder and chief executive of social enterprise TerraCycle, a company whose aim is eliminating waste. "It's a lofty ideal I know," he says, but so far so good. In 13 years, US-based TerraCycle has gone from the classic start-up run out of a basement to operating in 21 countries. Last year it had revenue worth $20m (£13m) and 115 employees. The company's business model is to find waste and turn it into something useful, for a profit. It collects things that are generally considered difficult to recycle - such as cigarette stubs, coffee capsules, or biscuit wrappers - and finds a way to reuse them. That is done mainly through processing them down into a material and selling them to a manufacturer, and to a lesser extent by turning them into products such as bags, benches or dustbins. It relies on contracts with businesses - such as McVities, Johnson & Johnson, and Kenco - that pay TerraCycle to take away their waste, as well as individual consumers collecting and sending it in, in return for donations to a charity of their choice....."
More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31036601

[chinatyke]

When I was in Pingguo last week there was a special 3 day market in town, probably because it is Chinese New Year next month and people spend money like we do at Christmas. I noticed some LED light-bulbs on sale, 4 bulbs for a pound. I hadn't brought my specs with me so I asked a friend to read the info stamped around the bulb base. "5 Watts" he said. Great. I bought 36. Each one is tested before it is sold and he gave me 1 extra for luck. I have an open plan lounge and dining room with 30 ordinary incandescant 25W bulbs in 3 light fittings, and lots more throughout the apartment, so these would be a good replacement. When we got back to our apartment I found my specs and my 5W bulbs turned out to be 0.5W. My white elephant bargain of the year! Anyone want to buy 37 x 0.5W led bulbs?
Actually, when I tried them in a 5-light fitting in another room they seemed a lot brighter than I would expect from a 0.5W LED so maybe they are marked up wrongly. I'll try them in the lounge fittings next time I go to Pingguo. The possibility is that I could go from 30 x 25W to 30 x 0.5W, lighting 40 m² of floor space using just 15W of electricity, quite a saving.
These led bulbs are the way to go. Supposed to last 100,000 hours but I have had one 6 month old one fail already. I took it apart and it was a dry joint on the circuit board so it was quickly repaired.

I changed the lights last week. I suspect that the 0.5W led bulbs are actually 3W which equates to about 25W tungsten filament which was the size I was replacing. Assuming they are 3W I have gone from 8 x 40W + 22 x 25W = 870W, to 8 x 5W + 22 x 3W = 106W, 0.764kW/hour saving, at a total cost of £13. Pay back time is 314 hours.
The picture shows 2 of the fittings and they are plenty bright enough. Incidentally I can buy 5W and 9W led bulbs at 90 pence each from local suppliers.

[Stanley]

Who does the cleaning China? Looks spotless!

[chinatyke]

Her indoors! In this part of the world, floors are usually ceramic tiles because of the tropical heat 10 months of the year. They are easily kept clean.

[Tizer]

Incidentally I can buy 5W and 9W led bulbs at 90 pence each from local suppliers.

You could have a nice line in exporting them to the UK!

The problem I find (here in the UK) is that to benefit from LED bulbs I'll need to change many of the light fittings which are mostly single lamps and won't be bright enough with only one of even the most powerful LED bulbs. But when I go looking for multiple lamp fittings in places like B&Q and Argos every package recommends that you use halogen bulbs in them and doesn't mention what size LED bulb you could use, if at all. I get the impression these companies have bought enormous stocks of halogen bulbs and want to sell them before encouraging us to use the better LED bulbs. Another cunning wheeze?

[PanBiker]

Tiz, with light fittings, the maximum ratings given for the fittings are for incandescent lamps and their equivalent due to the thermal properties of the lamps. From a LED point of view this is irrelevant so you can fit whatever rating you like subject to the physical properties of the holders. My 5 arm centre light has standard BC fittings and is rated for maximum 60W incandescent on each arm. With LEDS fitted they are only running at 3W with 25W output so the equivalent of a 125W centre light. They are warm white candle type and give plenty of light for our front living room.

[Stanley]

I like the three LED replacement bulbs I bought and as the old bulbs fail and I run out of the others I will get more. But I have a lot of spare bulbs......

[Tizer]

I don't look forward to changing light fittings in our dormer rooms. It's a flat roof and there's no access to the wiring above the ceiling. When I changed the rose in one room it was murder connecting up the new one because whoever did the original wiring didn't leave any slack!

[chinatyke]

I don't look forward to changing light fittings in our dormer rooms. It's a flat roof and there's no access to the wiring above the ceiling. When I changed the rose in one room it was murder connecting up the new one because whoever did the original wiring didn't leave any slack!

What you need are these connector blocks, the cable is a simple push fit and then close the clamp. I'm sure they will be available in the UK also.

cable connectors

[Stanley]

My problem is finding the hole to get the wire in....

[Tizer]

China, I assume one block connects all the wires to the same polarity? I'd have to use them outside the ceiling rose because they'd be too big to fit inside. But i guess then I'd have to put inside a box to keep them safe from prying fingers.

[PanBiker]

Multi-arm fittings normally have one three terminal connector block for connection to your mains lighting circuit all internal connections are already made within the fitting. They generally have a metal mounting bracket that you fit first that the fitting is then suspended from.

The connector that China has posted is available in the UK, RS components do it but you should always check that any connectors used are fully compliant with UK regulations before installation.

[Tizer]

Thanks for that info about multi-arm fittings, Ian; I didn't know that and it should make things a lot easier.

[Stanley]

Are the holes for the wires any bigger......?

[chinatyke]

China, I assume one block connects all the wires to the same polarity? I'd have to use them outside the ceiling rose because they'd be too big to fit inside. But i guess then I'd have to put inside a box to keep them safe from prying fingers.

Yes, that's right, same polarity. So you would need 2 or 3 double connectors. They are only small but I guess they would be bigger than a normal screw connector block. Their advantage is ease of cable insertion and locking. Makes a very neat job in junction boxes etc.
Stanley, the holes are sized for the cables specified, normally 0.75 - 2.5 mm² but other sizes are available. This is the same as screw connectors.

[Stanley]

Once again the old firebeater has settled into winter stove management. I attend to it twice a day, it's burning about three shovelfuls a day and the party wall between me and next door must be the warmest and driest in Barlick! Front room a steady 75F.

[Pluggy]

We have a warm patch on our living room wall when next door have their fire lit. Its old school with the fireplace & chimney built into the party wall, so it does tend to pass quite a lot of heat into the wall.

[Stanley]

When the stove has been lit for weeks you can feel the warmth even in the wall in the bedroom above.

[Tizer]

As well as the `challenge from Austria' mentioned below, the Hinkley project is now also threatened by the Chinese sponsors demanding that the French Government protects them from any losses if EDF went belly up.

BBC, 12 February 2015
`EDF pushes back Hinkley Point nuclear decision '
"French energy group EDF has delayed an investment decision on a £16bn project to build two nuclear energy reactors in Hinkley Point, Somerset. Last month, the firm said it expected to sign an agreement in March. On Thursday, EDF's chief executive said the company was in "the final phase of negotiations, but that phase can take a considerable amount of time". Plans to build two reactors at Hinkley Point are currently facing a potential legal challenge from Austria."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31434420

[Stanley]

My Tilley lamps are sat there waiting..... What a cock up our energy policy is. Market efficiency?