ENERGY MATTERS

[Stanley]

"For most applications".... True but in some cases they make excellent sense, for instance in combined heat and power applied to a public swimming pool. Circumstances alter cases except of course in the universal acceptance of the dismal inefficiency in thermal efficiency terms of electricity distribution via the National Grid because it is convenient and stacks up well on a spreadsheet.

[David Whipp]

What if your heat pump was powered by your own solar or wind power?

I think I've answered that whilst typing; the monetary costs will still be greater...

[Tizer]

I don't contribute to the kettle problem, I have a 'superkettle' which keeps about 12 cups of water at boiling point....

You've got Mrs Tiz wanting one of these now! It sounds good...but how good does the tea taste? Is the device pressurised, because if not then the water won't be kept at 100C.

My dad wasn't particularly impressed when I bought him one, but he was swearing by his within the week.

That's an ambiguous sentence, haha!

[Pluggy]

My wife and my father both love their tea, neither have said anything about the taste with the long term hot water. I have occasional tea and haven't noticed the difference either. It certainly doesn't affect my instant coffee. Its very handy for cooking too, knocking up a few gravy granules is a few seconds work and my wife often short circuits the hot water cycle for the vegetable steamer from it too.

Once the water has been heated and 'sung' the dissolved air out of it, it doesn't change much for being kept hot in the long term.

Its not pressurised, it runs at normal pressure, the lid condenses the steam back into water and it runs back into the heated container so it doesn't steam all the time, but it is vented to the outside air. You need to exercise a degree of care when you open the lid to fill it, because the steam can take you by surprise when you open it.

There is an LED that indicates it is ready to use, but its just wired to the big 700 watt element. It seems to switch off a few degrees before boiling but the low wattage element brings it up to boiling. If you get to it when it has just switched off the big element the water can be a little on the cool side. (so my wife says anyway, I haven't noticed).

Like the blurb says, there is a 'Reboil' button to force the main element on for a few minutes, but it never gets used.

[Stanley]

I'm a bit of a nut with my tea.... The best brew is with fresh water, newly boiled as there is still air in it. I always let it brew for at least three minutes as well. All personal preference of course. Tea tasters at the major firms work by the same rules....

[Big Kev]

Freshly boiled water, left for one minute after the kettle has switched off. In the pot, under a tea cosy, for 5 minutes before pouring into the cup (milk in first).

[Stanley]

Ah, another purist! Morning Kev.....

[Tizer]

The tea specialists have spent centuries building up guidelines (and some myths) about how to make tea and, not surprisingly, it's been garbled somewhat. It's very difficult to find any unbiased, rigorously conducted tests on the conditions for brewing tea. Some of the claims are contradictory, such as the need for oxygen - some say the tannins have to be oxidised, others that this destroys the phenolic flavour compounds. There's also confusion about the `freshly boiled water' that most guidelines advocate, with some interpreting this as meaning `use fresh water' and others as `boil the water immediately before pouring' and others as both of these. On a forum where some techie types were discussing microwaving water to make their tea one said he'd bought tea from a specialist tea shop. When he said he microwaved the water the shop owner threw his hands in the air and said: "Nooo, you shouldn't do that, microwaving flattens the water molecules!"

[Pluggy]

I guess I must be a Philistine....

There's no way would I ever go back to a normal kettle.

[Big Kev]

Ah, another purist! Morning Kev.....

Mornin' Stanley.

[Stanley]

One of the enduring myths is connected with the milk in first or last debate. The most likely reason for milk in first is that it cushioned the thermal shock to the extremely delicate porcelain bowls used for tea in the early days. I have heard complicated explanations about the deleterious effect of heat on the first drops of milk to hit the tea if added afterwards. I always brew my tea bag in the mug and so there is no contest, I want the highest temperature I can get for at least three minutes.
Mother used to make tea in the way Indians do it, boiling the tea in milk. A completely different brew and I suspect the men of the Indian Army brought it back on their return home.

[Tizer]

I think making tea is like photography - do it to get the result that suits you (unless you are taking photos for a magazine or making tea for the Queen). I'm not fussed about whether it's milk first or last, I like it either way, but what I hate is stewed tea so I never brew using a tea bag in a cup. A group of scientists who tried to determine the best way of making tea and did their tests in a rigorous scientific way concluded that tea-bag-in-a-cup was best. But they were the taste testers and I suspect their conclusion says more about what they are used to than what the population as a whole would choose. I've known a lot of scientists who brew with a tea bag in a cup simply becasue they're no longer allowed to use a beaker as a teapot!

[Pluggy]

Stewed tea when you're using a tea bag in a cup ?

You know you can take the bag out before it stews ? Or am I missing something ?

[Stanley]

Quite right Pluggy but always give the little darling a last squeeze with the teaspoon against the side of the container before discarding it.....

[Tizer]

You can't take the bag out fast enough without it tasting either tasteless or stewed, in my opinion!

[Pluggy]

?

On a different front, I got what I assume to be an April Fools hoax email from powerswitch.com. Advertising 'Loof Energy' who give you 80% of the energy for 50% of the cost.

Their reduced voltage electricity and low pressure gas produces 80% of the heat and light of other suppliers. However as Loof stated in their press launch today "If your home or business runs a little cooler and darker does it matter when you're paying 50% less?"

[Pluggy]

Doh, Tiz is playing the fool trick as well.....

[Tizer]

No, not me, Pluggy. I'm usually the one who falls for the April Fool jokes. My alarm wakes me in the morning with the Radio 4 Today programme and they catch me out before I've floated up out of slumber. Then I'll get caught out a few more times before I remember what the date is. Like the sports news that FIFA was going to widen the goals at football matches to make the games more interesting. But then with my lack of interest in sport that sounds quite likely to be genuine!

BBC news today (genuine, I'm sure!)...
`E.On to pay £7.75m for overcharging its customers again'
"One of the UK's largest energy suppliers, E.On, has agreed to pay a further penalty of £7.75m for overcharging its customers. The payment was ordered as a result of the company's "repeated failing" by the energy regulator, Ofgem. Some customers paid too much in the process of switching. Others were wrongly charged exit fees. E.on apologised to its customers, and admitted it was not the first time it had made the mistake. In November 2012 the company paid a £1.7m penalty for the same thing, although the company said the underlying reason was different. "It's absolutely unacceptable that E.On failed to provide these vital customer protections yet again, and this persistent failure is the reason for the high penalty," said Sarah Harrison, Ofgem's senior partner in charge of enforcement."
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32157906

[Stanley]

Tiz, courage mon brave, I believed the bigger goal item as well mainly because I have heard serious suggestions about this before and, like you, I am deficient in whatever gene it is that spurs interest in these things.
As for E.On..... Absolutely disgraceful and particularly the fact they 'forgot' it was wrong. Would they have forgotten if there had been the possibility of gaol terms for the executives in charge of policy? No skin of their nose if the company is fined. What looks to us like an enormous amount is simply a flea-bite. Also, consider the fact that the more profit an enterprise makes the more tax the government claws in. Any incentive there to encourage better governance or more competitive working?

[Tizer]

And the fine will end up being paid for by the customers rather than the shareholders. Yes, penalties for those in charge are the only way of dealing with this type of problem. Now who, among the latest lot of politicians, will have the courage to take action?

[Stanley]

I forget who it was but one man did have the temerity to suggest that the people selling personal data on pension holders should at least have the threat of gaol hanging over them.... Was he the chairman of the relevant committee?

[Stanley]

Oh dear!! See this report (LINK) on the major oil discovery near Gatwick Airport. This will not please the denizens of the soft underbelly!
See THIS for the new generation of electricity pylons. News this morning that the first are to be erected in Nottinghamshire. These are not replacements for existing pylons at the moment but will be used wherever a new Pylon is needed.

[PanBiker]

Some excellent pylon designs there Stanley. I suppose whatever type they chose, there would still be dissent from some. A huge change from the existing and a lot more aesthetically pleasing.

[Tizer]

It says they might use them to distribute the power from Hinckley Point C which would be a benefit because this area is already dotted with the old pylons. The new ones would be much more acceptable in this rural area, especially if they replaced the old ones at the same time. Mind you, there might never be a Hinckley C. The Chinese can't make up their minds whether to go ahead and EDF is having troubles too.

[Stanley]

Our enlightened and efficient process of political management of energy supplies.... NOT!!