Jan and Klodi's Party Bus - part II **off topic discussion**

NamelessPhil

For anyone thinking of improving the energy efficiency of their home, take a look at the SEAI.ie website for details of grants available. Also check with your energy supplier as there may be energy credits available. The Revenue's HRI scheme is also worth money.

We got substantial works done in our house 18 months ago and all of the above amounted to nearly a third of the value that we got back. The energy credits meant we didn't pay an electricity bill for the last 18 months.

We got solar panels for hot water. They work effectively between end February and mid-November. The price was approximately €4,000 and the SEAI grant was nearly a third of the cost.

magicbastarder

we were lucky enough to be put on a customer trial for electric ireland's honeywell heating control system offering. it's dead handy, you set thresholds on a per room basis - so we effectively have 11 zones - and leave it to look after itself. best bit is that it auto balances itself against the stove when we light that - so lighting the stove means the gas automatically dials itself back.

Miklos

Is anybody checking out Le Samyn? Pure Belgian brutality!

DublinArnie

Just started cycling and I want to invest in some cycling shorts (or leggings?) and gloves. Do people have any recommendations? I know nothing about bikes - trying to learn bit by bit so it would be great if someone could point to me a reliable but cheap enough brand.

robyntmorton

DublinArnie wrote: »

Just started cycling and I want to invest in some cycling shorts (or leggings?) and gloves. Do people have any recommendations? I know nothing about bikes - trying to learn bit by bit so it would be great if someone could point to me a reliable but cheap enough brand.

Get bib shorts or bib tights. These have shoulder straps to stop them from slipping down and displaying your behind to the world.

Look at Chain Reaction Cycles or Wiggle for dhb. They tend to do decent gear for a good price, though the longer you plan on spending in the saddle the more important it becomes to spend more and get high quality pads in the shorts. Chafing and saddle sores are not fun!

koutoubia

Miklos wrote: »

Is anybody checking out Le Samyn? Pure Belgian brutality!

Just watched the last 30km. Hellishly enjoyable to watch.

Chuchote

Lumen wrote: »

I'm thinking of replacing my roof and using solar tiles. They look amazing.

How much would they cost, and is it possible to get planning for them if you're not replacing like for like?

NamelessPhil wrote: »

The energy credits meant we didn't pay an electricity bill for the last 18 months.

What work did you get done?

We got solar panels for hot water. They work effectively between end February and mid-May November.

Between what and when?

Lumen

Chuchote wrote: »

How much would they cost, and is it possible to get planning for them if you're not replacing like for like?

The Tesla Solar Roof shingles are not available quite yet.

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-economics-of-teslas-solar-roof

I expect Irish planners will embrace them shortly before the heat death of the universe.

Wishbone Ash

I've been trying to catch a rat for the past three days. I've several traps set but he has managed to keep removing the bait without triggering the trap. Clever boy!

He's a big boy too - one of the biggest I've seen. I decided to go for the poison today even though I'd prefer to trap him. The battle continues!

(I have to keep this secret from my wife and daughter - they'd freak if they thought there was one around!)

Lumen

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I've been trying to catch a rat for the past three days. I've several traps set but he has managed to keep removing the bait without triggering the trap. Clever boy!

He's a big boy too - one of the biggest I've seen. I decided to go for the poison today even though I'd prefer to trap him. The battle continues!

They're amazingly tough. The cat cornered and injured one a couple of years ago. In an attempt to dispatch it humanely I dropped a felling axe on it several times, but it just squeaked like a dog toy and looked at me bemused.

Beasty

Used to get them up to a foot long on the farm where I lived. It had a massive grain processor (that turned the grain into chicken feed), and the rats had a steady supply of nourishment (until they were trapped by the dogs or workers speared them with a pitchfork)

robyntmorton

Living near a railway line we get them, not in the house, but in the area. They don't even run from humans any more.

There was one time there was one on the path up to the train station which wouldn't move... until I stepped on it. I wasn't looking at the ground. It squeaked. I jumped. It ran.

doozerie

I have cats that are well versed in catching rats. And then abandoning them, still alive, to take up their complaints with the humans of the house. I can lend the cats out to anyone interested. And you can keep them afterwards.

As a kid we used to use bear traps to catch rats. Nasty things those traps. Unfortunately, wherever my brothers got them from they were invariably knackered, the jaws never closed properly and instead of instantly killing the rats they just filled them with pain and righteous anger.

I still remember one brother deciding to go out with a hurley to finish off one rat that had been wrestling with one of the traps for an hour or more. The kindest thing I could say was that he thought better of the idea once he got close enough to the rat, who seemed keen to take that moment to lodge a stern complaint. Fastest I ever saw anyone make the short distance from the end of the garden to the kitchen, he may even have forgotten to open the door before entering.

NamelessPhil

We still have the two cats referred to by doozerie in this epic post, http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056767318/33/#post101715647

They've since been joined by a female cat, whose hunting prowess has been limited to worms so far. She'd be no match for a rat.

Harrybelafonte

Two in my garage lately. Shat all over my classic car's engine bay and roof. Killed first one. Second was dying as I walked into garage one day and I ****in stood on him. Burned those slippers. This one managed to chew through my ignition leads. ****ing hate rats. I could hear them in the garage walls scratching away. Dying hopefully.

smacl

doozerie wrote: »

I have cats that are well versed in catching rats. And then abandoning them, still alive, to take up their complaints with the humans of the house.

Our older tom usually just brings us the head, whether its rats, mice, magpies, pigeons, frogs or whatever else. We've a small Jack Russel type dog too, I expect the cat to present us with its head any day now.

Worst rat issue we had was the shop next door laying poison and having a rat crawl somewhere under my floorboards to die an decay. The stench was phenomenal and I lifted most of the boards trying to find it (never did). Also lots of drilling, anyone ever wants to borrow an endoscope to look into their wall or floor spaces let me know. Then as the stench passed its peak and subsided the swarms of bluebottles hit, and we had a few Amittyville horror weeks.

tldr; Traps good, cats good, pitchforks and baseball bats good, poison bad.

smacl

Lumen wrote: »

I expect Irish planners will embrace them shortly before the heat death of the universe.

Google may help them there

doozerie

tomasrojo wrote: »

When I can afford it, I'll get solar panels. Nice south-facing roof waiting for them. No idea when I'll have the money though.

Something to bear in mind if going with solar panels to heat water is that you'll need a sizeable water tank. Ours is over 300L capacity from what I remember and its significant insulation adds to the space it consumes. Factor in the additional pipework needed too and you may find space running out in your hot press very quickly. Our house has quite a big hot press, the previous traditional copper tank in there left a lot of storage space, but following the install of the solar panel + tank + pipework + controller (+ motorised valves for a zoned heating system), there is little or no space remaining for storage.

Also, there is a small-ish radiator, and some other bits and pieces, installed in the attic, I believe it's to shed excess heat from the system should the need arise. So you lose some usable space in your attic too. Just thinking aloud, I suspect that may also make adequate ventilation in the attic space more important.

These haven't detracted from the benefits to us of having the solar panels though, overall we've been very happy with the system.

tomasrojo

I was thinking of going with photovoltaic panels and some sort of battery storage, rather than the solar collectors. But I haven't thought it through in any detail, as the money to buy it remains in the realm of the hypothetical.

magicbastarder

a colleague recently built a house that has every trick possible in terms of efficiency - but she was telling another colleague that in hindsight, they should have put the air to water heating system further from the house, it sounds like an air conditioning unit.

smacl

tomasrojo wrote: »

I was thinking of going with photovoltaic panels and some sort of battery storage, rather than the solar collectors. But I haven't thought it through in any detail, as the money to buy it remains in the realm of the hypothetical.

The Tesla Powerwall looks attractive but expensive. I'm not convinced that it would ever really pay for itself, and is possibly more desirable than practical. I suppose if you had a Tesla car to go with it and it was charging the batteries it might make more sense. Certainly using solar charged batteries to produce energy for heating is hugely inefficient.

ThisRegard

They basically are air conditioning units aren't they? I saw a picture of a current development in Dublin and they all have them attached to the rear walls. It's something that would bug the crap out of me I think, the constant drone from all the houses on the block. In fairness though I believe the noise greatly varies and depends on the unit/how it's installed.

manafana

think i lived in an apartment that had one, took me a good few nights to get used to it, messed with my head

LollipopJimmy

Solar is something I'm considering. I've just accepted a new job which will be starting in 6 weeks, the career direction I want but it means I'll no longer be working for an electricity provider which in turn means I'll have to pay consumer rates Staff discount will be removed

I can't go back to paying electricity bills. My bills were €160 every 2 months with discount for DD and ebilling now I'm paying €80 for two months :pac::mad::mad:

CramCycle

If you can afford the outlay, and all the credits that Nameless Phil mentioned, go for it. Just don't cheap out on it. Do a good job the first time and get the best out of it for a long time, it will pay for itself in a reasonably short time.

The main change I would make would make if doing ti again, would be more panels. I was convinced that the mumber I got was sufficient, and it is, but during the winter time, I think more tubes would have made more sense, and paid for themselves.

Eamonnator

My wife tells me, that Stephen Roche is on RTE 1, now.
"Today"

rollingscone

Had to stay at home with a sinus infection today but I couldn't help notice that the winter cycling gear I put away last week was back on the washing line (actually a clothes horse) today...

magicbastarder

so much for getting out during that unexpectedly nice afternoon. lay down on the sofa, woke over an hour and a half later, just after half four.

RobFowl

Raced sat and 85 brisk Kms yesterday and today am pooped....

rollingscone

RobFowl wrote: »

Raced sat and 85 brisk Kms yesterday and today am pooped....

Fair play.

I'd say the seas were rough.