Plumbers/Electricians One House Nil
We’ve finally got somewhere today in my battle with the killer central heating system.
The team of expert electricians and plumbers have just left and they found the following.
The pump that controlled the hot water to my showers was jamming, which explained the occasional non-hot water problems.
The room thermostats have no effect on controlling the hot water to the underfloor central heating. So if the master switch for downstairs is set to warm that part of the house, you get full flow upstairs. Hence the top floor just gets hotter and hotter.
I’ve now switched the heating off upstairs permanently and it is still holding at 23.5°C, which is a bit hot.
But at least we’ve won the first battle against Jerry.
What I can’t understand is why he didn’t fit underfloor electric central heating. We had that in the flat in the Barbican in the 1970s and it was as reliable as the finest Swiss watch.
This Heath Robinson system of pipes should never have been installed. I must say I’m tempted to rip it all out and replace it with an electric one.
The only thing against this is the running costs. On the other hand the house is so well insulated, that fixing the current faults in the system will probably be enough to make the house comfortable.
Islington Gets Another Mobile Phone Shop!
My chiropodist has gone and Upper Street has another mobile phone shop.
Islington Gets Another Mobile Phone Shop!
They won’t get me to indulge in a smart phone. In fact sometimes, I think about giving up my mobile phone altogether to annoy those that insist on having the number.
Thames Water And Wet Wipes
Thames Water has problems with sewer blockages and has produced a video and press release called Changing the world from the bottom up. It is reported here in the Standard. Here’s an extract.
No, it’s not April 1. But this stab at lavatory humour from Thames Water sounds like it’s spoof.
A press release, entitled “Changing the world from the bottom up”, begins as follows: “A trend among British adults towards using wet wipes as well as with loo roll is forcing a water company to take drastic action.
“Market research shows the wet wipe market is growing at faster than 15% a year — and for Thames Water that’s a problem.
“Wet wipes, which do not break down like loo roll does, block sewers, adding to Thames Water’s annual £12 million spend on clearing around 80,000 blockages a year in its 108,000 kilometre network across London and the Thames Valley.”
How awful. But, happily, there is some good news or, as Thames Water puts it, “a solution is at hand” — geddit?
I’ve always felt that there should be extra taxes on things like disposable nappies and other non-biodegradable products. Especially, as they just end up in landfill.
I have been down the London sewers and you’d be surprised what you see there.
There’s Something Wrong With This Central Heating
According to my air conditioning the temperature outside is 11°C. I have the central heating set to 18°C downstairs and switched off upstairs. But the floor is distinctly warm although my thermometer shows 23°C and 47% humidity. The latter figure agrees with the aircon.
So it looks like the aircon and the underfloor central heating are fighting against each other. Luckily the aircon seems to be winning, as that is set to 23°C.
It surely doesn’t all add up!
Removing The Old Bathroom
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
But some of the wood was a bit rotten and probably was causing a smell.
This House Has Form
I’ve said that this house is trying to kill me, by boiling me up. Look what the builders found in the back of a cupboard in the bathroom.
This House Has Form
So I wasn’t its first victim.
My House Is Trying To Kill Me!
It’s cold here and I put the heating on. Unfortunately, the heating system has a mind of its own and doesn’t seem to have any idea about how to control to a reasonable temperature.
- Sometimes if it’s been off for a few hours, the floors are icy cold and take another few hours to show any heat.
- Often the boiler doesn’t start on the timer and I have to switch it on and off a couple of times to get it going.
- Today, it has been showing another of its traits and is just pumping more and more heat into the floor, without any regard for my comfort. A few hours ago, the temperature was 27 degrees, with the heating turned off and the windows wide open.
At least the air-conditioning has got it down now to 25 degrees.
The plumber came round and they felt something must be jammed. As the builder is coming tomorrow to gut my bathroom, they’ll be back then to find the fault, hopefully.
The builder is starting the deJerrification of this house. Hopefully, they’ll finish it before the house puts me in hospital again. Or even worse!
Britain Surges Ahead Of The US In Job Creation
This is said in this article in The Sunday Times.
The truth and the actual figures should be revealed later in the week.
Wheelchairs On The Emirates Air-Line
I’ve already commented about bicycles on the Emirates Air-Line, but today there were a few wheelchairs. One is shown here.
Wheelchairs On The Emirates Air-Line
Obviously they can cope well, as the cable-car has lifts and wide cabins.
The Daily Telegraph Says Start Sharing
This article in the Daily Telegraph should be read by everyone.
It outlines various Internet-based sharing schemes for cars, money and even land.
It says this about Zopa and its ilk.
When your budget is tight, lending money to strangers might seem crazy, but a rising number of savers and borrowers are going online to cut out the high street banks.
Better still, while interest rates stand at a historic low, DIY bankers who advance loans online at “peer-to-peer” lending websites such asZopa.co.uk can earn an average return of 5.4pc a year.
We live in interesting times.
The Anonymous Widower 