A Mess Of Cables
Cables seem to come with the ability to get tangled. I just had to sort this mess out today.
A Mess Of Cables
Roll on the day, when everything is wireless!
A Message For nPower Customers
After my article on nPower’s cheaper tariff, that they hadn’t told me about, I’ve just had a phone call from a friend, who saw it and like me he saved a few hundred pounds by not switching suppliers, but by switching tariffs.
So if like my friend and myself, you get your energy from nPower, it might be worth checking with one of the comparison sites to see if you are getting the best deal. You may find a painless call to the company, will save you money, without changing energy suppliers and hopefully little hassle.
Burning US Trees In UK Power Stations
This story talks about a crazy idea of cutting down trees in the US and burning them in UK power stations.
I haven’t seen the numbers, but it does strike me as an extremely wasteful process, with all of the transport across the Atlantic. We would be much better off, using the subsidies promoting the use of this fuel, in insulating buildings and replacing those, that can never be made energy efficient.
Sorting Out My Energy
Every so often, I check up to see if I’ve got the best energy deal. As some companies are now offering smart meters, I wondered if I could get one of these thrown in.
So I checked one of the comparison sites and found, that I could save four hundred or so a year, by swapping to nPower.
As my current supplier is nPower, I found that strange, as I thought, I was supposed to be on the lowest tariff, according to new government legislation.
So I phoned them up and got changed onto the new tariff. The only downside is that there is now a £60 cancellation fee!
I can’t help thinking, that all of this has a touch of professional theft about it.
I think the moral of this story, is that you should check your energy bills against the rest of the industry probably twice a year.
You might be surprised, as I was, that one short phone call, saves you a few hundred pounds.
I still haven’t got my smart meter though! But then the big companies are reluctant to bring those in, as it will both cost them money for the meter and because savvy customers will cut their energy use.
My Dual Fuel Bill
I seem to pay £154 a month for this.
I wouldn’t know if that is high or low, except that it’s certainly a lot less than I used to pay in the two previous houses.
Farewell To Central London’s Biggest Eyesore
Years ago, I wrote a silly but quite funny love letter to C. At least she told me it was funny. In it I mentioned Battersea Power Station and how it was used as a last line of defence, with platforms on the chimneys. That must have been about 1966 or so, and in those days the power station was still generating electricity as it did until 1983.
It has not been a lucky building since!
London’s Biggest Eyesore
Like many power stations of the era, it was built for a short life and a productive one. I remember going over Cliff Quay power station in Ipswich, and being told that these buildings were built in brick without the soundest of foundations. Often though, like Battersea and Cliff Quay, they were designed by good architects and often featured decorative features inside. Strangely, the one building of this type, we have left, Bankside power station, doesn’t have an elaborate interior, although now it is the superb Tate Modern. Although according to Wikipedia, that could have gone to Battersea.
Scott’s other London power station is at Battersea and is widely considered a more iconic design, with its four towers. Battersea Power Station was proposed for the Tate Modern but, due to financial constraints and less dilapidation, the smaller Bankside building was chosen.
Scott was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the designer of the red telephone box and the architect of Liverpool Cathedral. So perhaps it s fitting that one of his more utilitarian buildings is a home for modern art and design.
Does anybody know if there are any good examples of reusing power stations buildings around the world?
I can find two; one called The Power Plant in Toronto, Canada and another called The Power Station of Art in Shanghai.
But Battersea Power Station has not been served well by fate. It is almost falling down these days and I do wonder if it can be rebuilt economically. It seems to have disastrous affects on its developers.
But at least with George Osborne’s announcement of funding for the Northern Line Extension in the Autumn Statement, its days as an eyesore may well be numbered. But don’t uncross your fingers!
I’ve Got A Left-Handed Cable
A friend has just sent me a left-handed cable for my printer.
I’ve Got A Left-Handed Cable
But it would have been nice for there to be left-handed plugs, as I’m not the only person who wants one,
And Now The Plastic Light Bulb!
Well not quite yet, but this report is encouraging.
Thinking how far lighting has come in the last ten years, what will be using in 2022?
And what will all this do for our electricity bills?
I Need A Left-Handed Connector
I have a small IKEA shelf, that is the ideal place to put my small wireless printer.
The Mains Cable On My Printer
But as you can see the mains cable pushes the printer forwards. What is needed is a right-angled mains connector like this.
A Right-Angled Connector
This one from Maplin, though is right-handed. They don’t do a left-handed one. So where can I get one? If you look at the item on Maplin, I’m not the only one who wants one, given the comments.
The Anonymous Widower 