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Pyro Pete

The Cost Of Living Crisis

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4 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

Careful CM or I will wheel out my explanation of the correct usageĀ of square brackets, or brackets as they are called in American English.šŸ¤“

What happened to parenthesis?

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1 hour ago, SteveN8458 said:

Thanks for the linkšŸ‘

"EV batteries are either repurposed or recycled at the end of their lives. Retired EV batteries can be reused for storing energy in places such as factories, shopping centres or even homes, helping reduce the pollution caused by disposing of electric car batteries at the end of their life."

Something I read elsewhere was that most domestic battery systems use 'used' car batteries, and they quote a charge cycle of 3000 over 10 years. Now this would be on top of anything that has happened during it's life in the car!!

Personally I think EV's (& the original batteries) will last longer than 8 - 10 years. Like petrol or diesel powered cars the level of maintenance and 'care' will have a big impact of a vehicles life.

here's a question: can an EV's charge/discharge history be retrieved from the car's memory?? like mileage, can it be 'forged' ?

Ā 

Yes I actually know that some are reusedĀ  - but the real issue is that their range in 'car' mode may be severely depleted (so the car becomes only suitable for short jaunts)!Ā 

Of course all batteries are gettingĀ better but they still haveĀ some wayĀ to go - thereĀ are alsoĀ newerĀ better battery technologies on the the horizon as well - Sodium etc.

Truth isĀ that theĀ stationary 'weight/size noĀ object' solar battery is really a differentĀ beast to that of a car battery (power density is king)Ā if each isĀ optimizedĀ for its applicationĀ (fast charge for instance is not good for long life etc) soĀ althoughĀ both can do either it might not be the best idea. Never-the-less we can hope as every little helps šŸ˜‰. Frankly I wonder if the Li-Ion 'power wall' wasĀ really a marketingĀ opportunityĀ as to whatĀ else weĀ could do with such batteries even if not necessarily optimized for such at present.

As per Daz I'm sure the battery 'knows' how its been used and any vehicle warranty that allowed it to be 'abused' would be easilyĀ spotted. As noted a few cars (far from all)Ā  now do indeed allow external 'drain' as well as recharge but i think its an area of ongoingĀ research.

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7 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

Ā 

Today's Money Saving Expert email contain a calculator that tells you what you new charges are likely to be based on your annual usage. Mine will be going up from Ā£4,200.00 to Ā£7,800.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When this was originally spoken about a few months ago we made the decision to over pay so that we had built up a large surplus (we are lucky that we could afford to do it) it will help but I'm still completely shocked at how much it will increase.

Average Standing Charges in the UK (SC are charged regionally, people in the north pay more, so much for levelling up) is Ā£273.00 per year.

Are you smelting iron ore LoS?

Ā 

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7 minutes ago, Daz Sparks said:

Are you smelting iron ore LoS?

Ā 

No, but there are some suspicious wires going into next doors house.

Ā 

Edited by A Load of Squit

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4 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

No, but there are some suspicious wires going into next doors house.

Ā 

Joking aside, these increases are eye watering. I have instigated a draconian crackdown on usage in our house, and it has reduced our consumption, but I'm not so popular round here...

PS, I didn't install those wires.

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11 minutes ago, Pyro Pete said:

This might be helpful to those who are worried about what's coming.

Ā 

Edwina Currie says that Martin Lewis should stop using words like "catastrophe" and offer some useful advice instead....as if he wasn't šŸ¤”

What advice does Edwina have? Wrap up warm with John Major?

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37 minutes ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said:

What advice does Edwina have?

Boil your egg for only half as long?

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4 minutes ago, Daz Sparks said:

Boil your egg for only half as long?

You'd still have a raw egg then. Salmonella riskšŸ˜‰

Ā 

When I see a boiled egg reference it always reminds me of a favourite joke from school days (actually primary school!).....drum roll.....

Two eggs were in hot water in a saucepan. One says to the other "Boy it's hot in here" and the other replies "Well, just wait til you get outside, you'll get your head kicked in"

Ā 

#getscoatšŸ˜‚

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1 hour ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said:

Edwina Currie says that Martin Lewis should stop using words like "catastrophe" and offer some useful advice instead....as if he wasn't šŸ¤”

What advice does Edwina have? Wrap up warm with John Major?

Well she once said Christians don't get Aids. She was a non believer who had an affair with John Major.

In other words, she was a pretentious stuckup marriage wrecker.

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The horticultural industry is starting to feel the pinch. Sales are well down and stock levels high. Anyone else experiencing a slowing down?Ā 

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4 minutes ago, Herman said:

The horticultural industry is starting to feel the pinch. Sales are well down and stock levels high. Anyone else experiencing a slowing down?Ā 

One of the largestĀ employers in Redruth is a plastics manufacturer. Many of their moulding machines were theĀ  ones that used to make Dyson products until he cleared off. They are experiencing slow time due to a threefold effect.

The price of raw materials, the cost of energy and many product lines being merely useful but not necessary. And of course, people are being persuaded away from plastic.

Yet the Building industry still seems buoyant. Houses going up everywhere in West Cornwall. Two massive sites of over 300 houses in Redruth alone.

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1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

One of the largestĀ employers in Redruth is a plastics manufacturer. Many of their moulding machines were theĀ  ones that used to make Dyson products until he cleared off. They are experiencing slow time due to a threefold effect.

The price of raw materials, the cost of energy and many product lines being merely useful but not necessary. And of course, people are being persuaded away from plastic.

Yet the Building industry still seems buoyant. Houses going up everywhere in West Cornwall. Two massive sites of over 300 houses in Redruth alone.

Ours seems to be a multi-pronged attack too. Filled gardens from the lockdowns, the weather, water shortages, a non-necessary product and the fear of bills.

Hopefully the landscape industry can keep us ticking over. Although, around here there are a lot of flats going up.

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7 minutes ago, Herman said:

Ours seems to be a multi-pronged attack too. Filled gardens from the lockdowns, the weather, water shortages, a non-necessary product and the fear of bills.

Hopefully the landscape industry can keep us ticking over. Although, around here there are a lot of flats going up.

We still have unexpected supply chain issues - 6 month unexpected delays.Ā 

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6 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

We still have unexpected supply chain issues - 6 month unexpected delays.Ā 

Luckily it has worked out well, timing wise, but a shipment from China has been "on the way" for months.

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I fear for a universal slowdown which will affect a large swathe of the working (class) populace, something on the scale of the recessions seen last century, or even deeper. I hope my fears are unfounded, but I can't see an end to a downturn at best until Ukraine is resolved some way or other.Ā 

I've said before, but worth repeating, as a nation, and indeed the rest of Europe, we should be straining every sinew to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels, only then can we rest easy.

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1 hour ago, Daz Sparks said:

I fear for a universal slowdown which will affect a large swathe of the working (class) populace, something on the scale of the recessions seen last century, or even deeper. I hope my fears are unfounded, but I can't see an end to a downturn at best until Ukraine is resolved some way or other.Ā 

I've said before, but worth repeating, as a nation, and indeed the rest of Europe, we should be straining every sinew to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels, only then can we rest easy.

Famous last words.

Edited by CrankyCanary

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8 hours ago, Daz Sparks said:

I fear for a universal slowdown which will affect a large swathe of the working (class) populace, something on the scale of the recessions seen last century, or even deeper. I hope my fears are unfounded, but I can't see an end to a downturn at best until Ukraine is resolved some way or other.Ā 

I've said before, but worth repeating, as a nation, and indeed the rest of Europe, we should be straining every sinew to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels, only then can we rest easy.

Yes indeed, although TBF we sould have been doing that for quite a long while, both because of the climate emergency and the fact that generating electricity from renewables has been cheaper than using gas for several years now and long before gas prices went stratospheric.

Of course it would also help if we had a Government that wasn't utterly incompetent - they have known for years that our privatised energy market was completely broken and have done absolutely nothing about it. So we are still stuck with nonsenses like our wholesale electricity prices for all forms of generation being set by the price of gas - absolutely bonkers and one of the main reasons when French energy prices have risen 4% whilst the UK's have tripled.

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1 hour ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Yes indeed, although TBF we sould have been doing that for quite a long while, both because of the climate emergency and the fact that generating electricity from...

11 nuclear power stations have closed since the last new one began operating. All 11 closures happened since 2000.

If the construction at hinckley point Ā and Sizewell cĀ had begun in the early 2000sĀ we'd have had completely carbon free summers for the last few years. We also have been able to take coal completely out of the energyĀ equation and reduce natural gas use in generation by 1/3 (and takingĀ russian gas out of the equation entirely)

Ā in 2010 renewables made up 7% of electricity generation, in 2020 the share was 42% (37% if you want aĀ pre covid comparison).Ā  It's going to be tough to get that number shifted much higher without having to invest heavily in tidal or storage both of which come at potentially huge environmental cost.

Failure to invest promptly in nuclear has been a real problem

Ā 

Edited by Barbe bleu
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18 minutes ago, Barbe bleu said:

11 nuclear power stations have closed since the last new one began operating. All 11 closures happened since 2000.

If the construction at hinckley point Ā and Sizewell cĀ had begun in the early 2000sĀ we'd have had completely carbon free summers for the last few years. We also have been able to take coal completely out of the energyĀ equation and reduce natural gas use in generation by 1/3 (and takingĀ russian gas out of the equation entirely)

Ā in 2010 renewables made up 7% of electricity generation, in 2020 the share was 42% (37% if you want aĀ pre covid comparison).Ā  It's going to be tough to get that number shifted much higher without having to invest heavily in tidal or storage both of which come at potentially huge environmental cost.

Failure to invest promptly in nuclear has been a real problem

Ā 

Nuclear has been kicked down theĀ road by all governments for decades with their short term horizons. It's not been helped by misplaced (some but not all) Greens (c.f. Germany) and nimbyism plus a few scare stories.

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1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

Nuclear has been kicked down theĀ road by all governments for decades with their short term horizons. It's not been helped by misplaced (some but not all) Greens (c.f. Germany) and nimbyism plus a few scare stories.

Fukushima?

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8 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Not trying to belittle that but how many died ?

Not many, the Japanese are a very well organised society though. Officially: One.

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It is hilarious that the G7 impose a cap on Russian oil & gas prices and then the EU complains that Russia are trying to cripple the EU by closing off the supply, I canā€™t fathom what planet some people are on if they think by crippling Russian economy with the sanctions theyā€™ve put on them would not lead to some form of reprisal in this manner!

As for the G7, really the issue is to agree a cap on a global scale for 12 months, on all oil & gas, stabilise the market and economies for the short term!Ā 
We now have a critical point and we have greedy unions asking for utterly gross pay rises, strikes and added pressure on the UK economy, knowing that the wage hike will need to be covered by inflating prices, leading to more inflation, leading to less spending, leading to job cuts, unemployment going up and a very difficult situation.

Thereā€™s a point where sensible agreements need to be put inĀ place here at home and the world, there has to be a UN meeting to curb this global price issue on materials which was happening pre Ukraine war. Stability has to start at high level and to cap wealthy countries and companies manipulating this to gain financial advantages at the risk of destabilising every country. If not how long will it take before people rise and society buckle under the weight of human greed?

The only good thing to come out of higher prices on domestic fuel & electricity is that people are turning greener by force rather than choice! The demand on electricity & gas will certainly be far less than previous years as we all become more thrifty in the way we use energy! No bad thing at present .

A dangerous worldĀ run by power hungry, greedy old people without a care for the people, Putin, Biden, Trump, Boris, Starmer, Truss and lots of others I can mention globally arenā€™t there for the love of their country or itā€™s people but for themselves.

Sad isnā€™t it in a time of human technology and innovation,Ā that we are at this point.Ā 

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25 minutes ago, Indy said:

It is hilarious that the G7 impose a cap on Russian oil & gas prices and then the EU complains that Russia are trying to cripple the EU by closing off the supply, I canā€™t fathom what planet some people are on if they think by crippling Russian economy with the sanctions theyā€™ve put on them would not lead to some form of reprisal in this manner!

To me, it's more hilarious that Russia can invade a European neighbour, committing countless war crimes in the process, and then complain about the sanctions imposed on it by other nations for doing so.

Edited by littleyellowbirdie

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18 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

To me, it's more hilarious that Russia can invade a European neighbour, committing countless war crimes in the process, and then complain about the sanctions imposed on it by other nations for doing so.

Yes thatā€™s hilarious isnā€™t it! Demonstrators starting in some EU countries, which will lead to split on the unity on this war! Destabilising the EU is happening now, so there comes a point at which action needs to happen, as there will be more countries than just Hungary linking up with Russia for supplies and adding pressure on aĀ fragile EU! There are far too many far right groups still alive jumping on this to organise mass demonstrations which with hardship lead to more sensible people getting caught up in it!

Edited by Indy

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