Hello good
people, welcome to my report for November. I don’t envy our security services
keeping an eye on the House of Parliament this month, there must have been many a
modern-day version of the gunpowder plot to deal with. Those of
you who are working as sparkies in the UK must be aware that time for the 17
Edition of BS7671 is about to run out. The 18th Edition came into
force as a transitory stage on the 1st of July this year, where
installers could work to the 17th or 18th Edition.
However, as from January the 1st 2019 the 17th is
finished and only the 18th can be used. As the
weather changes I’m reminded how cold it used to be working on a building site
and how that is part of my working life I really don’t miss in any shape or
form. It always
interests and amuses me that as we hurtle towards December people start to talk
about snow. Those old enough will start talking about the winter of 1963 where
we did have a big cold snap and a massive snow bomb. Those a little younger may
start misting over and recalling the winter of 2010. Whatever, all will have a particular
winter memory dear to their heart’s. The Eco
Doom-sayers will also be wheeled out for their twaddle and start spouting
figures and data to convince us that the end is nigh. Of climate change, I do
not really dispute. I find it incredible though that this new religion (Eco)
does not find climate change a naturally occurring event. This planet has an
ice-age about every 11,000 years. Guess when the last one was? (Yes, that’s
right. About 11,000 years ago) Do the Ecos actually think it is normal for a
planet to remain at exactly the same temperature for thousands of years? it
would be more prudent if we used what time we have left to prepare for the next
ice sheet to slide across northern Europe and North America. The only problem
is that business and governments haven’t figured out a way to use a forthcoming
ice-age as they have “global warming” as an excuse. It works better to say “we
are not expanding the road network in Oxford because we need to focus on
sustainable transport strategy”. I suppose they could always say “There is very
little point in building any new roads as they will all be pushed out of the
way by a trillion ton glacier” but then people might begin to realise that
putting your kids in a wobbly assembly attached to the bike that you can’t ride
properly, cos you are doing your bit to save the planet, isn’t going to make a
scrap of difference in the grand scheme of things. Apart from saving the
council the cost of providing a proper local infrastructure (what a winner). All the
expats who relocated to Spain have got the right idea, I don’t think the ice
sheet extended much further than the Pyrenees during the last ice-age. Personally,
I reckon the UK should do a swop with Madagascar and get out while we can.
Either that or we start buying up tracts of land throughout Africa and start
building housing estates there - perhaps we should have taken more care of the Commonwealth
while we had the chance!!! My final rib
at the Ecos is this: how do they feel about Continental Drift? Do they propose
that we connect massive chains between Africa and South America to stop them
drifting any further apart? Talking of
Africa, and if you are fed up with “Rap/Jungle” (for chrissakes we’ve had
rapping now for more than 30 years) for a different slant, look up Angelique
Kidjo on Youtube performing “Agolo” – Brilliant! And now for
my last gripe - Smart Meters. I am annoyed beyond belief by the latest ads
promoting this. They have even got the neck to finish the ad with the logo
“Campaigning for a Smart Britain”. The whole issue is such a monumental scam
that I wish the Advertising Standards Authority could intervene. Of course, they
can’t because nobody can say anything if the great god Eco has been invoked and of course they haven’t got any engineers at the ASA. The idea
being sold behind smart meters is that you will be able to observe your energy
usage on a small display unit and then be able to go around the house turning
off equipment that is wasting energy. Well that’s great, except most of us have
already turned off everything we don’t really need, replaced light bulbs with
LEDs and compact fluorescents, insulated our lofts to the nth degree and
upgraded all our home laundry etc to the latest energy efficient models. In
short, there is nothing else we can do to save energy! So how is
the modern eco-driven family going to use a smart meter then? I can picture the
scene: Mum and Dad (or I should say gender neutral multi-cultural parents) with
kids sat in a darkened room, all wearing hats and coats (to help save the world)
watching the smart meter display unit. Suddenly there is a peak, the load
profile soars to a staggering 1.5 Kilo-Watts (an electrical kettle can be
2–3kW). A gender-neutral kid falls off the sofa in shock. How can this be? We
have been so careful? They suddenly realise that it must be the fridge, the
temperature inside the fridge must have risen, so the thermostat has started
the fridge compressor to get the temperature down to the correct level. But
never fear, space family Eco is on the case. If the fridge is consuming energy
it must be evil, there is only one option – turn off the fridge and bring on
the food poisoning! If that is the future, I can only welcome the next frigging
ice-age. The real
reason for installing “smart meters” is to get rid of the meter reader. This
means larger profit for business so is a brilliant piece of bullshit. You may
not realise it but when you do have your smart meter installed you need no
others, it provides a hub for all your other services such as gas and water to
connect to as well. So no more meter readers for them either and cigars all
round in the board room. Welcome to the world of Eco/Sustainable Corporate snake-oil
salesmanship and mugs that believe everything they are told. With regard
to my travels this month I have been to London, Bath (x2), Swindon, Dunstable
and Chelmsford. Now I now
it sounds corny but it really upsets me to think of anybody spending Christmas
alone. I have known periods of loneliness in my life and although I do enjoy an
occasional period of solitude, after a while it becomes very depressing. So
please do keep an eye out for neighbours that may be on their own. If we could
just take 20 minutes out of our own busy lives to share a chat or cup of tea
with a neighbour it could be a life-saver, you may even learn a little about
yourself. And let’s
not just do it at Christmas either. My next
report will be at the end of December, so I must take this opportunity to wish
you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. |
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CategoriesElectricalMy Diary |
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