Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

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llondel
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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#21 Post by llondel » Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:43 pm

I say rude things about the US system too, seems that electrical fires are not that uncommon here. They install the sockets upside down too. I know it makes them look like little faces, but you have the earth pin at the top so that if the plug is not completely inserted and something drops in between the plug and wall, it will hit the earth pin first and present much less of a shock hazard (especially if it trips the fuse or RCD) than hitting the live and/or neutral and getting stuck there.

The other thing about a standards-compliant UK plug is that it's very hard to wrap your fingers round the sides and contact the pins when pulling it out of a socket. That's way too easy to do with US plugs (not that I've done it yet).

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#22 Post by Rwy in Sight » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:00 pm

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:47 pm

RiS do you know what your KWhs a day are? Maybe not from you meter. It would be interesting.

Anyway trust we are up for a beer or two !7th next month. Got a few hours to spare at the big port.
I am not sure; I am doing 300-400 KWh per month, but I have started using more energy - hungry appliances. I moved away from the state power company and it seems to be working.

The 7th sounds fine. I have completed my dry-month by tasting some red beers in Corfu. They tasted great. And I am ready to enjoy some Heinekens in the port.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#23 Post by G-CPTN » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:18 pm

Rwy in Sight wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:00 pm
Ex-Ascot wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:47 pm
Anyway trust we are up for a beer or two !7th next month. Got a few hours to spare at the big port.
The 7th sounds fine.
I suspect they mean 17th - with a (!)typo for the 1.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#24 Post by k3k3 » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:32 pm

EX-A

I hope your red cable drum is completely unwound otherwise you might be adding your own heating to Bots!

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#25 Post by Rwy in Sight » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:42 pm

G-CPTN wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:18 pm
Rwy in Sight wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:00 pm
Ex-Ascot wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:47 pm
Anyway trust we are up for a beer or two !7th next month. Got a few hours to spare at the big port.
The 7th sounds fine.
I suspect they mean 17th - with a (!)typo for the 1.
I should check again but 17th should be OK. Good for you to pick the mistake.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#26 Post by G-CPTN » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:49 pm

k3k3 wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:32 pm
EX-A
I hope your red cable drum is completely unwound otherwise you might be adding your own heating to Bots!
I once used a cable drum whilst not fully unwound - the cable melted into a funny cross-section.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#27 Post by Capetonian » Tue Mar 19, 2019 4:29 am

The UK plug only goes in one way, so correct polarity is guaranteed, and you have a ridge on the side with which to grip it when removing from socket, unlike those stupid continental ones where people often have to pull on the cable.

In Frogland, removing the plug from the socket often brings down half of the house in the process.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#28 Post by Rwy in Sight » Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:15 am

Capetonian wrote:
Tue Mar 19, 2019 4:29 am
The UK plug only goes in one way, so correct polarity is guaranteed, and you have a ridge on the side with which to grip it when removing from socket, unlike those stupid continental ones where people often have to pull on the cable.

In Frogland, removing the plug from the socket often brings down half of the house in the process.
You are exaggerating on that Cape. People are not taught to pull the plug not the cord. Euro plugs offer excellent grip if one wants to apply; I just did it few minutes ago because I don't want to damage the wall part.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#29 Post by Capetonian » Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:24 am

People are not taught to pull the plug not the cord.
I think you had an extra 'not' in there.
What people are taught and what they do are often very different.
Many people are too stupid to do what they are taught despite the obvious dangers of not doing so.
Particularly the French.
Some Euro plugs do not have a proper grip, and I've seem someone in a kitchen with wet hands, unable to get a grip on the round base of the plug, pulling on the cable.
It might be common sense to you and me, but we are smarter than most people, aren't we!

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#30 Post by Alisoncc » Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:41 am

plugs.jpg
plugs.jpg (125.36 KiB) Viewed 451 times
Current devices and plugs that might be at the side of my desk.

PSU for Billion Modem/Router.
PSU for Logitec Speakers
Charger for rechargeable batteries
Couple of plugs. One for laser printer and other for table reading lamp.
Add in the charger for my iPhone.

Typically all mains plugs for devices are of moulded contruction. Some like printers, washing machines, fridges, electric jugs, etc have grips to facilitate extraction - see arrows.

There's another strip under the desk providing power to my CPU and Screen, plus 2 Linux boxes with their screen (KVM switcher) and Canon Bubble-jet printer.

I have a similar strip underneath my entertainment "complex" in the lounge. Sony Screen, PVR, Audio Amp and Switcher, Blu-ray DVD player, HQ CD player, and theatre style lighting with dimmers. Using just one outlet on the wall in the lounge. Should I need to, just one switch to switch everything off.

What could be easier with minimal clutter. Perhaps someone could show UK equivalents.

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Sent from my PDP11/05 running RSX-11D via an ASR33 (TTY)

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#31 Post by k3k3 » Tue Mar 19, 2019 11:37 am

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duronic-S125W- ... ZPRX2YSYW4

Strange, I posted a link, which I can see in the edit box here, but it doesn't appear in the thread. Then I posted a .jpg which is also invisible.

Anyway, it's a Duronic S125W 5 Way UK Plug

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#32 Post by Ex-Ascot » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:21 pm

G-CPTN wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:18 pm
Rwy in Sight wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:00 pm
Ex-Ascot wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:47 pm
Anyway trust we are up for a beer or two !7th next month. Got a few hours to spare at the big port.
The 7th sounds fine.
I suspect they mean 17th - with a (!)typo for the 1.
Thank you G-CPTN must have hit the shift. 17th in Athens.
k3k3 wrote: ↑Yesterday, 23:32
EX-A
I hope your red cable drum is completely unwound otherwise you might be adding your own heating to Bots!
I once used a cable drum whilst not fully unwound - the cable melted into a funny cross-section.
Very good point 'induction' if I remember rightly. Actually we haven't. Thank you. No problem so far only one small fan running off it but maybe I should change the system.
'Yes, Madam, I am drunk, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly.' Sir Winston Churchill.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#33 Post by ricardian » Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:24 am

In a case that dates back to 2019, Johannesburg High Court dismissed an attempt by Eskom to compel Oracle, the global software giant, to renew support services until April 2022.
South African electric utility Eskom is set to appeal against a court decision that refused to force Oracle to support software used by the firm while a licensing and payment dispute is settled.
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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#34 Post by tango15 » Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:34 am

unifoxos wrote:
Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:43 am
Too many of these small outfits have gone bust, worth a few quid more for the peace of mind to stick to the big names.
I have noticed this, too. I have also noticed that they seem to pup up like mushrooms, with ludicrous advertising campaigns, such as the ones with the unicorns. I imagine that these companies have no sort of bonding system, as such. OFGEM of course, who is set up to oversee these organisations, does what so many government-funded organisations do, which is absolutely nothing, while British Gas are allowed to carry on charging eye-watering prices for their energy and telling us how good they are.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#35 Post by Pontius Navigator » Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:03 pm

I have suffered two failures. The first was dreadful and I got out from under when we sold our home only to discover the new home was being supplied by them. One bill had not been settled by the vendor and they wouldn't release the meter to another firm.
In the process of resolving that I had to set up a direct debit and pay in advance. As they never answered the phone I said I don't trust them and I will make payments. They huffed and puffed but caved in. I then switched to Yorkshire who were very good but also folded.
Scottish took over in December and sorted out refunds and gave me the same terms. I have yet to receive a bill.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#36 Post by ricardian » Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:31 pm

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#37 Post by llondel » Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:34 pm

ricardian wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:31 pm
Orkney - too clean, too soon!
How's your fresh waster supply? You could use excess power to drive a desalination plant.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#38 Post by Undried Plum » Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:11 pm

I make my own wigglies with a combination of Solar and Windypuff.

Overall, it's a net gain, but the coldest weather in winter involves darkness and nil wind. That's when we get power cuts from the grid and have no petrol or diesel generator.

On a sunny day with plenty of wind we produce 36kW. The price we get from the leccie Company for the juice we export is piss poor, so the car and two PowerWall batts get topped up as a matter of priority. Then the surplus goes to heating a cluster of seven very tall and hugely well insulated boilers. Thanks to an idiotic gumment subsidy, the hardware costs were all paid off within a coupla years, so it's all freebies nowadays.

If ScottishPower goes titsup I won't care, other than as shareholder.

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Re: Electricity Supply Bankruptcy, UK

#39 Post by ricardian » Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:24 pm

llondel wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:34 pm
ricardian wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:31 pm
Orkney - too clean, too soon!
How's your fresh waster supply? You could use excess power to drive a desalination plant.
We have a few boreholes on the island supplying fresh water aplenty.
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