steve

steve, 1 day ago

@nlpbot HAOS, so everything is in a container. I've tried manually starting the letsencrypt container, but it just exits without doing anything (and without logging anything useful)

steve, 1 day ago

@nlpbot Yep, looks like manually starting the container now has renewed it, so possibly HA just hasn't been running the container. In any case, its not helpful when all the instructions just tell you to use the web interface that isn't accessible :)

steve, 1 day ago

@nlpbot ah, key bit from the documentation that I missed "Certificates are not renewed automatically by the plugin".. really helpful!

steve, 2 days ago

@Soupy51 When I'm in the middle of a job and need a tool / piece of ardware / etc right now I am not going to order online from some random supplier that happens to be selling through B&Q's website and wait a week for the delivery. I'm going to drive to the local DIY store and pick it up within a few minutes. I can either drive to B&Q, having been unable to check the stock first, or I can drive to a competitor that I know has it in stock because they have a website that tells me.

steve, 2 days ago

@Soupy51 FWIW, B&Q's website is actually really good for stuff that is sold in the stores - it tells me how many items are in stock at each store, and which aisle they are on. The problem is that they have turned it into a "market place" for random other companies to sell online-only, and there is no way to filter them out. All they need to do is have an option to filter out products that aren't sold in the stores.

steve, 2 days ago

@NAB Of course, Screwfix and B&Q are the same company. :)

It does seem weird - seems like they have missed what people use their website for. If people want something by mail order from a random seller, I imagine they will go to Amazon, Ebay or Aliexpress first. Whereas some people will order online from B&Q because they trust the brand, some for click & collect, and I imagine the majority are just stock-checking before going to the store. Making the website a marketplace serves none of these.

steve, 2 days ago

@NAB Oddly enough, the website lets you filter out things that can't be delivered directly to your home, but won't let you filter out stuff that isn't in the store. Its almost like they are trying to push everything online, which completely misses what I've always used B&Q for.

steve, 1 day ago

@NAB Yeah, Screwfix and B&Q are both owned by Kingfisher - their stock isn't identical, but there's a lot of overlap and Screwfix is usually cheaper.

And Wickes used to be part of Travis Perkins but I think they have split apart now.

steve, 3 days ago

@Edent I'm on Intelligent Octopus Go, so 7.5p/kwh for electrons overnight... Is PV actually worth it if you have a battery and can charge it at 7.5p/kwh?

steve, 3 days ago

@jasonkoebler I mean, farmers already have to accommodate weather, having to also take space weather into account doesn't seem like a huge leap...

"We’ve just had two beautiful days from a weather perspective of being able to plant and you know, we just have to sit here."

But you never hear "We've just had 21 beautiful years from a space weather perspective of being able to plant, but it's been pissing it down all weekend."

steve, 6 days ago

@andyprice we went out to Cefn Bryn and the show was surprisingly good. Lots of pinks and greens.

steve, 12 days ago

@ben "In all cases, gravity ensures..." so not suitable for use in space then? :)

Of course, the UK "13A socket" is actually rated for 10A continuous... but you should still have been ok with a 2KW heater. I don't think "don't plug heaters into extension cables" is particularly good advice TBH - there's no reason that a good extension cable should be any more dangerous than a good wall socket (which also usually have switches). IMHO this extension cable is substandard since it claimed to be 13A

steve, 12 days ago

@ben I have some Aliexpress smartplugs which claim to be 16A, despite having a 13A UK plug on one side and 13A UK socket on the other... I'm absolutely sure they aren't CE/BS certified, and no I'm not going to try putting 16A though them!

FWIW, people who need to charge an EV through an extension cable seem to recommend cables sold by Toughleads. Although your experience does show that pulling large currents continuously through even a brand new and properly rated 13A socket isn't without risk.

steve, 12 days ago

@ben I would be tempted to send it back to tesco (possibly together with a copy of your analysis) - despite the design causing the switch to fail safe, I certainly wouldn't want to rely on that happening before the plastic catches fire, so they are selling a fire risk (if they think you shouldn't plug high power stuff into an extension, why label it as suitable for 13A?). Although its interesting that there are neons soldered onto the hot bits and it looks like the solder didn't melt.

steve, 12 days ago

@ben The advice not to plug EV chargers into extension leads mostly seems to be because most EV granny chargers have thermisters in the plug to detect an overheaty socket, and that obviously can't protect the wall socket if its plugged into an extension instead.

steve, 12 days ago

@ben Well, an EV charger is about the biggest continuous load you're going to plug into a 13A socket. Kettles might draw more, but only for short periods, but if you're charging your car with a granny charger you could well be pulling a continuous 10A for 24 hours straight. (As mentioned, UK sockets are rated for 10A continuous, and there's always the concern that an old socket might have loose fitting or corroded contacts, so very possible it isn't up to doing the rated current)

steve, 12 days ago

@edavies @ben I usually charge on a single phase type-2, rated at 32A. If the EVSE tells the car to draw 32A, that's what my car seems to draw, regardless of the voltage. So on low-voltage days, the EVSE screen shows 32A but a lower KW power than on high-voltage days. Although not a resistive load, I guess the charger can tune itself load pretty well to stick closely to the current limit, regardless of the voltage. I rarely use a granny charger, but I can't imagine it would behave differently.

steve, 19 days ago

@bloor @cybergibbons I don't think you should warn them :)

steve, 18 days ago

@danieldurrans this is why the death of Maplin is so irritating... Used to be able to go on and buy a transistor for 10p, but now I need to buy a pack of them, pay postage and wait for them to arrive.