Author Topic: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.  (Read 1577082 times)

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12275 on: 09 July, 2020, 01:13:53 pm »
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
...how come we can't go in and browse the shelves of libraries but can do so in bookshops?
My guess?  Councils have less money than bookshops and can't afford the cost keeping the public spaces and surfaces "clean".  A more cynical thought is that because of the funding cuts to councils they are going to use the, "But no one was using it." excuse to close them permanently, but I may be being unduly jaundiced in my view of things.

I suspect it's also because library books will "travel" through many homes and be handled by many people. How long the virus might persist on them is a different question, but playing safe is cheaper.

The books will be “quarantined” for 72 hours. I’d be inclined to surmise book shops are private enterprise and non-unionised. But I may be equally as jaundiced in my views as Lurker.

When lockdown started here in March I began quarantining all our mail.  Some of the window envelopes are still untouched.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12276 on: 10 July, 2020, 10:23:21 am »
Me. "I'm going for a shower"

Mrs B.  "Ok"  *sets off washing machine*  *does washing up*  *has poo* etc etc.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12277 on: 10 July, 2020, 11:36:33 am »
Me. "I'm going for a shower"

Mrs B.  "Ok"  *sets off washing machine*  *does washing up*  *has poo* etc etc.

... so a variably cold/lukewarm shower?

Rob

ian

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12278 on: 10 July, 2020, 12:33:01 pm »
I spent my formative years being alternately frozen and scalded because my parents or my sister would turn on a tap somewhere every time I was in the shower. You'd get the ice-water as they turned on the tap and then the scald as they turned it off.

To this day, I have a fear of combo boilers. They'll take my hot water cylinder from my warm, damp hands.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12279 on: 10 July, 2020, 02:35:31 pm »
I HATE MY COMBINATION BOILER AND ITS ASSOCIATED PLUMBING!

We have had ours for four years. I miss our hot and cold tanks...

Why on earth do these abominations get touted as A Good Thing? (Yeah, yeah, planet, fuel etc)

Two people can't usefully use the plumbing independently. It's a pain for a couple; must be awful for a family!

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12280 on: 10 July, 2020, 03:14:38 pm »
Me. "I'm going for a shower"

Mrs B.  "Ok"  *sets off washing machine*  *does washing up*  *has poo* etc etc.
shower together?

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12281 on: 10 July, 2020, 03:27:19 pm »
I find that the trick is to take her up a cuppa, which will hopefully keep her in bed for at least 10 minutes. Refill the kettle just in case.

... so a variably cold/lukewarm shower?


I don't understand how this works.  How does running the cold tap make the shower cold? 
Luke warm? If only.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12282 on: 10 July, 2020, 03:34:21 pm »
I think the cold occurs when the showeree has adjusted to a reduced cold flow and then the cold tap (or toilet cistern) stops running and the cold pressure doubles!

ian

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12283 on: 10 July, 2020, 03:44:32 pm »
It wasn't just the cold, it was the rebound to several moments of super-heated water (made all the worse by the fact you've just been soaked in cold water) the moment the cold tap closed. I assume all the owners of combo boilers must be familiar with the shower dance.

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12284 on: 10 July, 2020, 03:56:23 pm »
I assume all the owners of combo boilers must be familiar with the shower dance.
Can't speak for the millions of others, but yes.

I have learned to time my shower for when the wife is not running a bath.  Or flushing the bog.  Etc.

barakta

  • Bastard lovechild of Yomiko Readman and Johnny 5
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12285 on: 10 July, 2020, 04:00:48 pm »
We just tell the other (mostly) "I'm having a shower/bath, don't run bloody water kthx" and if the other does run water, chunter at her.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12286 on: 10 July, 2020, 04:44:30 pm »
All that ^^^ sounds like our system before we got a pressure-reducing valve installed on the main. We now have an even 4 bar throughout, and if someone e.g. flushes the bog when you're showering the valve simply lets more through.  Mind you, our cold taps are directly fed from the main and the hot via the BFO heater in the cellar, which runs off-peak.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12287 on: 10 July, 2020, 04:46:22 pm »
We don't do showers (and their use with a combi boiler sounds very unpleasant) but *any* demand on the water drastically reduces supply elsewhere.

If the washing machine enters the rinse cycle, filling the kettle is a challenge.

Want to wash your hands in hot water after flushing the bog? You'll have to wait....

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12288 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:11:46 pm »
We have a combi boiler but we also have an anbaric shower. That is a shower in which the water is heated and pumped by anbaristic magick, not one which showers you with anbarons.

Anyway, I'm kind of lukewarm about the combi boiler. It means you never run out of hot water but you almost always have to wait. I'm also not really sure why it's called combi. Can it be fitted in a dormobile?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12289 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:28:47 pm »
We don't do showers (and their use with a combi boiler sounds very unpleasant) but *any* demand on the water drastically reduces supply elsewhere.

If the washing machine enters the rinse cycle, filling the kettle is a challenge.

Want to wash your hands in hot water after flushing the bog? You'll have to wait....

Sounds like your pressure is pretty dismal.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12290 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:30:51 pm »
All that ^^^ sounds like our system before we got a pressure-reducing valve installed on the main. We now have an even 4 bar throughout, and if someone e.g. flushes the bog when you're showering the valve simply lets more through.  Mind you, our cold taps are directly fed from the main and the hot via the BFO heater in the cellar, which runs off-peak.

That sounds interesting..
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12291 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:36:47 pm »
There are only 2 of us and we only have one bathroom - it is right next to the kitchen and therefore pretty easy to hear when the shower is on and therefore know when not to turn the tap full on or start the washing machine.
I will admit to a bit of sneaky tap running to get the tea & coffee going in the morning but I take care to have it on quite slow and just for a few secs.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

ian

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12292 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:43:27 pm »
We have a giant hot water cylinder to satisfy my extravagantly sudsy bath-time needs, plus there's only two us and two cats, and the cats never knowingly bathe (though LMC fell in once, she plans to have the forgiveness paperwork completed by 2072). Though my wife never takes a bath either because she's odd ('soaking in your own filth' was her reference to the divine marinadory practice).

Anyway, there's enough hot water that it's never run out, even when we have guests or when someone who looks suspiciously like me with a hangover falls asleep in the shower for twenty-five minutes. Our hot water is generally annoying* though, but I think that's because we have small bore pipes that take a Wonkaesque voyage around the grand state of Surrey before returning to the house. Honestly, the hot water goes downstairs to the kitchen, then to the downstairs toilet, and only then comes back to the upstairs bathroom, which is next to the cylinder. Yes, we would have had the corrected had someone mentioned during the refurbishment. The main shower is connected directly via the sort of pump normally found in riot-control cannons. You could replicate the experience of the back-up shower, in comparison, by holiding a small incontinent kitten above your head.

We do have splendid cold water pressure. If I connect the hose, I can water gardens three houses away.

*ok, it's minor gripe, I can just read a book in the time it takes to fill the bathroom sink with hot water to shave.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12293 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:44:21 pm »
Shirley this is FWP fodder?

In our case, pumped shower, bungalow, no hot pressure, 16 year old daughter who could shower for Britain.  Good job I don't like a hot shower, barely warm for me thanks (excepting ex winter audax when it's warming me back up).

HTFU, you lot :demon:
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12294 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:51:49 pm »
We don't do showers (and their use with a combi boiler sounds very unpleasant) but *any* demand on the water drastically reduces supply elsewhere.
If the washing machine enters the rinse cycle, filling the kettle is a challenge.
Want to wash your hands in hot water after flushing the bog? You'll have to wait....
Sounds like your pressure is pretty dismal.

Our pressure is HIGH and water from the kitchen taps has a horrible splashy character.
The pressure into the upstair loo cistern fill has been reduced so it takes ages to fill but still reduces flow to the boiler.
Downstairs cistern fills before I can get to kitchen sink (no handbasin in privy) but pipe run from upstairs boiler is long and hot water takes AGES to arrive.

Did I tell you how much I DETEST this system?

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12295 on: 10 July, 2020, 05:52:49 pm »
I grew up in a house with water heated by solar and wood. Tank in the attic.

Cold from a big concrete tank up the hill.

No thermostatic showers. If someone turned on a cold tap while you were in the shower, a scalding ensured, followed by a freezing, because you'd rapidly turned off the hot water just before someone turned their cold tap off. Reverse happened if they ran a hot tap.

Kids these days, don't know how lucky they are.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12296 on: 10 July, 2020, 06:11:59 pm »
Here's the SCIENCE of what happens:

https://youtu.be/Di5VT5PzH1Y
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12297 on: 10 July, 2020, 09:07:39 pm »
We have a combi boiler but we also have an anbaric shower. That is a shower in which the water is heated and pumped by anbaristic magick, not one which showers you with anbarons.

Anbaric showers have the potential (pun intended) to be pretty good, but there's nothing more miserable than shivering under the trickle from a 7kW landlord-spec shower with the flow restrictor (euphemistically labelled as the 'temperature knob') turned all the way up to compensate for barely-above-zero incoming water.

For bonus points add one or more of:
- Low voles on the mains supply
- Ancient single-glazed window that doesn't close properly
- Mould
- Shower hose that leaks
- Plughole clogged with hair and/or vegan soap residue
- The afore-mentioned water pressure shenanigans

Happiness is measured in litres per minute, and a combi does a better job at keeping up with demand, if a bit sluggish at modulation.  The gold standard is a full tank of hot water and a pump to deliver it.

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12298 on: 10 July, 2020, 09:38:35 pm »
Living in a bungalow, water pressure and flow rates from cold and hot tanks were always a problem.

Then last year, as part of bathroom renovation, we had a mains pressure hot tank of considerable capacity installed, and all cold taps put on the mains. Now have a powerful shower and and a fast filling bath.


Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #12299 on: 10 July, 2020, 09:43:38 pm »
If I had my choice in such matters, the toilet(s) would be fed from a tank in the loft, irrespective of other plumbing arrangements.  Quieter, fewer dribbly ball valve problems, and means you can still flush if the supply is interrupted.  Bonus points for arranging to fill it with rainwater when available.