ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Proposed changes to UK Building Regs.

Yeah, something of a contrast. Over here in paranoia-land he'd have been in jail faster than the bullet left the muzzle of the gun.

Alan,
Were you still here when the last round of gun laws were passed?
Those effectively made it impossible even for registered members of shooting clubs to legally retain a pistol, even under lock and key. Apparently rather than hand over their guns to the police quite a few people took them over to France and now take trips over the Channel to go target shooting.

I was still resident UK when the post-Dunblane legislation was passed. While having total sympathy for the families of all those murdered children, this was in retrospect a knee-jerk reaction law. Like many shooters, I sadly said goodbye to my guns. The perpetrator was of course a registered and certificated gun-holder, but the police failed to check him out properly, he had previous violence and instability records. Well, what's done is done, but the fact is gun-crime in the UK has flourished in the years since Dunblane. Respectable shooters are denied their bit of sport, while the real crooks pot themselves, the public and our largely unarmed constabulary with seeming impunity, using illegal weapons. Let's face it, as a gangster, you were going to register your weapons? On the economic side, we never got a fraction of the real value of our guns, which were in large part accurate target pieces, not Saturday Night Specials drilled out from replicas. A friend is still waiting for money for a good pistol- the compensation bureau is, as usual with Government, a total bloody shambles, run by cretins.

Rant over!

I've heard that many serious shooters do indeed use French gun club facilities. As to myself, I shan't start again.
Alan

Paul,
Sorry to actually thread-jack you.
I have very strong views on firearms ownership.
It is one thing that has been hard fought for and won here.
However, I would like this thread to get back onto topic.
I think to a degree Paul, there will be those that will like the new regulations (ie: those that made them), some that will follow them (ie: mainly out of fear) and the rest of them like most people (ie: couldn't give a monkey's), that will not recognise them at all.
Paul,
People don't like being told what to do, especially when they pay them people to work out "Solutions" for them.
I'm working on a paper for the Energy Safety Service here, which I'll go into in another thread.
But, it seems to be only the timid people that get away with most things, anyone that questions anything, surely has to be suspect.
BTW Paul, you've got far too many computers at your house, I'm sure Homeland Security would like to know about them.
Apparently Osama uses XP so you are pretty safe.
I'd better back my files up.

Yeah, we have digressed a little, but for the record I believe we should have an equivalent of the Second Amendment here. Anyway, to get back on track....

I'm not quite sure I understand what is being proposed here. We already have such a meter in our homes which registers that total amount of energy consumed.

Are they proposing that we install individual meters for specific appliances and/or circuits?

The 'meter appliances to educate' idea is a typical crock of twaddle from government- you cannot educate pork! Here's some typical behaviour/remarks of friends, neighbours and relatives.
'A' absolutely refuses to recycle a thing-"Can't be bothered, it all goes in the tip anyway." This person will take the car for a 50 yard trip to the local shop. I seriously doubt she has ever moved more than 20 yards in one go under her own steam since leaving school.
'B' uses her washing machine continuously- 4 or 5 washes a day, often with little more than a pair of socks. "I like to keep on top of the washing." When I mooted our idea of a timer to make use of off-peak rates, I got "Oh, that's too complicated for me."
Often her drier is running on a nice "drying day", forcing my wife to bite her tongue!
'C' opens the door (honestly!) if it's "too hot in here" , with the central heating full on, because "Hubby feels the cold." 'Hubby' is a self-centered, idle, useless twerp, but you can't pick your kith!
'D' has a huge garden, but burns all his garden refuse, and uses energy-burning chemical fertilisers. A compost heap? "No, they attract the vermin." 'Vermin' includes sparrows, butterflies, field voles etc.
'E' controls the slightest sign of rodents, insects, worms, weeds, moss etc. with poisons, pellets and sprays. When I pointed out the dangers to wildlife I got "Well, why are they allowed to sell it then?"
'F' Almost fainted with shock when I showed him a (French) common salamander, a beautiful harmless black and orange amphibian, not venomous and with no teeth, (they swallow by contracting their eyeballs). "I'll have to get some slug pellets if we've got those in our garden!"
This guy's father was a farmer, no wonder the songthrushes have all gone.
'G' has a 36W fluorescent tube burning 24/24 in his garage because he thinks it's "cheaper than turning it on and off".
This is a common belief. I've had several goes at him over this, (he's my son!}

The idea that any of the above, ( and they are pretty typical ), would change their energy usage/ environmentally destructive behaviour because of a display on an appliance or 'education' just boggles the mind.

Alan

Paul,
What will happen is the fact that the PoCo will come around and install a CT-like device to the Phase conductor of your Meter Box.
From there it will monitor the usage of current fed into your house as you use it.
What you will have on the inside of your house is a small interface unit that displays your current usage.
It will sound an alarm when usage gets above a pre-determined level.
Purely and simply, just that.
You determine the level and the controller just tells you that you have broken it.

I guess that could be what they're proposing, although it seems like a typical government attempt to be seen to be doing something, rather than actually accomplishing anything useful.

Mind you, as Alan will confirm, France has had an even more effective system of this sort for years. They just have ridiculously low ratings for supplies so that so that as soon as British visitors try to plug in their big 3kW electric kettle the main breaker trips!


Does anyone remember the thread from a while ago about the power limiters for some rural electrification schemes in Africa? I've done a quick search but can't find it. The utilities are giving flat-rate service with power restrictors on the supply limiting current to very low values, sometimes as little as 1 ampere.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 07-16-2005).]