Christmas Top10s

[Ivan]

A bit of fun for Christmas, and chance to brag about your achievements.

I propose a number of 'top10' lists:

Biggest Installed Renewable Electricity Generation System (kW) can be wind/solarPV/Hydro/chp
Most kWh generated in the last year by renewables
Biggest Solar thermal installation
Lowest usage of Electricity (must be over the last 12month period, to the nearest bill or reading)

Any others you'd like to see included? OK, you can submit your entries. Might be a prize for the winners (If I can think of something)!

[dinitro]

 
Pile of pants award: for the most ridiculous claim to date on the forum:  No further entries after set period (today...to avoid silly postings)

Major Goofs: for major mistakes in installation ( I would like to enter this one!)

dinitro

[wyleu]

Most spurious use of green marketing.

[Ivan]

I was thinking more along the lines of Christmas cheer - not a post bag full of legal threats for Navitron!

Biggest goofs is a good idea - but you can only nominate yourself, to avoid any ill feeling.

[Tigger]

Here's my self nomination for biggest goof.

Whilst installing my WBS, I had to make holes through the outside wall of the house to bring the 28mm pipes through from the boiler.  They come back in at first floor level in one of the bedrooms and head off to the airing cupboard under the floor.

So, I had cut out appropriate sections of the floor (those horrible big sheets instead of nice and easy floorboards) and was now faced with an open floor looking down onto the living room ceiling.

Cautious was the word here, I didn't want to end up in the living room so I decided to use one of the pieces of flooring as a 'seat' across the joists and provide me with a safe working platform.  What an absolutely excellent idea.

Anyway, there I was, working away at making the holes in the outside wall, sat quite smugly on my safety platform when the doorbell rang.  I put the drill down onto the floor at the side of me, turned round on my safety platform to stand up and then promptly found myself hanging by my armpits into the living room.

My safety platform was not so safe after all.  Well, it would have been had I noticed that the piece I had selected was actually two pieces with a join that was almost invisible.

Thankfully I got away with very little 'other damage'.  The broken platform landed on the carpet, missing both the brand new hand cut stone fireplace, the coffee table and the 3 month old TV.  The ceiling needed to be patched up which was an extra expense I hadn't budgeted for which was a bummer.

As for me, well I laughed eventually but sadly that hurt since I managed to smack my ribs on the joist as I went through the ceiling.

Please laugh, I certainly do now I can look back on it.......

Ian.

[petertc]

I remember something similar but i was about 6 at the time and my dad was replacing the old floor boards up stairs in a bedroom,

as usual i did not listen to him about staying where i was and went over to see him walking on the rafters the next thing was he had a little cadwick looking at him as i was clinging on to the rafter with my hands with my head just showing,

the ceiling i went through was an old horse hair one, all over the washing my sister had just hung up to dry inside  . she was none to happy.

I was very lucky as dad had been removing the old nails as he went otherwise i could have really done some damage to my hands.

I think after that i may have listened a bit more !!

[tange179]

Some mothers do av'em  

[StBarnabas]

Would like to nominate Kristen for his solar water system. Billi for PV - struggling a bit with wind. Would like to nominate Sleepy but he seems to have a screw loose recently!
If there is a special category Frotter, Noel and Stuart must be considered for their excellent "bodging."

StB

[Paulh_Boats]

I would nominate St.Barnabas - for a thoughtful investment of money in PV, heat pumps, solar thermal and 5 chickens.


How about doubling our vegetable production by digging up the grass I carefully laid 20 years ago?  We still have spuds, onions, peppers, chillies, tomatoes left over from the late summer crop.  As you can see over 25% of the garden is a veggie patch - grow bags by shed and conservatory, top right is a wilderness area with small pond and 2 frogs, bee friendly plants and a hedgehog lives under the shed. Needless to say slugs are not a problem!

[Paulh_Boats]

Tomatoes and peppers still ripening in December?    It shows that you can do with a single glazed unheated conservatory and a bit of patience. (all grown from seed)

Much better than importing peppers from Spain or Israel, which is where Asda say theirs comes from.

[Stuart]

Would like to nominate Kristen for his solar water system. Billi for PV - struggling a bit with wind. Would like to nominate Sleepy but he seems to have a screw loose recently!
If there is a special category Frotter, Noel and Stuart must be considered for their excellent "bodging."

StB

The money and effort you have put into greening the chapel is far more impressive.

Frotter defiantly gets my bodging vote, for Ivor, hot tub, and putting me off wind turbines  
looking forwards to Noel's hydroelectric project next year  

Stu

[daftlad]

noel's pit of gravy....mmmmmm gravy..... has to make it on to one of the top 10's?
ta ta

[petertc]

Ivan,

my small grid tie system 640 wp with soladin inverter.

Also not sure if can go in the bodges section with rain water harvesting system and digging for victory stuff

I hope you don't mind self nomination 

I think one award for the navitron web forum it's self for the amount of information that is freely given by every one. 

[wyleu]

Goof nomination.

Chasing  50 * 25 mm plastic trunking into pillar in the room. Measured up, marked up, put in trunking run in joisted ceiling and screwed it down. Then set to with multimaster and a fairly blunt blade ( a favourite combination ) to cut, as neatly as possible the large slot for the trunking. Started at the bottom and worked up, knocking out the breeze block as I went.

Imagine my surprise when getting to the top of the pillar to strike the RSJ...   No choice whole project had to move 450 mm to the right to get round it.


(sorry Ivan I have the forum set to last post at the top...)

[desperate]

Many moons ago about a couple of years after launching myself on the unsuspecting population, Mrs Desp worked with me for a month or so while inbetween jobs. I had to flush out a badly scaled up heating system in a three floor town house in the fairly posh end of Kingston. Trying to make a good impression we laid loads of dust sheets and had many buckets and rags at the ready. All went well on the first day, we took each rad off in turn took them out to the garden and blasted lots of black sludge down the drain with the hose, the system was filled and bled, bingo it worked 200% better, the customer, a very pleasant french couple were so pleased. Mrs Desp and I were feeling pretty good, so after the final fill with inhibitor etc , we went off to the cafe to celebrate.

On our return the Lady of the house greeted us with a cup of coffee and went back into the kitchen, I headed upstairs to the top floor to begin the final bleed and the customers son of about 7 years old came out of his bedroom and said with a cherubic smile "Look Mister,   Water" and pointed to a stream of water pouring out of the light fitting.  OH GAWD, rushing up to the top floor I was slightly aware of some dark marks down the wall: into the bedroom, a perfect parabola of water from the rad bleed right onto........................the bed, through the bed onto the floor and out of the light below, all across the floor and down the walls of the ground floor, including some Japanese looking prints.

I fully expected the customers to throw a big wobbly as I fessed up and ate vast amounts of humble pie, but they hardly batted an eyelid and didn't create any fuss, they even offered to pay me as agreed, but didn't object when I refused payment.

We have a very tangible and embarrasing reminder of this episode, as we rushed around like headless chickens trying to stem the flow Mrs desp bashed her open sandled toe on a small step just outside the front door, and to this day she still has a deformed toenail, we sometimes  both catch sight of this and laugh. Funny thing though Mrs desp landed a temp job only a day or two later.

Desperate