hayfield

On 10/05/2024 at 14:23, adb968008 said:

Theres no competition on Paris & Brussels to London.

As long as that O&D market is matched to capacity available they can command a higher price.
Unfortunately that means passengers beyond these destinations arent catered for.

 

I think these immigration capacity issues are a convinient bogeyman to hide behind what is an optimum scenario right now for Eurostar, which is high prices and full trains on a  reduced service and efficient cost base.

 

Theyve cut the fat by reducing schedules, removing South France, Ski and Disney, Ashford, Ebbsfleet, Calais and focussed on a core.

 

if they add more trains, the result will be additional costs and a lower revenue.. why work harder for less ?

 

I think they are fat and happy right now, with no threats in site, and the occasion fly to swat from the odd toothless MP protestation.

Lets face it no competitor is really coming for a decade, and Flybmi aint coming back, Veuve Cliquot all round to them.

 

Capitalism at work i’m afraid.

 

 

There is definitely no smoke without fire as far as Eurotunnel is concerned and I can accept Eurostar will try and guard their monopoly but they dint own the tunnel or any of the English stations

Whilst I accept Eurostar have cut out some niche services, since last August/Sept when the first to Paris was 8;00 and Brussels 9;00. Paris trains now start from 6.00 and 15 departures a day, now the last train is much later. Brussels now starts at 6;15 followed by a further 9 trains again the last train is later. I see Lille is back and operating

Perhaps the niche services have/will be replaced by more profitable services

However Eurotunnel will want to maximise its revenue as does St Pancras overlords, this time there are two new suiters wanting to join in and Mr Branson's organization seems to have the knack of getting things done. Certainly Eurostar seems to want to diversify as far as train companies to maximise its asset, I guess with Eurostar reducing its services during covid has brought home the danger of only having one operator. 

Dont forget both Ebbsfleet and Ashford were both upgraded with new signalling, perhaps these moves have been in the background for some time.

The one certain thing is change will happen

Anyway we are booked to go through the tunnel in a few weeks, via Brussels this time 

17 minutes ago, Phil Himsworth said:

A system on a north facing roof will generate iirc 60% of what it would on a south facing roof. It makes more sense to install on a south facing roof if you've got the choice, but even on a north facing roof it would be worthwhile. Maybe back when panels were much less efficient this meant a north facing install was pointless, but it's not now.

 

Without a battery an east-west split system is arguably better; the peak and total power are lower, but it's spread more evenly throughout the day and is more likely to still be generating into the evening when you are likely to use it most.

 

With a battery it doesn't really matter as much, as you can use the power whenever you like to some extent. The capacity and charge rate of the battery matters more.

 

 

There are a few tariffs now where overnight imported electricity is cheaper than exported daytime electricity, so (especially if you have a battery) it makes sense to use as much of the overnight power as you can and export as much of your generation as you can. Octopus Intelligent has 7.5p/kwh overnight import but 16p/kwh daytime export; Eon have a similar rate.  This turns things about a bit; clever EV chargers or solar hot water diverters become unnecessary as it's cheaper to use power overnight and use as little of your own generation as possible, the opposite from a few years ago when maximising your own self consumption was the big thing.

Phil

Thanks for the information regarding the information about differing roof directions.

My son in law has found information on high export tariffs during the peak evening period and unless the battery is full only exporting during that time, I think this has been mentioned on this or other threads before

21 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

If your into Lilliput Lane models they're a bargain, they fetch big money.

I think the prices paid by collectors will like anything be dictated by size and most importantly its rarity. As for scale I have no idea what if any scale comes into it ?

The only thing that comes to mind that may increase the value is the wedding couple rather than the removal firm, but then I have my railway modelers cap on rather any knowledge on the subject. Looking at eBay only looked at 2 page worth but no bids

Google states

common models can be picked up for a few pounds.

Confirms my sisters small collection will go to the charity shop if I have to deal with them 

58 minutes ago, sjp23480 said:

We have a ESE/WNW orientation and the panels are partially shaded by dormers on the ESE aspect of the house.  Production is great in the morning, but falls away substantially in the afternoon.

 

When we had ours fitted the surveyor told me that the optimisers were a game changer when they came along. 

 

Previously, the output of the whole array of panels was limited to the least efficient panel, so if one panel was in shade production of each of the other panels was limited to the output of the shaded one.  Apparently.

 

The optimisers (one per panel) mitigates this limitation and makes partially shaded arrays more viable.

 

Happy to be corrected on this.

Thanks for this information, we have partial shade (3 periods) during the day from mid November to early Feb, thankfully this happens during the most inefficient period as far as production is concerned, but confirms my thoughts about the worst panel controlling the output of others. I doubt if the cost of retro fitting optimizers is worthwhile and I guess always affects first and last production periods  

9 hours ago, Qweqwe said:

This is a fair point I forgot to consider! The thing that got me thinking about this topic was the fact that I’ve just bought a house with a double garage and lots of room but I I’m interested in modelling just a small branch line terminus station. Not more than a runaround and maybe a single siding. Which got me thinking with all this space maybe I could consider doing fairly prototypical track work geometry. But anyway my skill level isn’t high enough for scratch building track just yet so Peco large radius will do just fine. But I was still curious about that would be considered most realistic

Not quite true as far as cost,

Wanting something more prototypical certainly rules out most (cheap) ready to run turnouts due to size and design, both of which do not comply with the original requirements

This leaves you with either buying expensive finescale RTR products/ potentially changing gauge/building your own

Taking the latter building your own, British Finescale produce a range of easy to build and competitively price (£30 appx) products in 4 mm scale in 3 gauges

The new kid on the block and in development is Templot plug track, The cost of a turnout base and chairs is under £1 and rail would cost £2 to £3

First of all the system is very easy to build

Probably more detailed and prototypical than anything else on the market

Cheap and reusable filing jigs available 

Not for everyone but in a couple of years may well be far more mainstream for finescale modellers

We have a medium size CooP near us, they have the same roof orientation (north/south) Both east and west elevations are covered in panels

Our roof is 2 degrees off dead due south, plus on a single story roof on a shallow pitch, also prone to partial shading in the 3 winter months

I guess when both energy was cheap, technology less advanced and equipment more expensive, this was the case

Now there is a plethora of both import and export rates/schemes, energy costs rising. I assume the viability equations are changing

As for having panels on east west alignment, whilst you maximise early and late generation times plus much steeper rake  of the panels, but loose middle of the day efficiency, then add the high cost of a larger battery package.

But with the latter you both store more of your own production, but with both peak and off peak tariffs again for import and export usage, you have the energy providers paying you to store their power/help maintain/meet peak time demand

I guess we all were sceptics when early panels came on the market, but the early birds are raking it in with very generous FIT payments, Domestic solar production and storage will continue and in the end be the norm

I try and not get annoyed these days by what others do, infact quite often these false claims make me smile

Had a good chuckle the last week, it was an old style (small cardboard boxed) GEM tank loco, as usual new old stock !!

Nothing perhaps wrong with this except the body was half built !!!

Why should I get annoyed when someone makes a total fool of themselves with a totally inaccurate description, other than it clearly breaks the law of miss description of goods, In my opinion its eBay who should be prosecuted under the trades description act, especially if its caused by or inconjuction with their AI system

13 hours ago, stewartingram said:

Thanks for that. Yes I am registered with them, good idea about contacting them and trying to piggy-back. I'm loath to go with anyone elso, and not get the back-up guarantees.

My son-in -law has done his own research and is having his system fitted this week. Sadly his apex is facing north to south so his panels will be facing both east and west on a much steeper angle than normal (design of the house) plus he is getting quite a large battery.

At the moment he has a hybrid car and charges it at night on cheap rates, part of his plan is to buy cheap electricity (Charging the panels up) at night after discharging his battery during peak hours for best export rates. Exactly how the balance works on when and where to charge and discharge works I assume is controlled by an application based on weather forecasts. But he likes all types of electric gadgets etc

3 hours ago, stewartingram said:

I have to admit I became more interested in solar when you started posting. I tried to sign up with the local council scheme, like yourself, but was too late for that year. I've signed up (as interested) but there has been no more council schemes since. I'd like to think there would be, given the advantages, but who knows?

Stewart

They are still going, I had a quote for batteries I think earlier this year

The problem is they do an area once a year, Essex is not showing anything at the moment

What I would suggest is tif not already registered, register an interest, when it opens aging they will mail you, or just give them a call.

If registered and not received anything yet give them a call and enquire, perhaps piggy back on the nearest

https://solartogether.co.uk/landing

Now I have had time to mull over the figgures, my rational in buying a system was simply to cushion the effect of ever rising energy prices. At that time discounts were available, mine apparently was worth about 40% , so it seemed a good time at least to explore buying a system

I decided to look at all the alternatives, very soon I realised batteries were not necessarily be a profitable investment for me, simply would I need to replace them before I recouped their cost ?

Should I fill my roofs with panels (12 maximum) or go for a smaller but optimum number. Based on the rates at the time, 7 panels in my case on one roof proved the most cost effective

We had some cash in the bank earning us very little, being retired I came to the conclusion that if we did nothing at some point we would have to supplement our income from our savings to pay for our ever rising energy cost. So taking decisive action seemed the sensible course of action, and I am still paying the same DDI payment as I was paying 3 years ago, even after the energy crisis

A few of my piers say they are too old to benefit, but still renew their double glazing or new kitchens, stating it will add to the value of their property, which they end up giving to others. Thankfully home buyers are wising up on the benefits of solar power and having them must reflect in the house's value.  With nearly 3 years of usage my first years return was 10.5%. the second rose to 17.5% and this year seems not far behind, yet the bank interest rate has increased little and the spendable value of my £2688 investment nearly 3 years ago would have reduced greatly by inflation.

In preparation for my third anniversary of installing my system I thought it would be a useful to see how I have benefitted year on year from having them installed

My original illustration had projected my total benefit in year 1 would be £204.59, the combined benefits after 5 years would be £1118.01

What has happened is that year 1 actual benefit was £283.74, pleased it was above expectations

Year 2 ended up with a total benefit of £470.47. Mainly down to the energy crisis

With 8 months of the 3rd year in my benefit has been £218.13 , above initial expectations with the best 4 months to come

I am projecting a benefit for the year of £400  projecting a total for the first 3 years of £1154. which is 43% of what I paid for the system. seven not ten + years to get my money back

Now even when the big discounts have disappeared it still is a good time to buy a system, but rather than a luxury item its turning into a necessary item   

Best day of the year so far 16.1kwh produced. On Sundays we tend to use about 8 kwh (roast then dishwasher).  By 7:30 we have imported 2.4kwh ,

Interesting to see tomorrow the final figures, but the weather forecast is down hill for the next week. Still the first 12 days has produced 131 kwh. Good for early May 

Despite the wash out on Monday the past 7 days has been the best May weekly production for the last 3 years, My exports after deductions for imported power created a surplus of £2.37 reducing my net cost after £5.38 worth of standing charge to £3.01 for the week

My weekly benefit (value of power used and exports to £14.38 for the week, OK its an exceptional week for May, but so far its been a bit of a disappointing start to the year when compared to the past 2 years. On the other hand we were told to expect an average weekly yield of £4.30,  

56 minutes ago, Metr0Land said:

 

Ignire the detail on the desktop thingy.  It's not a smart meter.  When I had one it couldn't cope with peak/off peak pricing etc.  Just use it a s a general guide as to when you're pulling a lot of power from the grid and try to juggle things to avoid drawing too much.

I use it as a guide for importing both gas and electricity, the electric seems to be within 0.1 kwh of electricity when compared with Octopus daily figures, having said this I hardly compare figures but sometimes just look at how we are doing during the day

The best guide is looking out of the window

I must stress than my system was brought on a budget, I was looking for the biggest bang for my buck as the americans would say. A recap of my system which is 2.66 years old, 7 panels costing £2688 to install

Wednesday it generated a surplus of 70p, Thursday 91p yesterday will be much the same and the outlook for today wont be far off yesterdays. Admittedly Tuesday only gave a surplus of 19p and monday our net cost was 98p. There is a standing charge of 48p per day, certainly the past few days have actually made a net profit, all from a budget system !!  OK its been sunnier than normal, but it shows the potential, the last 6 days of electricity usage has cost us a net £1.22, the value of the electricity we have used has been £13.16 (included the standing charge).  

Whilst the cost of energy is expected to fall next quarter, we are now in my opinion about back at the non inflated energy prices.

I have at the moment nearly 2 years worth of actual figures, I could try and get an approximation of the first 8/9 months but it will be interesting to see my actual returns as my third anniversary approaches. The energy crisis will perhaps distort the figures when comparing to the initial sale projections, but in the end its hard cash that has saved. And now I am approaching the 4 year of paying the same DDI amount.

2 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

Latest bill from Octopus, ~3 weeks April and 1.5 weeks May.

 

Total £34.69

Standing charge £18.36 (and it will go up at next review.....)

Car £6.69

House £9.94

 

DD is curr £40pcm which I'll leave, and ~£95 in credit.

 

It won't be easy getting much lower than £35pcm due to standing charge and the fact that not all days will be sunny but I am juggling solar, storage unit, and car as best I can to minimise electricity purchases (I don't export).

You might be pleasantly surprised in the summer months, depending on the size of your system some if not all of the standing charges may also be covered

I have dual fuel Including  standing charges, my projections (dual fuel) for June, July and August vary between £23.48 and £30.28, I have a small solar system and no battery

17 hours ago, burgundy said:

Well, we took the Eurostar trip and, sadly, it may take us a little time to recover from the experience. Our journey was to Lyon, to join a river cruise, for which we were booked to take a Brussels train, with a change at Lille.

The night before, we stayed in the Travel Lodge in Grays Inn Road, which was spartan but adequate. It was also an easy walk to St P.

The following morning, we took the Eurostar instruction to check in 2 hours in advance and turned up at 0700. All the signs indicated that check-in did not start until 0730 and the departure “lounge” was uncomfortably full with the passengers for the preceding trains to Paris and Amsterdam. Unlike an airport lounge, however, passengers are still attached to their luggage, so, per person, they take up a lot more space.

Lille international station lacks charm. It is a modern, purpose built structure with 4 platforms and 2 through roads, with many of the characteristics of a wind tunnel. It also has the paraphernalia required to allow entry to the UK. Its redeeming feature is that it is only a few minutes walk from the city centre, although the courier who met our group, which turned out to be 20 strong, was determined to corral us within the station. We therefore spent 2½ hours, exploring four branches of the same fast food chain. I wonder whether  the timetabling could have been slicker and I heard later that our route deliberately avoided Paris this year because of the Olympics.

Transferring to the TGV was interesting. The company had evidently reserved all its seats in the same coach, which made it easy to get everyone to the right part of the platform. However, imagine how long it can take to get 20 people, all somewhat past the first flush of youth, with suitcases, up a step, through a single doorway and far enough into the carriage to allow all those behind them to board. Finding your seat and then hoisting your luggage above head level to go on the rack, proved challenging for a number of the group.

I think we stress tested both the patience of the platform staff and the scheduled stopping time of the train, but I cannot imagine that it is not a regular event. Exactly the same process played out on the return journey, with the slight variation that we had become a more cohesive group and had identified those members of the party who needed help.

The journey itself was pleasant enough, although the chance to enjoy the countryside can be a bit overrated as you cross the flatter bits of France. I managed to format a useful chunk of the next LB&SCR Modellers’ Digest.

The return journey, starting from Avignon, was a replay of much of the outward trip. We did not set off until about mid-day (mainland time) to be back in London by 1900 (UK time) and, again, I wonder if the timetabling could have been better? The TGV ran about 30 minutes late (not just because of our group boarding), so we only had an hour at Lille – demonstrating why you need to allow a reasonable contingency to change trains when different companies are involved and still leave enough for the customs formalities.

We were on time at St Pancras and got to Paddington in time to catch a Bristol train before GWR went on strike for the following day.

 

Will we do it again?

Given that we paid a premium for the experience, I was impressed that 20, out of 140 on the boat, had chosen to travel by train. I have to say that flying leaves someone else to look after your luggage and, for the most part around Europe, flights are often point to point, rather than involving a change. To be honest, I would think very hard about repeating the experience and Mrs B was rather more forthright and decisive on the subject.

A disappointing result.

 

Learning experiences.

Take something to do; only a few bits of countryside are actually interesting.

Don’t take more luggage than you can carry.

Don’t take cases that you cannot lift above your head (yes, I know that there are racks at floor level, but they are first come, first served).

 

Best wishes 

Eric

Eric

We will start our 5th European trip in a few weeks. Even after last years experience, where whilst in Paris we were informed our Turin bound train was cancelled (5 mins before departure) due to a landslide in the alps the evening before. The fact was that we joined up with the customers of the sister (more expensive) company for the next two days on our journey to Tuscany

We actually love the train experience over the  experiences we constantly incurred on package holidays over the previous 50 odd years, granted we chose cheaper packages which involved overnight flights, most of which were both delayed and involved not very good transit facilities

I accept your comments about luggage and as you say you can pay extra to send your luggage on in advance, though one couple received their luggage 2 days late apparently they locked their bags so they incurred additional checking

I must admit the first couple of holidays changes sometimes were a bit fraught owing to tight times between connecting services. Our last trip (should have) involved a 2.5 hour gap between arriving at Gard du Nord and Gard du Lyon, owing to the landslide this ended up as about a 7 hour gap as new overnight accommodation and train journeys were arranged. But in the end we got to Tuscany probably 5 hours late to our hotel.

After chatting with our friends about our experiences with Rail Discoveries they booked a trip to the Italian Riviera, thankfully they loved it despite the weather (late April trip) and the fact that the line is still closed and they crossed the Alps to Turin by Coach. Living outside they took our advice and stayed overnight in London

For us the train journeys are an enjoyable part of the holiday, so far only once has the departure lounge been overcrowded due to delays after an overnight train breakdown.

This year instead of a 2 day train journey each way, our trip arrives at the destination (southern Germany) in one day, plus first trip via Brussels. Being retired its nice to have a tour manager who takes care of all the travel details and company to sort out any issues (If we were on our own last year I guess we would have just given up and gone home). Things could have been handled better, but this is easy to say in hind sight and no doubt they have also learned from the experiance

One other thing is you now have an application on your phones with all the tours details, maps (even London) and a messaging system with the manager, its very useful as last year an opportunity arose to go to the opera, which my wife eagerly took, the managers on all the 4 previous trips have been excellent always adding to the holiday experiance

As I said this is our 5th trip we now have wonderful holidays, with a grown up looking after us for both travelling to resort and guided trips whilst there, not for everyone but we have seen the style of trips evolve over the years and seemingly they learn from past experiences, next years trip is already in our thoughts. 

4 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

I had a shock last year with an item I was sending by post, looked up the price and then got stung in the post office because I had found the online purchase price. 

 

The price list I am quoting is from the Royal Mail (View our Post Office price guideOpens in a new windowpdf, 3.85 MB) I guess it implies you buy online but send via the Post Office. I guess with the Post office offering two other companies its their way of controlling/increasing their cash flow 

5 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

This is from the Royal Mail "Post Office guide"

 

UK Tracked

Royal Mail Tracked® Tracked 24 Tracked 48 Size

Weight up to and including Price Price Large Letter 750g £3.50 £2.70

Small Parcel 2kg £4.79 £3.89

Medium Parcel 2kg £7.09 £6.29 10kg £8.79 £7.79 20kg £12.89 £11.39

Includes compensation up to  £150 £150

 

Small parcel  1st £4.79  2nd £3.89 Tracked both with up to £150 compensation. The only difference I can see is Royal Mail has reverted back to small package size from medium size (size is important again

 

Small parcel up to 2kg   45 x 35 x 16 cm  (17.5" x 13.5" x 6.25")  Careful packing is required to keep within limits, but compensation up from £50 to £150 

 

There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around what the changes were, but this seems quite clear. However you might have to buy them online then take to the Post Office

Its seems to get the higher insurance you must buy on line and then take the item to the post office.

50 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

And I don't think it's even signed for anymore, just handed over with a smile.

 

I used to use Signed For on smaller sales, but there's not much I would sell for under £20.

 

This is from the Royal Mail "Post Office guide"

UK Tracked

Royal Mail Tracked® Tracked 24 Tracked 48 Size

Weight up to and including Price Price Large Letter 750g £3.50 £2.70

Small Parcel 2kg £4.79 £3.89

Medium Parcel 2kg £7.09 £6.29 10kg £8.79 £7.79 20kg £12.89 £11.39

Includes compensation up to  £150 £150

Small parcel  1st £4.79  2nd £3.89 Tracked both with up to £150 compensation. The only difference I can see is Royal Mail has reverted back to small package size from medium size (size is important again

Small parcel up to 2kg   45 x 35 x 16 cm  (17.5" x 13.5" x 6.25")  Careful packing is required to keep within limits, but compensation up from £50 to £150 

There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around what the changes were, but this seems quite clear. However you might have to buy them online then take to the Post Office

25 minutes ago, NFWEM57 said:

Hi,

 

Thank you, you are correct, it is not for the timbers..!  In my rush to get an answer out before departing for work, I got it wrong..! Apologies.  For bullhead, I assemble the common crossing in place so do not use the jig.

 

But, the jig is good for bullhead only.  Whilst the same approach for flat bottom could be used  there is an issue with clearance. Only 0.1mm space is available between vee and check rail foot so soldering the vee in place first will likely cause solder leakage thus preventing the correct check rail distance being achieved.  That is why I settled on the inverted assembly jig described in another thread.  That is not perfect but I have an idea for a jig the right way up. 

 

Thanks again for spotting my error.

 

Patrick

Patrick

I still think at least the first wing rail could be soldered together using this jig providing an appropriate piece/pieces of shim** are used, you are simply keeping the rails in line with each other

As for 0.1mm gap, providing the rail feet are within specification it should not cause any issues if the wing rails are accurately bent and shaped, however shaving a bit from the foot will not affect the crossing. The important bit is that both rail heads must be inline with each other through the crossing, then the wing rail position is set with a gauge between the vee and wing rails heads

** the width of the packing piece(s) must be at least the same or larger than the foot sticks out from the head

Edit

Regarding your own jig, in my view the important thing is to keep the heads in line !! 

2 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

Tracked 48 for a small parcel is only something like 50p more than 2nd class and has £150 insurance so I always use that for everything now (unless it's worth more than 150 obviously).

 

It's cheap so avoids putting off buyers but only takes 2 days so if I get things out the next day, its plenty quick enough.

 

As an added benefit I subsequently discovered it takes seconds to buy through eBay but I was doing it manually for ages.

 

Doesn't support the post office which is a downside but unfortunately you can't be a capitalist and a socialist all the time :)

One of the reasons for using tracked, but I also use 1st class so it gets there quickly. I explain this in the posting and customers seem to appreciate going the extra mile. From memory only once has someone in the past 5+ years downgraded me on the star rating for postage costs. Simply I charge what it costs and if they don't like it dont buy from me. I try to give a good service, nothing worse than waiting ages for someone to be bothered to send the item, unless that is they have stated due to circumstances delayed posting (at least it gives me the choice

Nothing worse than premium postage charges and lax service !!!. On the other hand if economy service offered and charged for a few days wait is acceptable

4 hours ago, NFWEM57 said:

Good Morning,

 

The slots in the EMGS jig are to position copper clad sleepers so that the crossing vee and wing/check rails can be soldered in position.  It does not work for FB rail because the bearers for FB are wider and the bearer spacing is different.  A picture is a thousand words...

 

Note the width of the bearer at 8AV is wider than the slot in the jig and the spacing is different.

 

 

Hope this clarifies. 

 

Patrick

I may be miss-reading your account about how to use the EMGS common crossing jig (apologies if I have), whilst you are correct it will not work with flatbottom rail, the gaps are not for lining up timbers ** but for allowing thin PCB or metal shim * which you solder the rail to, when build a common crossing sub assembly

The EMGS instruction sheet, showing how to both build a jig then use it

https://emgs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/1_2_1_4_pages_all.pdf

* the strips should be the same thickness or thinner than the foot of the plastic chairs (0.5mm in 4mm & 1mm in 7mm)

** it is a multi angle gauge, where as the timber spacings will alter according to the angle of the Vee chosen and gauge being used

I don't know if the jig could be modified for FB rail, by adding thin strips to the top parts of the jig equal to the overhang of the foot. Allowing the rail head(s) to rest against the jig. it would certainly work with the first wing rail

Weather and visitors stopped me from going to the allotment this morning, which allowed me to calculate my own projected energy costs for the next 4 months, using the average figures for the last 2 years. This in turn will let me make a informed decision on whether I need to up my payments.

My assumptions are based on the average of the past 2 years of kwh imports of gas and electricity and exports of electricity bases on current rates and standing charges

Last month I had to supplement my DDI payment by £2, the next 4 months I have projected will add £299 to my current balance of £175 and the following 2 months simply based on last years figures will add a further £87 making a projected credit of £561 by October against a surplus of £650 last year

I am now thinking of making a token increase of £5 a month just to be on the safe side, unless something dire happens in the run up to winter

I am quite pleased on the outcome of my review and the result of buying a solar system have far exceeded my expectations

Not negative feedback, but I always get proof of postage for items under £20 and tracked/recorded for over. If a customer claims to not have received an item I put a claim into the Royal Mail and let them judge the validity of the claim