hayfield

I hade a quick look but it seems its aimed at electric car owners and according to Octopus the rate I am on is the best for me Within this thread I was looking at how to value Solar panel installations as an investment When buying a system my intention was not saving the planet (we are relative low carbon users anyway and I bet our carbon footprint is lower than many of the eco zealots) but to ensure I could afford to heat and light our property without too much damage to our savings. The simple fact that my DDI payments are still the same as 4 years ago, plus I am £300+ in credit as of the end of June. We were very lucky to buy the system when large discounts were available. Certainly after the energy crisis main stream thoughts on energy costs have changed completely, from a nice quaint thing to have, to a financially beneficial addition to the property and perhaps increased the value as well as desirability of the property. For a buyer its an income stream from the property One thing I have not included in my calculations is the devaluation of the savings I used, whilst the interest I lost is minimal I feel I have preserved the value of the investment against the effects of inflation over the past 3 years, I think this should have a monetary value, but I have no Idea this does have any relation to this investment

Is the £40 DDI your total bill for energy ? It seems very impressive especially as you have done 1,500 miles for £2.83 I thought I was doing well at £110 pcm + petrol. When renewing my car insurance I was astounded than in my car I had done 6,200 miles in the last 3 years, which halved my insurance quote, but that's another story

No steps anymore both a lift and an escalator, easy peasy now

Why does Eurostar need to be regional, agreed passengers from the regions need access to it. But part of the problem is everybody has a different idea of where it should run from and to. Neither of which could ever be fully accommodated Understandably connecting both capitals and London and Brussels, but there should have been transport hubs either side of the tunnel for onward UK connections at one end and destination's at the other end. Sadly politics got in the way coupled with old fashioned nationalised railway dogma One of the pleasures of our last trip was going to Brussels, changing trains to Cologne, changing again to Stuttgart. Coming back from Stuttgart in some ways was easier as one train to Garde du Est, but then we had to walk between Est and Nord. This to a certain extent destroyed the simplicity of moving from one platform to another I guess on paper it looks easy, using existing infrastructure is another.

Why does this have to be a problem, St Pancras has 8 platforms, with a maximum of 3 departures a hour and say 2 arrivals' there is a minimum of 3 spare platforms Given the land available in France, there is plenty of space to build some extra infrastructure, that's before we start to either think of sharing facilities or repurposing existing properties Agree if people put their thinking hats on a way can be found

Now this is thinking that could open up new opportunities for the international rail traveler I dont think our journeys was anything like £500 return let alone journeys Selling out means there is plenty of room for additional services I have never mentioned budget, I did suggest a premium class though Stratford to Lile budget service sounds good

If we all took this attitude nothing would ever change, rather than looking for reasons not to change. Lets start looking at what we can do, lets make the round hole squarer. Too much protectionism going on, also too much "this is the way we have always done it" a Dinosaur attitude. Stop being part of an anchor which stops progress. Lets embrace a new world where travelers whish to avoid both London and Paris What's wrong with both Ashford and Lille being used more ? Why does every train go to St Pancras / Paris /Brussels ? Why cannot Lille be the staging point for other European destinations We might not get everything we want, but we might get something better

We have apparently 4 international stations (st Pancras, Stratford, Ashford and Ebbsfleet), don't forget signaling has been updated at the latter 2. Perhaps even 5 if we add in Waterloo (a premium service? A new "Blue" train service) And lets forget its 1 route London to Paris. As far as St Pancras is concerned, it only serves a small area of the country. How about a new hub, or hubs outside London, Perhaps existing or new services to Ashford International ? Then develop Lille, so all tunnel requirements are done at both Ashford and Lille, then use existing services for onward travel. A basic shuttle service for passengers through the tunnel to rail links either side of the tunnel. When the tunnel opened we changed from long and expensive overnight journeys on ferry's to using the shuttle, drive a few hours then stay in a hotel over night, it was both cheaper and far more restful, a far safer way of travelling Rather than staying in London overnight, stay in Ashford, likewise returning stay in Lille overnight. We have now done 5 trips for annual holidays using trains, 4 out of the 5 involve overnight stays along the route, plus we stay in London the night before. We could achieve the same by catching trains (the day before) to Lille (rather than London) perhaps from Ashford). Then catch highspeed trains the next day to our destinations. In fact it could in some journeys reducing the overnight stays from two to one and reduce the overall costs in hotel and train fairs.

But its not just Virgin, the owners of the tunnel are desperate for new business partners, plus other rail companies see business opportunities, not going to happen soon, but never say never

Is it me who doesn't get it ?, which is a rather rude reply https://www.railtech.com/all/2023/11/13/virgin-tunnel-richard-branson-could-challenge-eurostar-monopoly/#:~:text=Sir Richard Branson%2C the British,on Channel Tunnel rail services. https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/05/06/eurotunnel-operator-offers-cash-to-attract-new-cross-channel-services As I have been suggesting, Getlink now seems to think the tunnel can produce new revenue, and clearly Virgin and others can see a commercial venture in the offing Clearly this is not going to happen overnight, and I like others can see the days of limited services coming to an end I would assume the seeds if not being sown, certainly germinated when covid arrived showing the fragility of relying on one user. But I guess this is just part of the ever developing European transport system and a desire to move away from cheap European air travel to a greener transport system Just because we cannot do it with the current infrastructure, doesn't mean it cannot be achieved in the future, I guess the writing has been on the wall for some time, in that a new UK government who wants to be closer to Europe is a distinct possibility since the present regime has been in office for some time (all things come to an end)

I am with Octopus so I will explore whether this rate is wort it for us

Mike I totally agree with you, its not just Heathrow but also Gatwick, both have easy access to the M25 but try and find decent car parking at reasonable costs. Both have rail access but as you have said it relies on usually changing trains in central London, Luton and Stanstead again suffer similar issues (my daughters plane tickets were cheaper than the costs of taxis !!! For years we used Thames link from Watford to Gatwick, sometimes it was quite easy, but with package holidays it was hit or miss about being able to make your connection simply down to the constant delays, we were lucky to be on the Thames link route usually requiring a change at Clapham Junction, but these routes only cover a couple of through routes With our planning system we will never get an integrated transport system.

This is a question that I have been wondering for some time, some look for how quickly they get their money back, I am in the group who look how much it saves me on my dual fuel bills, others may have other values. My original quotation worked on quoting returns on year 1,5,10 and 20. the salesman did say it may over this period need servicing, repair or replacements. But is guaranteed for 10 years My quandary is that the cost and benefits are shown for 20 years, though I expect maintenance costs after the first 10 tears, to cater for these added costs, perhaps I should divide the acquisition costs over the first 15 years and perhaps use the next 5+ years to recover the maintenance costs after the first 10 years Given I paid £2688 for the system, divided by 15 gives me an annualized cost for my investment for the first 15 years. £179.20 Year 1 realized a financial benefit** of £283.74. A return of 58% Year 2 due to the energy crisis the benefit increased to £470.47. A return of 162% Year 3 is 10 months old and so far produced £328 with two of the best months to be added. Projecting a return of £138% for the year ** value of own energy used plus export income To a certain degree the figures were skewed by the energy crisis, plus I got a very good deal due to the covid recession. But had the salesman quoted these figures I would not have believed him. But after 34 months we have nearly reached the 5 year projected benefits on the sales illustration For me the best thing is that my DDI monthly benefit has not changed in 4 years and is on target to cover the forthcoming winter period I expect others will differ on how to calculate the return on their investment, please let me know where I may be getting it wrong

Octopus data has been playing up for the past couple of weeks and this morning I finally got data for the 30th What I seemed to miss is that my energy consumption has dropped by 25% despite this June being colder than previous years, admittedly we were away for a week My total consumption for the month was 153.5KWH (previously 198.8 & 202.3) I used 72kwh of my own production (81.6 & 100.3 kwh previously) I imported 81.3 kwh (against 97.2 & 102kwh) I guess being away perhaps does make more difference outside July and August, but the week we were away it was only 11 kwh less than the other weeks we were at home. So something has happened as June itself has been colder and less sully than previous years

I don't think the gates open into the departure lounge much more than an hour prior to departure, granted sometimes it can be a bit of a scrum outside, mainly due to passengers arriving far too early. I think Eurostar suggest you arrive 90mins prior to departure and no later than 30 mins. This seems very sensible as whatever time we want to get to the station we always arrive a little late, and we stay overnight across the road We plan to get there 2 hours early, so we can book in with the tour company and receive last min instructions, next up is to find a café. Wait for the gates to open for our train. Visit M&S then go through the various checks, we are usually waiting about 45 mins prior to boarding. For early-ish trains we stay overnight and make the evening part of the holiday. I think you can find faults in everything Its strange they are leaving one platform as a siding !! The last train from Paris was late arriving, especially as it came in empty from presumably the sidings. We left a bit late but I think the time was more or less made up

Mike Thanks for your repeated insight into the logistic issues, it seems that the problem is poor design in the first place when the terminal was designed, in the past termini had arrivals and departure platforms, there seems no facility to move a train from an arrival platform to a departure platform, With 8 platforms you could easily have 4 a piece an hour for the arrival and departure, which is a third more than is required at the busiest times. The other solution would be single not double platforms, if each platform needs to be independently separated for arrival/cleaning/departures, however with 8 platforms in 4 independent sections, simple planning would easily overcome these issues. I hear there are known issues with cleaning, its surprising nothing has been done to either ease access or increase the numbers of cleaners, I am certain with the right managers in charge as in your example, these issues can be overcome My own view its in Eurostar's interest to stifle any competition, they should be forced to share the tunnel with competitors. Its anti competitive and the EU is happy to fine large US companies for stifling competition, but turn a blind eye to companies from member states But DB (and any other failing company) should be banned from applying until they can improve their poor performance Let good old Virgin have a crack, they shook up the transatlantic routes

The first thing is to look properly. The time stated on the board was 12.18 and the 12 31 was showing as boarding on platform 5 which is to the extreme left, but no one is on the travellators, I assume the service is running late!! (there seems no stampede to get to the train. In addition there are two more departures in the next hour. I assume they let in passengers for the 13.30 service on time causing the crowding, what you see is not normal But like airports there are times when its a bit busy, only once have I found it like this. Which was due to delays caused by a broken down freight train in the tunnel, as I said passengers are boarding late This year despite 3 departures within the hour, our queue moved very quickly, do hold ups in using out tickets, security checks no holdups and passport control the fastest ever, entering the hall loads of empty seats to choose from. This picture has no resemblance to any of my recent trips. Unlike most if not every holiday flight we have taken. Where we are packed in like sardines at departures, with no refreshments

Belt and braces is to travel to Paris the night before, hotel in Paris so no chance of either train or plane delays affecting the meeting.. Brecky in the hotel and cab to meeting.

Mine are on a single story extension, they are supposed to be self cleaning, if I got my act together I could clean them. Our window cleaner offered to clean ours, but I doubt if they are cost affective

Oh well June is gone, best production of the year so far and it was the disappointing start of the year that took the shine off the performance Still 334 KWH produced, which is better July last year and August for both the previous years With 2 months to go for a third year since installation the cash benefits of my system has topped £330, The first 12 months I benefitted to the value of £283, the second year was £470 (down to high energy rates) and with a full 12 months production hopefully still well over £400. It looks to be aiming to recoup £1200 for the first 3 years, against the outlay of £2700. More pleasing is that my export income has covered the cost of imports and standing charges for the month leaving a surplus of £5 to take off the gas bill

John Just because a ball comes off an opponent (or a goalkeeper saves) unless the opponent deliberately passes the ball (not deflects) its offside. Certainly with a goalkeeper save I cannot understand the logic, its all part of when a player is off side and not (supposedly) affecting play. No doubt as usual there will be a review and the rules will be altered again I think the penalty was even harsher, but in an attempt to resolve one issue they create another Good to see 2 refs sent home for poor performance

JJB1970 In some ways you are very correct, but certainly in the past the upgrades to Garde du Nord have made the experience very much better, plus the lounge this year was better as for the first time they now only let people through an hour and a half or so before departure. We arrived quite early and had to wait until our train departure was opened, far better choice of food than St Pancras However businesses get greedy, this year there is a much larger number of departures. Soon the operators will want more and no doubt the station operator will want to increase their revenue, one way is like Garde du Nord more space and concessions

I think you will find if you use one of eBays promotions its now cheaper. No need to use Paypal anymore (the change reduced total fees) Now the funds are deposited into your bank account the next working day Best of all you get a retail price, not trade Be careful what you wish for, traditional auction sites charge 40% commission, that before expensive P&P charges and trade prices Nothing is valued until its removed

As I said before wait till there is an 80% off selling fees then list. Still its something that cost you nothing, you did not want, and you have a happy buyer and best of all the item has been recycled To me fair to all

Two days of the month left and it will be yet another month down on the previous year, the good news is up in the 300's kwh and much better than feared in the first half of the month, still July and August were not very good last year, hopefully we will have a better summer this year Despite lower production this year, falling energy prices have helped out on balancing the books, with 2 days still to go, good weather forecasts it looks like my exports will cover the costs of imported energy and standing charges, at the moment I am just over £3 up once standing charges for the month and energy used have been deducted. Please note I brought a budget system, so only have 7 panels, but the cost was a reasonable £2677, so don't expect fireworks, but it proves you do not have to spend a kings ransom As a side thought how could we have a value for money index ? £'s per KWH or is there a better way ? My latest bill (May/June) for dual fuel came in at a net £29.36. With lower energy rates for the best part of the next bill, less gas used and hopefully a higher production lets hope the next bill will be even lower, but we need sunshine!!!