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That's a very good point and not something I had given much thought to! I have used ours more than I had thought I would. I commented in the video that you needed to be careful to stir the ingredients all the time that the Saute heat was being applied. Even though I've tried to do this, I have found that some 'burning' has taken place on the non-stick bottom, which now cannot be removed without damaging the non-stick. So, yes, it's very useful, but the Saute heat is a little bit fierce I think. Cheers, Chris

@@handyman-at-home The heating element for the sauté function probably has a hot spot, plus, as you said, it's on the fierce side. But even under the best of circumstances, frying things at the bottom of a kettle is an awkward thing generally. I do my 'frying' in the air fryer because I would abandon the whole thing fairly quickly if I had to fry in the soup maker.

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you found it helpful. Cheers, Chris

@ Thanks chris, the way you explain things in so simple terms and demonstrate is amazing mate, i appreciate it

Glad you're pleased with it. Thanks for the feedback. Chris

Hi Andrew, I'm not an expert on any of this ... but I'm fairly sure the fact that your starter is on the side rather than the end (as was the case on the double fitting I showed in the vid) is not significant at all. What matters is the type of ballast inside the light fitting itself and, unless there's any sort of product information on the outside, the only way to find out the type of ballast would be to remove the cover and take a look inside. Obviously if you're going to do that, make sure the electricity is off at the time. If you can find any type of product number, or photograph a label, you might be able to find out what type it is by using google etc Cheers Chris

@ Thanks Chris - I will check the google offerings to find out what the ballast in my type of light is for starters as the fitting is now 50 yrs old!

Hi, Thanks for watching the vid! The max DC charge/discharge current that my inverter can support is 62.5A (3kW), which is well within the cable capacity The cables are also protected by 80A fuses in the isolator However, I totally agree that you would need to uprate the connections (by paralleling up or using some form of busbar system or both) if you had a more powerful inverter, capable of higher current operation Cheers Chris

Thanks!

Hi John, I.T.S Technologies, it's currently £912 + VAT (has come down since I bought mine).... www.itstechnologies.shop/collections/pylontech-us2000-us3000-phantom/products/pylon-us5000-1c-4-8kwh-li-ion-solar-battery-48v-excl-brackets Cheers Chris

@ Just on their website as it happens, if vat is no longer added then it’s a good buy. I forgot to ask about delivery, but I can as when I contact them. Many thanks for coming back. All the best.

Their delivery costs are not cheap - I’ll say that - but the stuff is always well packed and arrives in good nick and on time. I’ve just had some extra panels delivered which I’ll be adding into my system in the new year. Cheers

@ Thanks for your reply, wishing you all the best.

Hi, Thanks for commenting. I must admit that I hadn't considered whether the motor bearing was the possible cause... I'm still of the view that the motor was burnt-out, but after 12 years use I'm sure the bearing wouldn't have been in tip-top condition! After tinkering it for a little while longer, I eventually just stripped the whole mower down and listed the usable parts (excl. the motor) on ebay - netted around £80 in the end, with just the top cover currently left unsold. Cheers, Chris

Hi, and thanks for the feedback. Agreed - it was a real newbie error taking the readings with so much daylight coming through the window🤦‍♂️. My intention was to try and give a simple comparison between the old fluorescents and the new LEDs, but clearly it's a lot more involved than that. Have been doing a bit more experimenting with the light meter app and have found it's very variable - sometimes it's almost spot on, and sometimes it's a million miles (or lux!) out. Been looking at some of the cheap(er) light meters on Amazon and am not convinced that they're a great deal better to be honest - any recommendations? Cheers, Chris

@@handyman-at-home Hi, like everything, you get what you pay for. I use a Hagner EC1 meter, but they're difficult to source, and are about £350. Too much to pay for occasional use. I wouldn't look at anything under £100. The other issue is that they all (despite the manufacturer's claims otherwise) drift in their calibration over time. I've seen meters that were 30% off after a few years. But, it's impossible to determine the accuracy and recalibrate without access to very sophisticated lab equipment. Your basic finding that LED tubes are not as bright as the fluorescents they're replace is spot on. Some might find they're brighter than the old lamps they take out because fluorescent lamps decline in light output over time. A rule of thumb figure is 30% drop in output after 20,000 hours burning. But older tubes will give out far less. I hope that helps.

Fair point. I ended up giving it a second coat.

Hi, Don't know if you've already made a decision to purchase, but I also reviewed another sleep headband .. th-cam.com/video/zjkLKsMVxhk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=y-q2SX42FYnwTGqP Although it was too small to fit my head 😧, my daughter says it's very comfortable! Cheers Chris

@handyman-at-home yea I ordered the snoozeband 2.0 already. I think the adjustable strap on the other one might annoy me too much. The velcro on the snoozeband looks much more comfortable

👍

@@handyman-at-home it finally arrived. took a bit to be delivered to germany. testing it out right now and its definitely not crazy sound quality, as to be expected from such small speakers. especially the base seems pretty weak. but it doesnt sound that bad for what I'll probably primarily listen with it so should be fine. and its not like it sounds terrible, so thats all cool. gonna have to see how it feels when I'm actually lying in bed but I'll update again in a day or two

Thanks 👍

Thanks. I insulated between the rafters with some Rockwool / loft insulation and then covered the whole lot with the aluminised bubble stuff. Left a few air gaps here and there to try to avoid any moisture and mould build up. It definitely improved things a bit (in the colder months) but I reckon I still lose a lot of heat via the main garage door. Thought about insulating that too but never got round to it. Don't have a problem in summer - just open the back door and there's plenty of fresh air. Regarding the flat panel LED lights, I actually bought one a year or so ago with a view to trying it (mainly to improve lighting for the videos) but I'm struggling for space where to fit it. I really need to take the wood rack, ladder rack and air filter down so I could start with a blank canvas .... just haven't got round to that either, as yet 🤣

Hi, There's a removable (white) washable filter that sits just under the dust bin - you can see the top of it when you lift off the dust bin for emptying, and you can also wash the (orange) removable filter that is located at the very bottom of the vacuum. We haven't needed to wash either yet - a quick brush out (done outside) gets rid of most of the dust/dirt, but I guess they'll need washing at some point. Cheers, Chris

@ oh so you wash both and dry it?

Yes ... this from the FAQs page ... www.hooverdirect.co.uk/products/hoover-upright-pet-vacuum-cleaner-with-anti-twist%E2%84%A2-blue-hl4#faqs (But as I say, we've had ours for a few months and I haven't felt the need to wash either yet - just brushed out the pre-motor filter outside a couple of times - but it'll probably need a wash soon😊 ) How do you clean the exhaust filter? 1. Push the exhaust filter cover release button upwards. 2. Remove the exhaust filter cover from your cleaner. 3. Press the exhaust filter release latch and remove the filter. 4. Remove any excess debris from the filter. 5. Clean the filter using lukewarm water. 6. Leave the filter to dry for 24Hrs before re-fitting. How do you clean the pre-motor filter? 1. Remove the dust bin assembly from your cleaner. 2. Remove both pre-motor filters from the main product unit. 3. Remove any excess debris from the filters. 4. Clean the filters using lukewarm water. 6. Leave the filters to dry for 24Hrs before re-fitting.

Agreed. Quite a few people commenting on this video make the point that fixtures that incorporate LEDs, rather than using removable LED bulbs/tubes, may not prove to be the best long-term approach, given that you have to replace the whole fixture when the LEDs fail. Don't know which you did, but I guess it comes down to the cost and whether you're happy doing any re-wiring, or whether you need to pay an electrician. The remaining fluorescent fixtures in my garage are pretty old now, so will need replacing in some way or other - whether that's with these LED tubes, or complete new fixtures (which I'll fit). Either way, they'll be LEDs. 👍

@ I replaced all the fittings as they were secondhand 25 years ago, so were well past their sell by date! I bought the new units from Screwfix during a sale. Now I need to replace the units in my home office as well.

Thanks for the feedback. If I'd have wanted to make a video that only lasted as long as it took me to actually swap the two tubes, it would only have lasted 3 minutes..... what took you so long ....?😧

Thanks. Cheers, Chris

Boom boom! Don't give up the day job...

@@handyman-at-home . 0/10 Must try Harder. .

Horse to water and all that ....

Totally agree. Cheers, Chris

Hi, I'm open to being proved wrong, but I'm not sure that's the case, as there's nothing in the instructions to suggest that, and it would surely lead to a lot of customer returns..? I'll give it a try when I get a chance and report back.

Thanks for the great feedback. I'm often concerned that my videos end up being too long compared to others - and there's always room to improve my editing skills - but it's nice to hear that you found it positive, rather than receiving the odd snarky comment (which goes with the territory I guess). Cheers, Chris

Ja, ich stimme zu. Obwohl in meinem Spülbeckenabfall tatsächlich ein Teil kaputt war, ist die Auf-/Ab-Bewegung immer noch nicht so zufriedenstellend, wie sie sein sollte, selbst nachdem ich sie durch die neuen Teile ersetzt habe. Meiner Meinung nach muss das Zug-/Druckkabel einen zu engen Radius haben, sodass es schon nach kurzer Zeit steif wird. Sie können einen einfachen manuellen Stecker wahrscheinlich nicht verbessern. (I hope that translates correctly! 😊)

Thanks. If you're ever in the area, it's a great place to visit!

Thanks. That's interesting. Looking at the instructions, it says that these particular tubes are only compatible with ferromagnetic battens when used with the LED starter provided, or with LED replaceable battens (that don't have starters at all). It says they're not compatible with battens operating with electronic ballasts. Doesn't say anything about the option of taking the old ballast out of the circuit ... but it seems that there are also tubes on the market that work with both types of battens. One of the other comments names these - can't remember but might have been Philips - so I guess it's a case of double checking the instructions that come with any particular tube. Cheers, Chris

Your correct take the cover disconnect all the control gear and from each endcap insert a live and neutral plug in yuor lamps and throw the starters in the bin

🤣🤣

Thanks for the feedback. Glad it proved helpful. Cheers, Chris

Yes, I may try a couple of daylight (6000K) at some point. Cheers, Chris

Thanks for the feedback 👍

Totally agree. We’ve been looking for some new lighting fixtures for our living room and it seems the manufacturers are really pushing those with integrated / onboard LEDs, but whilst they might look ‘cool’ and ‘fashionable’ I’d be very wary about their longevity. Perhaps not so much of an issue if you’re just buying a cheap n cheerful thing that you could afford to replace after a couple of years if it went wrong, but if you’re talking about something more expensive, then they’re not for me. Cheers, Chris

Totally agree with your comment about integrated / onboard LEDs, but especially so if you’re buying an expensive fixture, per my comment to Firebrand55. Cheers, Chris

Cheers, Chris 👍

Hi and thanks for the feedback. I did take take the 'lights off' readings when I was experimenting with the position of the LED strip but forgot to do those for the main test 🤦‍♂️ For sure, I totally agree that using an app on the phone is nothing like using a calibrated light meter, but I was only aiming for broad brush comparisons. Regarding power ratings, the fluorescents I was replacing were 58W, with a claimed brightness of 5200 lumens each, giving a theoretical total of 10,400 for the pair. Compared to that, the new LED versions were only 3300 lumens each, giving 6,600 in total, but they were the highest that were readily available. So my layman's expectations that the LEDs would be brighter (without having looked at the specs for the fluorescents beforehand) was clearly unreasonable, but I guess one of the points I was trying to get over was that for most people(?), they'd probably just waltz into Screwfix or similar and get what they thought was a 'like-for-like' replacement, but which in fact is significantly less bright than a new fluorescent would have been (if you could get hold of one). But it's obviously less so, once the fluorescents have be used for quite a while - I'd guess the ones I swapped had been there for 5 to 7 years maybe (and still have life in them), but I have no idea how many hours that would correspond to. All very interesting stuff once you dig into it. Cheers, Chris👍

It would remove another variable if the tests had been done at night, thereby removing the (considerable) contribution from sunlight.

Thanks 👍

Is that on the principle that the fleece will tend to fill in any small holes? I found it needed two coats to really 'gunge up' around the staples, so something like fleece or similar would probably have helped a lot. Thanks, Chris

The main thing I've had a problem with is door locks. Had to return a couple because in one case it'd been badly assembled, and the other was missing a couple of parts. (I suspect what happens is that people return stuff that get's put back into stock without anyone checking it first). The one thing I will say is that I've never had a problem getting a refund or exchange. Cheers

I don't think it's Screwfix (Although they are a lesser store since B&Q bought them) but products in general today. The drive for cost reduction which we all take advantage of means almost all products are worse than they were twenty years ago when advances in technology should be making them better.

💯Couldn't agree more. Whenever you buy something that comes with screws included, they are inevitably soft as ***t and chew up instantly you try to use them e.g. light fittings, curtain rails etc etc. Contrast that with a 50+ year wooden cabinet that I took down for someone the other day. Solid brass screws, in as good a condition as the day it was made. OK, they were slotted head, which can be more of a pain than Posidrive, but perfectly serviceable to reuse for another 50 years. Compared to the cheap stuff which just goes straight into my recycle scrap bin. "... Progress ..."

Thanks. Neither did I 😊

Glad you found it useful. Yes, I think they've been around for a few years, but I hadn't been aware of them until it came time to look for a replacement fluorescent tube on Screwfix and they didn't have any in stock anymore. Cheers, Chris

Totally agree that completely new LED battens visually look a lot better. Not too much of a worry for the garage, though may end up fitting a couple in the end, as some of my remaining fluorescent fittings are getting quite long in the tooth. Cheers, Chris

I’ve done the same in the garage. The new battens are excellent and were easy to fix

I know what you mean. I've still got 4 single fittings with fluorescents in them, but being a tight wad, I'm only going to replace them when they finally give up the ghost ... Cheers, Chris

@@cypeman8037 I fitted electronic starters, which seemed to speed things up a bit.

Thanks - didn't know about that, though probably should have, considering one of my daughters is an optometrist 🤣 Anything that makes me feel more energetic in the winter is a good thing...!! 🤣🤣