The news thread

[aaid]

1 hour ago, exile said:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/extraordinary-image-shows-raucous-xmas-25699183

So that’ll be Shaun Bailey who was chair of the GLA Police and Crime Committee - until he resigned this evening - which has oversight of the Met, who are refusing to investigate these parties.

Funny that. 

[aaid]

https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-simon-case-downing-street-london/
 

Maybe they should get Lesley Evans in to do the investigation now she’s retired. 

[thplinth]

This guy is systematically taking them all to the cleaners... and he has hardly started.  

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/12/17/covington-teen-nicholas-sandmann-settles-275-million-defamation-lawsuit-with-nbc/

 

[vanderark14]

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/quidditch-change-name-citing-jk-rowlings-anti-trans-positions-rcna9149

I couldn't help laughing at how pathetic this is. 

 

[aaid]

3 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/quidditch-change-name-citing-jk-rowlings-anti-trans-positions-rcna9149

I couldn't help laughing at how pathetic this is. 

 

Anything to do with Harry Potter and supposed adults is pathetic tbf 

[Grim Jim]

This was in the paper the other day and news to me.   Source here...

Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law

I'll have to buy 3 new interlinked smoke detectors and possibly a heat detector (depending on whether a carbon monoxide detector coming this week with a boiler already contains the latter).

I can see a lot of folk baulking at the expense.   I guess I'll be following the letter of the law, but consider 3 smoke detectors overkill for me personally considering their close proximity to one another in my wee hoose.

[TDYER63]

4 minutes ago, Grim Jim said:

This was in the paper the other day and news to me.   Source here...

Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law

I'll have to buy 3 new interlinked smoke detectors and possibly a heat detector (depending on whether a carbon monoxide detector coming this week with a boiler already contains the latter).

I can see a lot of folk baulking at the expense.   I guess I'll be following the letter of the law, but consider 3 smoke detectors overkill for me personally considering their close proximity to one another in my wee hoose.

The IT guy in my work mentioned it to me the other day and I said the exact same thing re the expense.
Thing is your home insurance could be void if you dont comply. 

[Orraloon]

1 hour ago, Grim Jim said:

This was in the paper the other day and news to me.   Source here...

Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law

I'll have to buy 3 new interlinked smoke detectors and possibly a heat detector (depending on whether a carbon monoxide detector coming this week with a boiler already contains the latter).

I can see a lot of folk baulking at the expense.   I guess I'll be following the letter of the law, but consider 3 smoke detectors overkill for me personally considering their close proximity to one another in my wee hoose.

There will be millions of smoke detectors which are now obsolete. They'll probably all end up in landfill eventually. How tae fuk is that saving the planet?  I don't think the folk who came up with this nonsense legislation have ever done a risk assessment in their lives. Somebody will be making loads of money out of this. 

[TDYER63]

43 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

There will be millions of smoke detectors which are now obsolete. They'll probably all end up in landfill eventually. How tae fuk is that saving the planet?  I don't think the folk who came up with this nonsense legislation have ever done a risk assessment in their lives. Somebody will be making loads of money out of this. 

There is no list of approved suppliers or fitters. You can buy both types of alarms online or in store from a number of retailers, and any qualified electrician can fit the mains-wired type.

I believe @dandydunnhas just put down a cash deposit on a 10 bed mansion. 

[thplinth]

Buy very simple battery ones from a decent manufacturer with the radio link. Get rechargeable batteries (you are mad if you don’t already) and don’t call an electrician. Won’t be that bad. 
edit the battery ones must be disposable ones not with replaceable batteries. Pfft usual robbing bastard shite. Been screwing private landlords for years and now doing it to homeowners.

Edited December 20, 2021 by thplinth

[exile]

Former Glasgow School of Art chief Muriel Gray takes BBC role (Times)

Muriel Gray, the former chairwoman of Glasgow School of Art, has been named as the BBC Board’s nation member for Scotland in a move described as a “brave choice” by a former reporter...

[dandydunn]

59 minutes ago, thplinth said:

Buy very simple battery ones from a decent manufacturer with the radio link. Get rechargeable batteries (you are mad if you don’t already) and don’t call an electrician. Won’t be that bad. 
edit the battery ones must be disposable ones not with replaceable batteries. Pfft usual robbing bastard shite. Been screwing private landlords for years and now doing it to homeowners.

Worst bit of advice out there. 

 

1 hour ago, TDYER63 said:

There is no list of approved suppliers or fitters. You can buy both types of alarms online or in store from a number of retailers, and any qualified electrician can fit the mains-wired type.

I believe @dandydunnhas just put down a cash deposit on a 10 bed mansion. 

Nah, sticking with the 5, can’t be arsed moving again and I have only half finished my bar 🤣

[dandydunn]

3 hours ago, Grim Jim said:

This was in the paper the other day and news to me.   Source here...

Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law

I'll have to buy 3 new interlinked smoke detectors and possibly a heat detector (depending on whether a carbon monoxide detector coming this week with a boiler already contains the latter).

I can see a lot of folk baulking at the expense.   I guess I'll be following the letter of the law, but consider 3 smoke detectors overkill for me personally considering their close proximity to one another in my wee hoose.

Where would the 3 go in a small house?

You need hallway, upstairs hallway and living room with a heat detector in the kitchen. 
 

If you don’t have an upstairs, then you’ll only need 2. 
 

The carbon monoxide doesn’t need to be interlinked either. 
 

There is cheaper ways to go about it if there’s already one there already, don’t dive straight to the 10 year lithium ones without asking questions first. 
 

Anyone needing advice about them, feel free to ask away. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by dandydunn

[thplinth]

8 minutes ago, dandydunn said:

There is cheaper ways to go about it if there’s already one there already, don’t dive straight to the 10 year lithium ones without asking questions first. Anyone needing advice about them, feel free to ask away. 

Hi Dandy, first time caller here... so what is the cheapest way on the battery powered ones? 😀

[Grim Jim]

1 hour ago, thplinth said:

Buy very simple battery ones from a decent manufacturer with the radio link. Get rechargeable batteries (you are mad if you don’t already) and don’t call an electrician. Won’t be that bad. 
edit the battery ones must be disposable ones not with replaceable batteries. Pfft usual robbing bastard shite. Been screwing private landlords for years and now doing it to homeowners.

Yeah, you spotted the catch.

[Grim Jim]

16 minutes ago, dandydunn said:

Where would the 3 go in a small house?

You need hallway, upstairs hallway and living room with a heat detector in the kitchen. 
 

If you don’t have an upstairs, then you’ll only need 2. 
 

The carbon monoxide doesn’t need to be interlinked either. 
 

There is cheaper ways to go about it if there’s already one there already, don’t dive straight to the 10 year lithium ones without asking questions first. 
 

Anyone needing advice about them, feel free to ask away. 

Aye, that's my 3.   It's only three steps from middle of my hallway to the middle of my kitchen, and no door.   Nobody else out there got a hall/kitchen? 😆   I'll see what the boiler boys bring first.

[thplinth]

19 minutes ago, Grim Jim said:

Yeah, you spotted the catch.

I did not even spot it. I had the same issue not so long ago when I was replacing my CO alarm...  And I just suddenly thought they wont be allowing rechargeable batteries on smoke alarms neither. Went looked it up, yep. They are just rolling out the private landlord controls into our personal homes now... this will just be beginning.

Edited December 20, 2021 by thplinth

[dandydunn]

22 minutes ago, thplinth said:

Hi Dandy, first time caller here... so what is the cheapest way on the battery powered ones? 😀

The cheapest way to do them electrically, would be to hard wire them, but this isn’t always possible, depending on access to different floors and future decoration costs, as below, photo 1.

If you already have a mains powered one, need more and hardwiring isn’t an option, you could use photo 2 as a base and then fit photo 3 to the rest of the house, again, with just the push of a button to link them together.

 

As I say, they are more expensive, but you save on the cost of potentially having a sparkie in for a day, lifting floorboards, making holes in ceilings and then needing a decorator to tidy up afterwards.

The most important part though and I’m not just saying this as it makes me money, is to make sure they’re installed and certified by an electrician.

I can’t be 100% sure, but if you’re unfortunate enough to ever need them and claim on your insurance, they’ll most likely to ask for certification to show they’ve been properly installed, as they really are thieving bastards.

Dont let the costs below put you off, that’s screwfix prices, we get them much cheaper than that, but there is cowboys out there that are taking £400-£500 off of people for a basic house.

Ive done a few myself for a lot less than people have been getting quoted by gardeners and plumbers.

 

 

[dandydunn]

24 minutes ago, Grim Jim said:

Aye, that's my 3.   It's only three steps from middle of my hallway to the middle of my kitchen, and no door.   Nobody else out there got a hall/kitchen? 😆   I'll see what the boiler boys bring first.

Yeah, you would need both. The heat detector will (as it says) detect when there’s an unnatural heat there, where as a smoke detector will go off when you leave the toast in for too long. 
 

That will be a pain in the arse, I’d recommend a door 🤣

[Grim Jim]

14 minutes ago, dandydunn said:

...That will be a pain in the arse, I’d recommend a door 🤣

Aye the single one we currently have at the top of the stairs goes off when I sear a steak!   So at least it works.

Am hoping the interlink doesn't mean I have to do a lap around them all.   Though not far apart, as said.

Thanks for the extra info.

[dandydunn]

12 minutes ago, Grim Jim said:

Aye the single one we currently have at the top of the stairs goes off when I sear a steak!   So at least it works.

Am hoping the interlink doesn't mean I have to do a lap around them all.   Though not far apart, as said.

Thanks for the extra info.

No, silencing one will silence them all. 

[davierobbsagod]

As a former time served spark I've had lots of people asking if I can install these for them and for the reasons DD gave earlier (lifting floors ,cutting ceilings etc) I've said no to them all but did do a search for the wireless ones for a pal and sent him the links so he could put them up himself (virtually plug and play)

Anyway he also asked me If I can do an EICR for the flat, again it was a no so he had to shell out for a proper company to do it for him.

So the EICR was done and they have condemned his smoke detectors (he bought the cheaper version with replaceable batteries....not the tamper proof link I sent him)

 

So my question is, why is the sparky condemning the smoke/heat detectors when the legislation is not enacted till Feb 22 surely as it stands now they are suitable .Although he realises that he will have to change them for Feb 

[thplinth]

Smoke detectors are obviously a good idea (i bought them before this legislation) but I was doing it for a fraction of the cost before the government waded in.

One thing I bought recently was a couple of fire extinguishers. I figured if I am paying for a couple of smoke alarms why not get a couple of extinguishers to go with them to put the fucking thing out! They were surprisingly cheap.

edit: And  I'll save you the time looking it up, good quality brand powder multi purpose ones...

1kg - car 

2kg home

6kg office/factory

rough guide only

Edited December 20, 2021 by thplinth

[thplinth]

2 hours ago, dandydunn said:

The cheapest way to do them electrically, would be to hard wire them, but this isn’t always possible, depending on access to different floors and future decoration costs, as below, photo 1.

If you already have a mains powered one, need more and hardwiring isn’t an option, you could use photo 2 as a base and then fit photo 3 to the rest of the house, again, with just the push of a button to link them together.

 

As I say, they are more expensive, but you save on the cost of potentially having a sparkie in for a day, lifting floorboards, making holes in ceilings and then needing a decorator to tidy up afterwards.

The most important part though and I’m not just saying this as it makes me money, is to make sure they’re installed and certified by an electrician.

I can’t be 100% sure, but if you’re unfortunate enough to ever need them and claim on your insurance, they’ll most likely to ask for certification to show they’ve been properly installed, as they really are thieving bastards.

Dont let the costs below put you off, that’s screwfix prices, we get them much cheaper than that, but there is cowboys out there that are taking £400-£500 off of people for a basic house.

Ive done a few myself for a lot less than people have been getting quoted by gardeners and plumbers.

 

 

Cheers min. I believe you. If I was living in the NE still I'd be phoning you up for jobs I need done. 😀

50-85 quid is still robbin bastard level. Even 20 for the stand alone unit is high.

I rent out a flat and have experienced all this and it really does mount up, especially if you encounter a rip-off merchant...

And who is vulnerable to all this... pensioners, how are they going to cope with all this shit. Road to hell and all that...

[dandydunn]

6 minutes ago, thplinth said:

Cheers min. I believe you. If I was living in the NE still I'd be phoning you up for jobs I need done. 😀

50-85 quid is still robbin bastard level. Even 20 for the stand alone unit is high.

I rent out a flat and have experienced all this and it really does mount up, especially if you encounter a rip-off merchant...

And who is vulnerable to all this... pensioners, how are they going to cope with all this shit. Road to hell and all that...

You’re last part is particularly true. My father in laws partner told me a guy was going around her old mums area and charging £550 for the same thing I priced for their house, which would’ve been less than £200 as it’s family 🤬😂

Unfortunately, this is the world we live in where people really have no morals and only see £ signs.