27 August - The sting in the tail
This
short blog should have come to you yesterday but a couple of unwanted problems got in the way.
I had left some tools in the loft after I changed a ball valve up there at the
beginning of the year. I opened the trap door and found the space above buzzing
with wasps. Under a cloud of aerosol killer spray I retrieved the tools unscathed and shut the door.
Pest Control is one of those services dropped by Bexley Council many years ago
so if anyone knows of a reliable expert in a white suit…
The tools were required because I decided it was time to give my gas boiler its
annual check. It has been turned right off since March because it is more than
35 years old when pilot lights were a thing and it makes no sense to burn it
through the summer when the solar panels take over water heating.
Spare parts are not easy to get hold of but mainly it only needs cleaning and
mine being the only boiler in the cul-de-sac not maintained by British Gas it has been
the only one never needing replacement. One neighbour is on his third gas boiler.
However my luck has run out and something has gone wrong with the burner. It
looks like a carbon monoxide generator to me.
So if anyone knows a competent engineer who might have to fit a new unit into a tight space…
For the record, my Smart Meter said that fiddling with the boiler for at most a couple of minutes, cost 22 pence.
I know of two people who have Air Source Heat Pumps and very pleased with them.
The latest ones seem to be quiet and more efficient than before but there is no
point in having 300% efficiency if electricity costs four times as much as gas per kilowatt hour.
The only way around that is a battery filled on an overnight cheap tariff to run
the ASHP during the day. That is a serious amount of money and I suspect I am too old
to ever get the money back.
What should have been reported yesterday was the feedback from
Thursday’s report
on Manifesto lies. I was reminded of the fairly obvious. If the excuse for
spinning lies is that the mistake was made honestly and sincerely is actually
true then the Leader of Bexley Council is totally incompetent and far too
gullible when it comes to reports from senior Council officers. I am expecting @tonyofsidcup
to vigorously contest the whitewash.
I think I
too prefer the original explanation whereby the Leader relies on her Directors to
write lame excuses for lies. But that sort of loyalty comes at a price.
Depending on which of Bexley’s out of date web pages one consults, the value of
the Chief Executive’s pay package went up from £220,205 to £236,535 this year
(†) with similar increases right across the board.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance put the figure at £244,972.
† Part of the difference comes about due to changes to
the Employer’s National Insurance contribution.