Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 13/11.

[Fumbler]

13 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Using the atrium as a heat source - they're there (hooked up to a differential temperature controller) to pull warm air into the house if it's warmer out there than the thermostat set point inside the house proper.

That's clever. Still working strong I suppose?

I do like unique ideas these houses have.

[Zelandeth]

4 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

That's clever. Still working strong I suppose?

I do like unique ideas these houses have.

Yep, though to be fair it sees little use.  Not because it's not effective but because the house is just so ridiculously well insulated that it's seldom needed.  Main thing we tend to use the fans for is in the summer when we've got the furthest away windows in the house open to promote a through draught to help keep the place cooler.

Getting heat *out* is a far bigger challenge we find than keeping it in.  We've still got the original boiler from 1981 and our gas usage is negligible.  The roof of the atrium has solar preheaters for water to the hot water cylinder as well, so in the summer that provides about 80% of the water heating.

[Fumbler]

Just now, Zelandeth said:

Yep, though to be fair it sees little use.  Not because it's not effective but because the house is just so ridiculously well insulated that it's seldom needed.  Main thing we tend to use the fans for is in the summer when we've got the furthest away windows in the house open to promote a through draught to help keep the place cooler.

Getting heat *out* is a far bigger challenge we find than keeping it in.  We've still got the original boiler from 1981 and our gas usage is negligible.  The roof of the atrium has solar preheaters for water to the hot water cylinder as well, so in the summer that provides about 80% of the water heating.

Such an interesing and innovative design. I do wish more houses still had these systems installed.

[Zelandeth]

I really don't understand why thermal solar isn't more widespread.  The panels are so simple to make that there's no reason for them to be expensive, the payback period should be pretty short. 

Just a shame we can't see what each thing is contributing any more as the previous owner ripped out the controller and monitoring hardware which used to handle everything more automatically.  It also had a readout which allowed you to see things like what the incoming water temperature from the solar was.  Really wish that was still present.

Really wish the kitchen remodel which saw it binned hadn't happened...the layout beforehand made far, far more sense.

Never, ever, ever buy a house that's been owned by an interior designer... Everything she had touched was 110% form over function and had been both made and fitted by the lowest bidder.

[Zelandeth]

Well you've got to love self-healing faults!

Noted when taking the van over to the garage today (not having had a chance to even look at the brakes over the weekend) that she was pulling up perfectly straight now, rather than pulling strongly to the right.

On the rollers and sure enough brake balance was spot on.

One adjustment of the headlights later...

It's a clear indication that the front brakes need to be inspected and cleaned up though so I'll do that once the weather sorts itself out a bit.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 5/2/2021 at 2:43 PM, Zelandeth said:

....Never, ever, ever buy a house that's been owned by an interior designer... 

The cobbler's children are often the worst-shod.

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Well you've got to love self-healing faults!

Noted when taking the van over to the garage today (not having had a chance to even look at the brakes over the weekend) that she was pulling up perfectly straight now, rather than pulling strongly to the right.

On the rollers and sure enough brake balance was spot on.

One adjustment of the headlights later...

It's a clear indication that the front brakes need to be inspected and cleaned up though so I'll do that once the weather sorts itself out a bit.

Nice to see Ye olde camper has an MOT once more  

bet your happy to be back behind the wheel knowing how you like driving large vehicles and the such like  

tis one of the best vehicles to be picked up by at MKC train station ill say that, no way in hell are you going to miss it pulling into the Parking lot LOL  and if you do im pretty sure your legally entitled to a white stick

and lots of fun to be a passenger in as well because van

[Zelandeth]

What is it with traffic jams around here lately?  Sheesh.

Anyhow...Everyone (myself included) will be glad to hear that the aero hybrid wipers on the van are no more.  A conventional set has replaced them and looks far less silly.

Nothing for making you realise how badly degraded a set of wipers was than fitting a new set!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Someone's been on the local news, apparently....

[GrumpiusMaximus]

On 5/2/2021 at 2:30 PM, Zelandeth said:

The roof of the atrium has solar preheaters for water to the hot water cylinder as well, so in the summer that provides about 80% of the water heating.

We used to live in a converted stables that we rented from an old boy that lived next door.  Former engineer of some kind.

He'd fitted solar panels to the roof but also a solar water system.  The problem that he had was that there was no gas to the property at all so all the water heating had to be electric (or solar) and it also had under-floor heating (that we never used!).  We had the electric boiler on a timer for a few hours in the morning and the evening but for the rest of the time the solar system would do all of the hot water and on a sunny day it was really very effective.  Certainly adequate to keep some warm water cycling into the system.  Solar panels took the sting off the electricity bill too. 

Excellent system and it was well-installed.  Never had it before or since...

[dollywobbler]

Ah yes. I saw on the CCC Facebook page that your house had been on telly. The Xantia was recognised. 

[Zelandeth]

Yeah, BBC were doing a couple of minute segment on the 40th Anniversary of the Homewold 81 expo - with focus on our house unsurprisingly given they commissioned the build of it.  While segment including archive footage an overview of the site and speaking to the original owners was only meant to be a couple of minutes...so not sure how many seconds of my waffle was included.  Hope I didn't make too much of an idiot of myself

Just irked that because I was running late because the pressure washer died while I was trying to give the path a clean before they arrived that I didn't have time to get changed - was going to make an effort to look slightly less scruffy!

[LightBulbFun]

does anyone have a link or screenshot or such?  

the Facebook link from @Tadhg Tiogar is for group members only sadly so I cant see whats contained within

not going to lie I want to see if TPA managed to make it onto TV  

[Tadhg Tiogar]

See: homeworld2021.uk/#programme

Also this film

[Zelandeth]

Think we're about 14 minutes into the program here - note this link will only work until about 1830 today I believe as things like Look East are only cached on iPlayer for 24 hours.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000vvdc

Really disappointed that they didn't correct the aspect ratio of the archive footage...C'mon guys, you're the BBC for crying out loud...

I do have copies of all of the programs (I'm aware of!) which featured this site, if anyone actually wants to take a look let me know and I can make a link available.  For obvious copyright reasons I can't upload to YouTube or anything like that.  Which is a shame as there's no way to actually get hold of the footage...we asked the BBC shortly after moving in here and they said it wasn't available.

 

[LightBulbFun]

17 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Think we're about 14 minutes into the program here - note this link will only work until about 1830 today I believe as things like Look East are only cached on iPlayer for 24 hours.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000vvdc

Really disappointed that they didn't correct the aspect ratio of the archive footage...C'mon guys, you're the BBC for crying out loud...

I do have copies of all of the programs (I'm aware of!) which featured this site, if anyone actually wants to take a look let me know and I can make a link available.  For obvious copyright reasons I can't upload to YouTube or anything like that.  Which is a shame as there's no way to actually get hold of the footage...we asked the BBC shortly after moving in here and they said it wasn't available.

 

ahh no TPA sadly, but I still was grinning my ass off seeing the luminous Beige BX in the background etc  

 

and the Pool table with the Sun tester in the background

and I like how they framed this shot to make sure the Modern was not spoiling the view too much (wonder if that was intentional or not LOL)

I wonder what other Autoshite cars have managed to work their-way onto TV etc?

[R1152]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Think we're about 14 minutes into the program here - note this link will only work until about 1830 today I believe as things like Look East are only cached on iPlayer for 24 hours.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000vvdc

Really disappointed that they didn't correct the aspect ratio of the archive footage...C'mon guys, you're the BBC for crying out loud...

I could go on about the decline in technical standards in broadcasting, but I won't.

This is from the BBC's own production guidelines at https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjsjlf4qtm68xc3/TechnicalDeliveryStandardsBBCFile.pdf?dl=0

Quote

1.8.3. Picture Aspect Ratio
Archive material that is not 16:9 should be zoomed to fill the 16:9 raster where possible without compromising the image quality or composition. Alternatively, it may be presented in a pillar-box or letterbox format, which:
• may be of an intermediate ratio between 4:3 and 16:9, but must be of consistent width across sequences;
• must be centrally framed in the 16:9 raster;
• must show no geometrical distortion;
• must have clean and sharp pillar-box edges (i.e. any video or film edge artefacts may need to be blanked);
• must be black outside the active picture, unless otherwise specified by the broadcaster.

I've captured the broadcast via get_iplayer.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

It's on the Vimeo documentary, at 24:24. The Money Programme house....

 

There's even a Mk.1 Scirocco here:

Anyone remember Valerie Singleton?

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

See: homeworld2021.uk/#programme

Also this film

 

12 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

It's on the Vimeo documentary, at 24:24. The Money Programme house....

 

There's even a Mk.1 Scirocco here:

Anyone remember Valerie Singleton?

 

I assume you meant to link to this video?

https://vimeo.com/540791219

rather than that of a Citroen CX for sale?  

[bobdisk]

6th pic down, a beige backside ! 😁  !

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-56996505

[Zelandeth]

Sheesh, could they have picked a less flattering picture of me...

Though to be honest it's not *the* worst photo of me...the one the Press & Journal snapped of me during a public transport consultation community meeting holds that record.  Snapped me in mid sentence so mouth open and basically looking straight up my left nostril.

[bobdisk]

On 5/6/2021 at 1:56 PM, Zelandeth said:

Think we're about 14 minutes into the program here - note this link will only work until about 1830 today I believe as things like Look East are only cached on iPlayer for 24 hours.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000vvdc

Really disappointed that they didn't correct the aspect ratio of the archive footage...C'mon guys, you're the BBC for crying out loud...

I do have copies of all of the programs (I'm aware of!) which featured this site, if anyone actually wants to take a look let me know and I can make a link available.  For obvious copyright reasons I can't upload to YouTube or anything like that.  Which is a shame as there's no way to actually get hold of the footage...we asked the BBC shortly after moving in here and they said it wasn't available.

 

Ah, sod it! missed the BBC Look East of 5 May ! Cant find it anywhere. The BBC pull it altogether from everywhere after that 24 hours. Wouldnt mind seeing what you do have, though.

[LightBulbFun]

On 06/05/2021 at 15:51, R1152 said:

I've captured the broadcast via get_iplayer.

 

6 hours ago, bobdisk said:

Ah, sod it! missed the BBC Look East of 5 May ! Cant find it anywhere. The BBC pull it altogether from everywhere after that 24 hours. Wouldnt mind seeing what you do have, though.

perhaps you could some shady back ally dealings with @R1152 for his copy?  

[bobdisk]

13 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

 

perhaps you could some shady back ally dealings with @R1152 for his copy?  

That would be nice !  What do you say,   @R1152    ?

[R1152]

@Zelandeth Once upon a time, if you contributed to a programme you could request a copy of it from the Beeb?

[Zelandeth]

I've got a copy of the program saved locally here.  I'll try to chuck it somewhere accessible later and will drop you a link. 

Sadly it seems like most of the archive footage from this project the BBC has has been contributed by the general public who were involved at the time, at least when we last enquired shortly after we moved in they said they didn't have anything in the archives relating to Homeworld 81 or their involvement in this house's construction and the subsequent system testing over the next few years.

[Zelandeth]

Right...I think all of you who have shown interest in the HomeWorld '81 stuff should have had a PM now with a link to the material I've got.  If I've missed anyone, feel free to pipe up.

 

Seems to be a week for disintegrating wiper blades - Xantia decided to start shedding the rubber from the driver's one while I was out this morning so that too has joined the New Wiper Blade Club.

Disappointing to see the hybrid blades fail so quickly.  They performed very well, but at that price they would need to last at least twice as long as they did for me to consider putting them on again...so back to conventional ones it is.  To be fair, they look absolutely daft on anything made before about 2010 anyway so probably for the best.

[bobdisk]

All your new wiper blades should amuse @dollywobbler  !😁! 

[Floatylight]

On 5/8/2021 at 3:45 PM, Zelandeth said:

I've got a copy of the program saved locally here.  I'll try to chuck it somewhere accessible later and will drop you a link. 

Sadly it seems like most of the archive footage from this project the BBC has has been contributed by the general public who were involved at the time, at least when we last enquired shortly after we moved in they said they didn't have anything in the archives relating to Homeworld 81 or their involvement in this house's construction and the subsequent system testing over the next few years.

Could I have a look Zel?

[Zelandeth]

4 hours ago, Floatylight said:

Could I have a look Zel?

PM with link sent.

Had hoped to get TPA out today but it's bloody windy out there today so hardly ideal weather...blarg. 

Have had a chance to do very little over the last week as boring mundane homeowner and responsible adult stuff has been keeping me very busy.  Sadly not likely to be a huge amount of change there in the immediate future.

If I do get any free time this week probably the main jobs will be reuniting the now clean(er) carb with its inlet manifold and returning it to Six-Cylinder, and tackling the replacement of the front brake discs on the Jag...which has only taken me a year and a half to get around to...but I'm sick fed up of getting my teeth shaken out every time I brake.