"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
. 1...
On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 12:09:26 +0100, Nick Finnigan wrote:

Conclusion: a microwave is just about as efficient for one
cup of tea, but slower.

Define "efficient".

(Useful work done) / (Energy input)

To make a mug of water hot enough for a decent cup of tea in our
1.24kW input (Cat E, 800W output) uwave would take 2 mins. Our kettle
(2.9kW) will boil the same amount of water in 45s (just timed it).

uwave = (1240/60) * 2 = 40W
kettle = ((2900/60)/60) * 45 = 36.25W

(Assuming you mean Whr not W)
So the calculated input energy for the kettle is within
10% of the estimated input for a 65% efficient uwave.
'just about' the same, given the likely errors.

On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 14:01:26 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Hmm. Mine is provided by a ruddy great 4 ft long rod droven into the wet
clay...

When I rigged the auto-start genset (cow-methane powered !) we'd had
to upgrade the earthing considerably. 'Leccy board wouldn't let us
rely on a single rod, we had to bury a grid.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 14:01:26 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Hmm. Mine is provided by a ruddy great 4 ft long rod droven into the
wet clay...

When I rigged the auto-start genset (cow-methane powered !) we'd had
to upgrade the earthing considerably. 'Leccy board wouldn't let us
rely on a single rod, we had to bury a grid.

I have this strange picture in my head now of Andy standing in a field
cranking a cow's tail as someone nearby is holding a dimly glowing bulb
shouting "we need more power".

--
James...
http://www.jameshart.co.uk/

"Tony Hayes" wrote in message
...
Now that the power cut season will soon be here again I've been thinking
about getting one of those small petrol driven generators which could be
put
to good use as well as acting as an emergency electricity supply -
basically
running the central heating and some lighting.

In use, is it simply a matter of connecting an 'extension lead' with
trailing bank of sockets to the generator and using this in the house to
plug in your essentials? Or is there a way of putting some sort of
permanent system in the house which can be connected to the generator?

Sorry if this sounds a bit vague.....

All I am going to do, is make a cable up with a plug on each end, fitted
with a 3 Amp fuse, fasten it to the generator so that it wont get separated.
Then switch off the mains at the fuse box and plug the genny into the
nearest 13 amp socket. I bought the genny for just this reason, after seeing
that the possibility of power cuts may take away our use of the central
heating. Its gas powered, but as you know, the pump hast to run and the gas
control valve needs power. After this, all the rest is a bonus. We don't
have a large freezer, so the contents can be a total loss if power is off
for more than a couple of days.
OK I'll lose the RCD system, but at least I will be able to run the central
heating and a couple of lights, possibly even the TV. The house is PME by
the way, so I might have to hook up an earth to my earth rod.
All that remains, is to open a curtain to see when the power comes back on
again and reverse the connections.

Dave

On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 22:30:43 +0000 (UTC), Dave wrote:

All I am going to do, is make a cable up with a plug on each end,

PLEASE, PLEASE don't. One some one *will* leave that plugged into a
live socket and catch hold of the now live and lethal pins at the
other end.

Also take serious note about the lack of N E bonding on a generator
and the earthing requirement of the generator.

The other thing to bear in mind is that some one is also bound to turn
on something that is far to large a load for your generator. What
happens then is unpredicatable, it may simply stall, it may stuggle
badly with the volts and current going all over the place causeing
damage to it or other connected equipment, or it might appear to cope
but burst into flame a short while latter.

All that remains, is to open a curtain to see when the power comes
back on again and reverse the connections.

How does that show the power is back on during the day? It wouldn't
work up here anyway, nearest street light is 1 1/2 miles away fed off
a different 11kV line.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail