20 Apr 2012 19:01:In the UK we are used to having the switch on the live line so that when the device is switched off, it cannot be live. In effect this makes little difference to the functioning of ac equipment, but it is a safety feature which can catch out the unwary. I have noticed the complete abandon in the polarity of the equipment in our Spanish place and wherever possible have altered things so that the live is switched and on the same side of all the sockets. As you say the amperage of a fuse in the UK is largely ignored, with most people fitting the ubiquitous 13a, which will actually take a far higher current before it blows and poses a far higher risk to the user if some sort of circuit trip is not installed. I rather like the neat Spanish plugs, far nicer than our great clomping devices and even thought of fitting them here in the UK. My electrical engineer friend was horrified and forbade me to do any such thing! In Spain all of our devices (inc washing machine) work off the uni-directional plug as standard, but since the supply is only 5amp, I guess this is OK. Some electronic equipment however is omni directional (I had a PCB destroyed because the switching of the load was acheived electronically and the chip blew when connected the other way around), so it pays to check.
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11 Mar 2012 20:01:You are correct that Amazon.com versions do not get free 3G outside the USA, whereas .co.uk versions do, strange or what? My son-in-law lives in the USA and their version will not pick up 3g in the UK!
M.
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04 Mar 2012 13:49:Oh yes it can! I have to agree with bobaol, the Kindle keyboard has tiny alphabetic buttons which are very insensitive and the Kindle is not made to hold whilst you are operating the keys. Also, to get numbers or punctuation, you will have to shift each time and select from a list of options. You can only use certain (Google based) email addresses as others will freeze when displayed (like mine), or come out in the wrong format. We get our daily newspaper and although in a different format to the published copy, it's easy to use and provided you have two kindles on the same account, as we do, you can have 2 copies for the same price which saves fighting over the hardcopy! The cautionary bit is that the web connection is experimental and could be charged at some time if Google feel that users are gobbling up too much band width.
M.
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02 Mar 2012 13:15:Before the avalanche of replies hits your mailbox, you will find that this subject has been extensively covered elsewhere on this site. We have been using a dongle (USB Mobile Broadband) for some years and we are on a PAYG tariff (from The Phone House) that is no longer available. However, there is a bewildering array of tarriffs from a wide choice of suppliers both on contract and PAYG, so it is best that you choose one which suits your pocket. When we are in Spain, I buy 1GB data each month, as that is the standard on my service, but it is far more than I actually use. So much in fact that I log on at 07.00 each morning and off at 22.00 and still only use 700 MB per month, but then I only pay 20 euros for the 1GB. One problem we have is the reduction in speed when a lot of people are on line and the weakness of the signal (3G) as the nearest transmitter is on the far side of of our apartment block. Also I understand that some services have to be maintained by a minimum amount of activity each month.
M.
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23 Feb 2012 22:35:Hi Furoner. Except for my own air to air heat pumps in our Spanish apartment my experience is in the UK. Also, I have been retired from a large consultancy practice for 4 years now, so my knowledge is not 100% up to date. Undoubtedly a heat pump system is going to be the most economic way of heating / cooling using electricity. Ground source is the best if you can afford it as the soil is consistently warmer than the air in winter (in the UK it's 10 degrees C even when the air temperature is below freezing) and cooler than the air in summer. It is usually considered that boreholes are better than subsurface coils, but far more expensive due to the required depth and the ground gets warmer, the lower you get. For residential purposes subsurface couls are generally the right soiution and can be excavated by digger rather than the expensive drilling rig required for bores. Finally, great care has to be taken with boring as it generally held to be potentially contaminating if aquafers are penetrated. I am quite happy to discuss these matters with you if you PM me.
M.
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