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    Replacing old socket. Connection to "functional earth"

    Don't worry about it. You almost certainly don't have the mentioned "dual-earth facility". In these cases you wire it just like a regular socket. The two earth terminals are connected and you can use either, or possibly both if that is more convenient. There is no requirement to connect to the...
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    Is a room stat really essential? Electric boiler system just getting installed

    The Drayton MITime is a room stat for whichever room you put it in. Having another elsewhere also controlling the boiler might be confusing. It doesn't have to be in the same room as your only bypass radiator, although having it in a room with a TRV isn't ideal because that room may never get...
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    integrated lcd lights

    Just checked and magnetic ballasts are still legal. Happy days! As of April 13th they are banned. Most manufacturers have given up on them ahead of this. The previous, and current for a little while, regulations date back to 2005. The rules for magnetic and electronic ballasts were essentially...
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    Replacing old socket. Connection to "functional earth"

    Yup, that's the thing. Not exactly standard-issue on a domestic ring main though. I think there was a bit of a fuss about these clean earth terminals a while (decade or two?) back when home computers and the like became common, and now it has more less become a non-issue? Big switched-mode power...
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    integrated lcd lights

    I think magnetic ballasts are officially dead now, should have happened a decade ago. Nevertheless, a great many people still have them since they were standard-issue until very recently, with the electronic ones a "premium" item FFS. Anyway, people fed up with useless fluorescents are even more...
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    Replacing old socket. Connection to "functional earth"

    Because of the USB connectors, I suspect "functional earth" may refer to a stable 0V reference rather than a protective earth, something that is commonly needed in electronics. I'm not sure you really have that as a separate wire, but the normal earth in a domestic ring main shouldn't be very...
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    integrated lcd lights

    As downlights, LEDs can usually manage with fewer lumens than fluorescents (reflector inefficiency, etc.). Might also be quite a bit less than 5,000 lumens if there is a magnetic ballast in those old tubes. Still need an awful lot of those little LED fittings. Fluorescents put out a lot of...
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    Condensate pipe, run inside?

    I think http://www.centralheating.co.uk/system/uploads/attachments/0000/4888/T11_0027BRev8_INDUSTRY_GUIDANCE_ON_CONDENSATE_DRAINAGE_PIPE_INSTALLATION_Final_2011.pdf is up to date. Internal termination is preferred.
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    LED Strip Lights to Lighting Spur

    For task lighting, I'd be looking at 9.6W/m. More even if you have old eyes. Recommendations for kitchen task lighting are generally a minimum 50 foot-candles, 75-100 being preferred especially for older people. That means you would be looking at 300-600 lumens/m if 100% of the light hit your...
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    LED Strip Lights to Lighting Spur

    Cables are sized from the current (and length). Mains current before the LED driver will be extremely low. Current at 12V after the transformer will be an amp or two in your circuit. Fuses are also based on current. In your case I guess 3A since that is the lowest. I'll leave the FCU...
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    House not warm enough Vaillant thermocompact 142Eh

    It does sound like the boiler is taking an age to heat the water to 90C. Once there, I Imagine the radiators do their job and warm the house OK? Measuring flow and return temperatures off the pipe is done with and IR gun or a probe that can be attached to the copper. A traditional thermometer...
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    Vokera Compact 25 - Standby Problem? I've a £300 bill now.

    Looks like your usage over the four months was about three units (cubic meters) a day. That is probably about right for a flat in winter. That should come in under forty pounds a month on a good tariff, but maybe higher on a credit meter. Sounds like your previous tariff was a lot more expensive!
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    How many 60W bulbs have you seen on a single 5A lighting circuit?

    That would make for a good bang, I'm sure!
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    How many 60W bulbs have you seen on a single 5A lighting circuit?

    I'm not psychic and I don't know who originally set it that way, I'm just guessing. Maybe another customer that thought more fuse wire gives more protection?
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    How many 60W bulbs have you seen on a single 5A lighting circuit?

    Some years ago after a minor explosion due to a short-circuit, I discovered that the fuse-box contained half a dozen strands of 5A fuse-wire. Looking more closely, the downstairs lighting circuit was trying to support 20 individual lampholders with 60W bulbs, one with three 20W bulbs, and a 200W...
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    LED Driver

    Yes, that all sounds about right. I tried to measure, but I'm none the wiser whether it is exactly 5.3mm or 5.33mm. I did find a manufacturer specification giving the spacing on G5.3, GU5.3, and GX5.3 bases as 5.33mm. At the risk of getting the discussion all riled up again, MR16 is effectively...
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    Dimmable Lighting Buzzing

    Sad, isn't it. I love LED lamps, but the difficulty (or expense) getting ones that dim reliably and properly is a real stumbling block at the moment.
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    Vokera Compact 25 - Standby Problem? I've a £300 bill now.

    Come on now. There are all sorts of reasons for someone to have a £300 bill in a new flat, some of them even due to a boiler. The OP doesn't appear to be trolling, although probably has been scared away. Or maybe resolved the issue :)
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    LED Downlighters - Any recommendations?

    Now you're starting to sound like the guys over in the plumbing forum: picking semantic nits and generally just trying to start fights when it would be much less effort to be helpful.
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    Dimmable Lighting Buzzing

    Back to town gas, eh? Not sure what my touchy-touchy condensing boiler will make of that.
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