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I monitor my usage weekly via the website app provided by my suppliers (EDF and BG). There are often gaps of a few days on both and the explanation is 'no usage data available'. But the readings are always correct on the day that they generate the bills. (I don't recall setting up the IHD on...

I have a fluffy dressing-gown made of some artificial material; it has a long cord round the waist which dangles even when tied. The cat sat on this and then I went straight to the airing cupboard where the cord or possibly the bottom of the dressing gown touched something in there. Static was...

Final clue - I think I know the sequence of what happened but I'd be interested in any comments. The tripped RCD reset without any problem and all circuits affected came back - so when I moved away, so did the issue.

No, although many years ago we did have a nest in the trunking which linked the CH timer to an old Baxi back boiler. The little devils had chewed through the cable, but only during the night apparently when there was no current - we didn't find any corpses. Think.... 'clothing which has dangly...

Hint: the cat had been inside on my lap for about 30 minutes before she went out. I don't have a mankini!

Question 2: How might the cat be indirectly responsible? (She was out in the garden when this happened).

Early on Christmas Day I decided to put on the Central Heating via the wireless thermostat by turning it to 'manual'; but this was showing a blank screen. As I didn't have a spare battery (I assumed that this was the cause) I remembered that there is an override in the airing cupboard - a...

When my new CU was fitted three years ago the electrician said that, as the system was last worked on in 1985, he would insist on doing an EICR before fitting. He charged a reduced fee for this if I went ahead with the swap. In the first hour he had found that the property had virtually no...

MY BT handsets were quite a lot more than a fiver each. But they are nice to use and have loads of good features such as being able to export your contacts to a file. There was one instance I read about where a non-BT customer heard the words 'digital phone' and bought them, even though they...

A bit off topic, but Virgin Media have customers who take their previous TV offering (TIVO) but not broadband. Recently, they wanted to upgrade these customers with the new system (TV360) ( which uses an internet connection) so they have installed a router and ethernet connection with a watered...

A friend down the road had a tripped RCD on the kitchen circuit. I went down to try to do the usual thing of unplugging everything etc. before resetting the RCD and then re-plugging one by one to see if I could find the culprit. Except that we couldn't get to the dishwasher plug as it was...

Does anyone know how many households in the UK don't have a broadband connection? To me, it's like gas and/or electricity these days. I can see why some very elderly people might not have it, but surely we're getting to the point where a broadband line is indispensible. There is a myth that...

I have tried to convince numerous companies/organisations to ring me on my VOIP landline (BT's Digital Voice) but they insist on using my mobile number. Reception here is not good and so for anything important that involves a return call I ask for a landline one. This rarely happens and one...

I think that there is at least one VOIP provider that won't let you dial a foreign number - can't remember which one. As I dial Spain quite often and France occasionally that would be a big disincentive. Check before you sign up if this would be an issue!

Bernard - I think that some telecoms companies will provide a power backup to vulnerable customers who will be cut off during a power cut and can't/don't use a mobile phone. The move to digital telecoms is not a bad thing - I bought a couple of BT phones when I was upgraded to fibre (although...

Thanks, everyone. I got Zep 'Sticky Stuff Remover' from B&Q and it worked a treat.

I haven't tried any liquids yet as I'm waiting to see if anyone here has any bright ideas. I'll put acetone on the list, so thanks for your suggestion. I dare say that there's some wonder potion that I've never heard of to do this kind of job, so let's see.

Some months ago I decided that my pedestal mat around the loo needed fixing to the floor tiles so I bought a roll of carpet fixer tape which is supposed to secure mats etc. This had a sort of glue on the back and worked well, so I renewed it each time we washed the mat. We finally decided that...

No, that's in the cellar.

Thanks, Harry. There is a switch in the airing cupboard for the electrics - just checked. I'll clear a path to the tank in the loft just in case and get the ladder ready.