More heat pump stuff. Stay tuned for some truly hot takes, but first, something completely similar to previous posts…

Another Project!

I have been on the lookout for a suitable desk for Sarah’s sewing machines and craft equipment for a little while now. I was leaning towards buying an oak worktop and making it myself like our office desk but this was going to be a little more expensive. Instead I found a suitable one for sale on Facebook marketplace and got to work removing the old finish in preparation. There was a sneak peek to the underlying wood at the front of the desk as some of the finish had been worn away revealing a much lighter wood underneath. The goal was to get back as close to the natural colour as possible.

I found an eco-friendly paint stripper for sale in Toolstation and although the reviews were mixed, it worked really well on the desk. There appeared to be a relatively light coating of dark brown stain on some flavour of pine (possibly Mexican pine). It’s not as robust as an oak desk would have been, but it will more than suffice for this job. The end with the drawers in weighs a tonne which made it fun to manouver into the house.

The paint stripper looks identical to wallpaper paste, and needs applied liberally with a brush. It started to work almost immediately but was most effective after about half an hour. After a few coats and scrubs with a brush, cloth, and scouring pad, most of the dark wood stain has been removed. There are a few water marks and rings that still need shifting – nothing a light sanding won’t solve. I haven’t decided what finish to go for, but I’ve got Danish oil and a little bit of Osmo left so there are a few options. Danish oil might be the better choice for a surface that is going to take some abuse. Another advantage of buying secondhand furniture is that we’re not precious about it if it gets chipped or knocked; it’s all character!

Heat Pump Challenges

Following the isolation trial for the hot water cylinder, we felt that cold water entering the system from a faulty mixer tap was the likely cause of the problems and potentially compromising the Legionella disinfection cycle. Although it sounded sensible there was a still a niggle in my mind. Any time I tried to use the booster immersion when we had visitors it didn’t really make a difference. This is contrary to what I had been told and my previous experience with older immersion heaters. Inefficient, yes, but they’re generally quick. I put it down to my own error, not using the settings correctly.

The Octopus heating engineer (our lead installer) came out and fitted a non-return valve to stop cold water flowing back into the tank to deal with the mixer let-through issue, but water was still not getting any hotter than 48-50 degrees Celsius. That’s not a issue for day to day use, but the tank has to achieve 60 degrees to kill off Legionella effectively. Some experimentation later, the engineer established that the immersion backup heater wasn’t working, explaining the failure of the tank to reach temperature even when isolated.

Apparently there has been an issue on a similar recent install, so perhaps a faulty batch of heaters is to blame. Who knows, but once it’s replaced it should solve the issues we’ve been having. It hasn’t significantly impacted on our day to day usage, but the tank is wasting a significant amount of electricity trying to get to temperature.

Temu

If you’ve used the internet at all in the last few months, you’ve almost certainly encountered advertisements for Temu, an online platform marketing Chinese goods directly to consumers. I had largely written it off as cheap tat, but while looking for a sword wall mount I found a product similar to one available on Amazon, but for less than half the price. Thus my journey into the abyss began.

Scrolling through the endless pages, I began to have flashbacks to DX (DealExtreme), the first platform selling niche ditzels direct from Chinese suppliers, cutting out the middle man. It was the place to go for ridiculously powerful laser pens, tiny solar powered cars, and numerous other trinkets you didn’t really need but kind of wanted anyway. There were some useful things and it started off really cheap. Over time Aliexpress took over, and DX died away. Temu feels a lot like DX, but supercharged, and selling almost anything you could want. The real question is, do you want it? It depends on the quality of the goods, and Sarah has had a few successes, but I put in a larger order which I’m currently waiting for.

The Temu app is gamefied to a terrifying extent. There is always something going on: a flash sale, a prize wheel to spin, a bunch of coupons that you can only use for the next x hours. The offer messages are also relentless if you sign up to their WhatsApp thread. The amount of stuff available is mind boggling and it’s easy to waste time scrolling through endless listings of different music boxes playing film themes, sets of screw extractors, cat litter tray mats, keyrings, posters, gadgets, gizmos, and more. Don’t be surprised if you suddenly discover you need a t-shirt emblazoned with “Sons of Aspirin: Arthritis Chapter”.

I’ll have an update when the stuff arrives. Have you used Temu? Is it full of hidden gems, or just another heap of polished turds?