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Downsizer Forum Index -> Energy Efficiency and Construction/Major Projects

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jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28234
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 22 7:01 am Post subject:
Plenty of progress and I thought I might make a real leap when the loop energy app finally started seeing the smart meter. But they provide no API or other means of getting at the data At every phase of trying to connect stuff, I'm faced with devices that simply are not designed to cooperate. 25 years+ of wide spread internet and we are still really in the infancy of connectivity.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28234
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 22 6:11 pm Post subject:

Raided some code off github to allow me to look at the household gadgets without calling Chinese servers

After an awful lot of work fixing the bugs in it, it finally stays up and running

I really don't get how well established projects can be so broken

It does mean I now have Alexa telling me if the induction hob has randomly changed power settings. So has been to the rescue a few times today already.
Induction hobs often seem prone to that particular issue.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 22 7:43 pm Post subject:
putting 70 froglets in a box is pretty easy

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 22 7:52 pm Post subject:

jema wrote:

what do you mean change settings? like turns the heat up unasked? or something more technical?

I've had an induction hob for a few years and it hasn't randomly changed anything on mine yet....

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 22 8:07 pm Post subject:
they are supposed to adjust themselves to use minimum energy and provide the right sort of heating effect, some overthink things at times and do clever adjustments to the power level to match the setting you have tried to do with the controls simmerrrrrrrrrrr, wait, full, simmerrrrrrrrrrrr etc

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 22 7:01 am Post subject:
Doesn't sound a good inducement to buy an induction hob, especially if you are trying to cook something like rice or spaghetti. I would prefer not to use gas, but at least if you set it it stays. Even wood does as it is told.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 22 7:31 am Post subject:
they are rather good at adjusting themselves, if you learn to tell them what is expected of them very efficient as well

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28234
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 22 7:40 am Post subject:

It's touch sensitive and can turn itself up or down entirely at random or more commonly if someone walks passed it and has the temerity to breath.

I'd get another but if you read reviews this is a very common issue.

Meanwhile I'm wondering if it's time for the next challenge?

The way whoever coded the socket did it, is that all the secret key information is hardcoded into the "node".
So it's one "node" per device and all the secret data splurged throughout the code

You'd think that would be relatively easy to fix, but it's a bit structural in a language I'm not especially fluent in.
I may do some gardening instead today and let the problem simmer.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 22 1:33 pm Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

Doesn't sound a good inducement to buy an induction hob, especially if you are trying to cook something like rice or spaghetti. I would prefer not to use gas, but at least if you set it it stays. Even wood does as it is told.

the adjusting as mentioned by Dpack sounds like it is behaving as it ought, but turning up or down spontaneously when someone walks by, as described by Jema, is a fault. My induction hob has not developed this fault, and I wouldn't live with it if it did (each to their own choice though).

I was reluctant to convert to induction from gas, and only did so for my son as it is easier and safer than gas.. but I am completely glad I did - they are far more adjustable than gas, (you can have a much lower temperature than is possible with a gas ring, for example) and considerably less dangerous. Also much easier to clean and more efficient. I'm a convert for sure

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 22 7:49 pm Post subject:
Cast iron pan on a cheap / dumb induction - best of both worlds. I do find the high pitched on/off switching irritating but I'm not sure how audible that is supposed to be (I can also hear my laptop charging)

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 22 9:15 pm Post subject:

this one is knob controlled as primary, but there is a touch pad for boosting rings to afterburner power to get a fast start or reduce a stock
, and it has auto heat and stabilize to simmer or boil capacities on the knobs

if the touch pad gets wet it can be moody and turn everything off, useful if things boil over and it does not like a pan or lid on it

best cooker i have had now i am used to it, and we have the right sort of pans both old and new

a real wok on an induction hob is a joy, better than domestic gas or even a domestic wok ring hob(blowtorch on a metal box thing is pretty good, cheers mr tsiui for letting me play with that)
chips in a wok on a wood fire in rain is interesting

anyway back to induction hobs, the ones that work do seem rather nice and very energy efficient

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 22 6:58 am Post subject:
We have a set of cast iron pots and pans we have had for years. Can they be used on an induction hob or would I have to buy new ones? I know I can look this up, but thought I would ask here first.

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8918
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 22 10:39 am Post subject:
Good question! I have large and small omelette pans also cast iron...and a small induction hob I need to learn to use!

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 22 12:30 pm Post subject:

all my cast iron pans work fine on the induction hob, and I agree with NMG that a cast iron pan and a basic induction hob is the perfect combo. And as my cast iron pans work well on the wood fired range too, its easy to swap from one to the other mid cooking, which I find I do a fair bit. So I might brown the meat using the induction hob, then move the pot over to the range for slow cooking.

my cast iron pans are a mix of le 'expensive brand and supermarket ones

The only issue with an induction hob is some slow cookers are designed for use on hob as well as the slow cooker bit, and they don't work on induction. Not a biggy as far as I am concerned, I prefer a ceramic pot for slow cooker, to avoid non stick coatings, which are what the ones you can use on the hob have.

my induction hob has touch buttons, and if I drop an oven glove on them or something it complains, but tbh I think the hob has a point and I should not be leaving oven gloves on it! Not like a gas hob though.. where the glove would be on fire....

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 22 1:32 pm Post subject:

cast iron, mild steel, stainless steel and al sandwich based all work fine

decent mild steel that has been well heat treated and cared for is ace, my new de buyer crêpe pan is faultless(the old one that divorced me 30 yrs ago would have been just as functional)

crêpe in a frying pan is just wrong

ditto failing to stir fry in a frying pan whatever heats it

i do not know if round base woks on a metal ring work, but flat based mild steel woks work very well

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