u/TedBob99

My kitchen is probably at least 20 years' old.

About 20 cabinets/drawers, and the carcasses are in good shape. I like the shape of the kitchen, and the worktop is proper black granite, so solid and not cheap. No appliances to replace (many have been replaced and are fairly new), no need to change sink, extractor etc.

However, the doors have an obsolete style and some of them have been damaged by humidity (MDF/wood has expanded). Current doors seem basically to be MDF with laminate.

Based on the above, it would seem reasonable to just replace the doors and leave the rest as is.

Looking at the companies specialising in this, lots of negative reviews, either because work was not done properly, or cost was almost the same as a new kitchen (despite the actual doors costing less than half of the bill). Lots of companies with different names/websites seem to be actually the same companies. Many of them are just franchise, and seem to outsource installation to local freelance contractors, so I guess quality varies a lot.

I don't mind spending on the work, but if replacing doors is more than 50% of a new kitchen (with possibly issues), may as well go for a new kitchen after 20 years.

I can see online that it's possible to order quality made to measure kitchen doors for cheap, but I won't have the DIY skills to change the end panels and other elements of the old style/colour. Changing just the doors would be ugly.

Any opinions? I guess the question is: can we really achieve a good result by replacing kitchen doors at a much cheaper price than a new kitchen?

My flat is running on economy 7. Each night, some separate circuit is being powered by the meter (ALCS) during off peak hours, for hot water and heating for instance.

The issue is: Octopus is not sending the right configuration to the smart meter, so the off peak circuit is still powered when Octopus is billing peak rate. Basically, the ALCS schedule is separate from the peak/off peak tariff schedule.

For instance, off peak circuit is still powered at 08:30am, while they only applied an off peak rate until 06:30am (so a discrepancy of 2 hours, where some very energy consuming appliances may be on, but Octopus is charging peak rate).

This is of course increasing the cost/bill. My own calculations is that it's probably close to 5% or 10% of the bill each month. Of course would depend on usage.

When reported to support, they initially told me it was a one-off issue, so could be ignored. I confirmed it's not and actually very frequent.

They then said they send the actual off peak ALCS window/schedule each day. If the smart meter cannot receive data, then it will default to some built-in economy 7 schedule, finishing at 08:30. They can't change this default schedule apparently.

Support then asked some pictures of the meter, the cupboard, and even whether there was a "home wifi signal" reaching the cupboard, which is completely irrelevant since a smart meter cannot connect to a wifi network anyway... One thing for sure, first line of support is gone downhill.

Next step: they will replace the meter SKU1 old communication unit with a more recent one, that can support external aerials too. We shall see if issue is resolved.

Is it just me, or is Interactive Investor not accessible at all from an Android device.

When using the Chrome web browser on my Samsung phone or Lenovo tablet, I can't get past the login screens.

I enter my login, then my password, and then it's going back to the login screen again.

It would seem that it's not displaying the screen asking for the code sent by text message. I get the text message, but can't enter the code.

When downloading the app, it's clearly using the web site for authentication, so same issue. Unusable.

Basically, I can only use Interactive Investor on my PC at home.

Since they only use internal messaging on their website as opposed to email, it's basically impossible to communicate with them when away from home.

I find it hard to believe that such large investment company is not testing its system on Android.

Note: posting on FIREUK as for some unknown reasons, couldn't post on UKPersonalFinance

Looking at the app yesterday evening, and the number of shares, it would seemed that I got my full request allocated, which is very surprising considering the news about demand exceeding supply by a factor of 4.

I initiated a SIPP transfer from II to Fidelity in February. Was tired of paying a fee for no specific added value (including an android app that doesn't show the right login screen so unusable).

For reference, the fee in Fidelity is lower, if restricting investments to ETFs rather than OEIC funds.

Fidelity also had a cashback promotion, which required a transfer to be initiated by the 5th April 2026.

Transfer still not done today (almost 4 months later).

In-specie transfer is quite standard, a few common ETFs that Fidelity does have.

The transfer was initiated properly end of February by Fidelity, but then cancelled in March by II for no reasons. They started a new transfer in April, but that was after the Fidelity deadline to get a transfer bonus.

Fidelity have confirmed that they will pay no bonus now, and that II have not been responsive.

Complained to II that, because of their mistake, transfer bonus was lost. No replies...

On the Octopus website, there is a button to download the usage and cost data as a CSV file for a specific period. From that data, I can derive the applicable rate (cost/usage) and therefore whether peak or off peak was applied. I am on Snug/Economy 7, and the off peak time for instance doesn't seem to be consistent or matching the official specification.

Data downloaded for instance:

Consumption (kwh)	Estimated Cost Inc. Tax (p)	Standing Charge Inc. Tax (p)	Start	End
0.026	0.23399922	1.1	2026-05-01T00:00:00+01:00	2026-05-01T00:30:00+01:00
0.012	0.10799964	1.1	2026-05-01T00:30:00+01:00	2026-05-01T01:00:00+01:00

Is there a way to achieve the same from the API? Or do I need to scrape the website and download the file (which seems to be very low tech).

I have managed to get Gemini to write some Python code to show me the real time usage (I have an Octopus mini) and download the past usage in kwh (with some lag of a day or two, until Octopus receives data from the meter), but I haven't managed to get the proper rates or proper off peak period.

I would like a Python script to show the real time usage AND real time cost, which my IHD can't do since cost data is not correct. Real cost is only known when calculated by Octopus.

If real time cost is not available, looking at the last couple of days of actual billing cost would be the best fallback.

Flew to HK then took the train to Shenzhen, no issues with security.

Flew from Shenzhen to Xi'an and airport security didn't not like my USB powerbank. Was bought on Amazon in the UK 2 months ago, all the usual logos and surely made in china. Apparently, didn't have the CCC logo required within China.

Option was to send it to me (by plane?) or discard it. Was annoyed as I didn't have a powerbank anymore for the day, nor a charger.

Does that mean "made in China" products are actually not good enough for China? Why are they shipped to Europe then?