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The £799 Segway Navimow i2 AWD brings two premium upgrades to budget mowing
Forget fancier object detection or the ability to mow patterns into lawns. When it comes to robot lawn mowers, there are two requirements: the ability to move through your garden, and the simplest setup possible. They’re the two features that Segway has managed to nail in its new line-up, impressively even with its entry-level Navimow…
The Belkin WeMo shutdown shows the dangers of smart hardware and why there needs to be better exit planning
Up in my loft, I have an Atari 2600 games console, which launched all the way back in 1977. Occasionally, I’ll bring it down and put on a few games. It’s always fun to make the kids play ET (launched in December 1982), struggling to comprehend how this could be considered a game (to be…
Cheaper solar panels are coming but the Government’s Warm Homes Plan doesn’t go far enough
The UK Government has announced its Warm Homes Plan, designed to tackle fuel poverty and help the nation cut its fuel bills. There are some good things in there, but with electricity prices still high and some limitations based on the housing stock, I don’t think that it goes far enough. Although designated the Warm Homes…
How much does an electric heater cost to run? Watch out for bad calculations
At this time of year, you’re bound to come across a lot of articles that tell you how much an electric heater costs to run, compared to a gas boiler. Yet, many articles get the basics wrong, and you need to make sure that you’re comparing the right figures. Simple calculations are dumb calculations Gas…
Are solar batteries worth it? It depends on how much power you generate
With the high cost of electricity, solar panels are looking like a savvier investment every day, particularly given lower installation costs and higher panel efficiency than a few years ago. But, what about a battery installation? Is it really worth it? Well, the answer really depends on a lot of factors you should consider. It’s…
Christmas is better with smart lights
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a classic of the genre, and the stand-out scene has to be the one with the Christmas lights covering the front of the house. What could make Clark Griswold’s Christmas even better? Smart Christmas lights. Reviewing smart Christmas lights has its downsides. There’s nothing quite so depressing as having to…
Tumble dryers aren’t necessarily as expensive as you think, but there’s one good alternative
Tumble dryers often get a kicking in the press, mostly for being expensive and even being called a ‘demon appliance’ by Martin Lewis for how much power they use. There’s truth to this, but I wouldn’t be without my heat pump tumble dryer. It’s more important to work out how and when to use a…
I’ve reviewed hundreds of coffee machines, here’s what I’d buy on Black Friday
It’s fair to say that I’m more than a little obsessed with coffee. I even bought my own roaster years ago, so that I could choose different beans and roast them the way I wanted, enjoying them fresh. With Black Friday now upon us, there are lots of machines on sale, and choosing the right…
Just because it’s cold outside, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t open your windows
Here in the UK, we’re a bit like bears or, for people of a certain age, the Blue Peter Tortoise: as soon as it gets cold, we lock up our homes, whack the heating up and hibernate until we have to go out or it gets warm enough to do so. That would seem to…
Heat the person, not the house, and save money on heating bills
It’s often the way that in the search for modernity, older ways are dispensed with, but not always for the good. The truth is, a combination of the old and new is often better, and I’m a big proponent of the principle of heating the person, not the house. It’s a concept that Victorians would…