19.04.2026 A pain in the ....

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  Sunday 19th 445F/7.2C [8.15] Bright overcast. A cloudy morning with possible sunny periods. Rain later and overnight. Light NE breeze going northwards and N-Easterly. 68F/20C in the room. 54F/12C in the greenhouse. 58F/14C in the greenhouse pond.

 Up at 7.40 after a fairly quiet night. My lower back pain is not so bad so far. The same as yesterday. Only to discover it was a struggle to walk very far. I have tried some sciatica exercises without obvious benefit at the time.

 The heat pump is cycling between 21F and 38.5F. With the remote control set to 19C/66F Heat and Auto. The monitoring digital thermometer is not continuous reading but updates at intervals. The "Outdoor" sensor is hanging free in the airflow. Without direct contact with the heat pump's indoor unit. 

 I am now very happy with the downward firing airflow. After some initial irritation with cold air draughts. When it was blowing straight forwards. Easily cured with the "Air Swing" button on the remote. Allowing the air directing blades to point downwards and stay there. I have "Fan Speed" set to 3/5. Which I find almost inaudible. While wearing my hearing aids and sitting at 2.8-3m from the unit. 

 Now with no discernible draughts while seated at my computer. Which was my reason for choosing the more expensive floor model. I had some previous experience with high level units in shops and petrol stations. So knew I would not have been happy with the resulting draughts. 

 No doubt this problem could have been improved using "Air Swing" to direct the airflow more beneficially. Those with much higher ceilings might well benefit from the high level blower units. The low ceilings [215cm] of my hovel/cottage would not. 

 Plans for a walk or a ride were shelved. It hurts just to get up and walk to the kitchen. 

 I managed to drag the recycling bin along the drive. It hurt like hell!

 Dinner was cheese on toast. 

 

 

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18.04.2026 26km & "Air Swing!"

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 Saturday 18th 48F/9C [7.20] Heavy overcast. A day of sunshine and showers is promised. With light winds. 71F/21C in the room. 53F/12C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6.30 after an unusually quiet night. I got up only once. I was comfortable in bed without my usual thin jumper over my t-shirt. It may be too early to be sure but the horrible pain in my right lower back seems to have eased. I hope I can have a proper walk today.

 The risk of showers makes my Saturday morning ride less likely. I'll see how the weather turns out later. I would be wearing a rainproof jacket anyway. With waterproof trousers in the panniers.

 9.10 Brighter, with veiled sunshine. Too warm in the room. I have reduced the remote setting to 18C again. Back from a limping crawl along the road and back. There was no relief from the pain. If the weather doesn't change I shall still have my Saturday ride to the next village 12km away. The exercise might help.

 13.00 Back from a 26km ride to the shops. Bright overcast.  Lots of trees and shrubs in bloom. The first leaves are showing on the sunlit faces of the forest. 

 No pain while cycling but it was hell getting on and off. It now occurs to me. That I manhandled the massive concrete paving slabs the other day. I had assumed that my careful handling had avoided injury. I may have been mistaken. Because I am so used to being active. 

The indoors is at 70F/21C. So I have now lowered the remote setting to 17C. 

 18.00 Raining. The lower temperature setting on the heat pump tended to blow cold air at me. So I have raised it to 19C. 

 I can also use the "Air Swing" button on the remote. To alter the angle of the blades. Repeated button pressing adjusts and fixes the chosen angle. Including downwards. Even to direct the air towards the floor if desired. Pressing the blades downwards manually does nothing long term. They will soon adjust themselves back up again under the control of the programming. The Auto setting always seems to choose upward and outward airflow. 

 Which I want to avoid. Because it is quite unpleasant to feel cold air coming straight at you. Unless I am using cooling mode in a heatwave. 

 The temperature of the air blowing out of the unit is not hot like a fan heater or hair drier. It is much cooler. Much closer to the ambient temperature in the room. Presumably this is much more economical. Than blasting hot air and then having to cool the room. Which might involve starting and stopping the blower motor. 

 I can use one of my thermometers to measure the exiting air temperature. It matches the temperature setting. Just as I surmised. Or not? The fan has just come on audibly and it was briefly blowing at 37C! That was with the sensor on the internal radiator. I have now moved the sensor to measure the airflow. Now falling rapidly. 

 Dinner was a sausage and mushroom fry-up. With an egg on toast and tomatoes on the side.

 

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17.04.2026 79 not out.

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  Friday 17th 43F/6C [8.10] Overcast with thick mist. 100m invisibility. A grey morning should brighten this afternoon. Peaking at 13C/55F. Light winds. Greenhouse at 53F/11.7C.

 Up at 7am after a quiet, comfortable night. I had the heat pump set to 19C on the remote control. Three well spaced thermometers are showing from 20-21C/68-70F. Slightly too warm for my taste while wearing a thin jumper and T-shirt. My back pain has reduced. A walk in the mist might be doable today. 

 10.00 Well, that didn't go well. I barely made it to the main drive before I had to turn back. My right hip/lower back area hurts like hell! I am back and doing laundry instead. The inner doors are all open. As I continue to experiment with the heat pump's capabilities. Now reduced to 18C on the remote. 64.5F. The greenhouse doors are closed. At 61F it can't contribute to solar heat gain in an overcast. Though it can act as a buffer.

 11.00 Reducing the remote control setting to 18C has had no effect on the three thermometers. I understand that a discount is available on my electricity bill for having a heat pump installed. There is a mobile phone remote control App. Though the designer of the App is quite obviously mentally ill. Presumably just another case of serial nepotism. Probably third generation's, 1st born son. With that spoilt brat level of sociopathy. Only made possible by being hoist by Daddy's designer bootstraps.

 11.30 51F/11C. The mist has gone. Brightening to weak sunshine. 70F/21C in the greenhouse. I must go shopping. Not yet.

 12.45 Having completely wasted another hour on the Panasonic Comfort Cloud App it's time for lunch. I should not have persisted with the App. I really should have known better. When I discovered that a whole string of forlorn cries for online help went unanswered. With non-existent buttons on the remote control and multiple button presses thereof being required. Just to escape from the quite deliberate consumer traps. Set by the twisted Panasonic Comfort Cloud App horror fiction writer. 

 The heat pump is as frustrated as I am. It is oscillating around the set temperature. Cooling to bring it down and reheating to climb back up. The surroundings are obviously slightly above the desired temperature setting. So I should really turn it off and let it rest. Done. 

 16.00 Back from the shops in the Morris. Two carrier bags full. Warm sunshine. Still hobbling about.

 Dinner was sardines on toast with halved tomatoes. I have switched the heat pump back on. Set to 20C/68F.

  

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