Things you need to know about the house
Technical
TV
- The TV is operated using the small silver remote control. The button on the top left switches on and off. The home button, bottom centre will allow you to access the channels. We have Disney, Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV.
- Apple TV is the only channel that needs you to use the separate Apple remote.
- The sound system for the TV is controlled from the big black remote, The on button is top left and the volume up and down buttons are left centre. There are a lot of buttons on this remote but they are the only ones you need! Point it at the amplifier box thingies to the right of the TV.
All the remotes are in the blue cloth bag on the coffee table.
Heating
- The heating has three zones:
- Kitchen, which operates the underfloor heating in the kitchen, dining and sitting area
- Downstairs, which controls the heating in the lounge and top floor
- Upstairs, which controls the middle floor and separately the hot water
They all have Nest smart controllers, which are set for a "normal" routine. If you want to override them, then just use the devices on the walls and turn them up. When off, the display shows the current temperature of the room
There is a hot water bottle above the microwave - the house should be warm, thoughWifi and Alexa
- The WiFi is HollyGrove+
- The password is Hector&Echo20
- It's a mesh system, with access points in three places and thus runs throughout the house. The same password works across all these access points, so you don’t need to logon as you move around.
- the actual router is in the room with the maps in, if you need to reboot it.
- Alexa can be used to control the lights in the kitchen seating area. Switch them on and off by saying “Alexa turn on/off the dining room lights”. You can also ask Alexa to dim them to your preferred setting as a percentage of full power. For example, say “Alexa set the dining room lights to 50%." BUT if you turn these lights off at the wall manually, you will need to turn them ON again manually to let Alexa control them.
We never got round to naming the printer - it's HP Envy 4500 and it's wireless and Apple-friendly.
Other useful information
Cleaning ladies (Magda and Monika)
They are on holiday the week you are staying... SÔRI!!!
Where are things for humans?
If you need to go into the garage for anything - fusebox or bikes - you can get to it from inside the house. Turn right before the kitchen, walk through the room with maps in, and you'll be in what we like to call the Inner Garage. There is a door on your right - this is.. wait for it... the Outer Garage.
The light switch is nearly impossible to see - feel with your hand under the shelves to your left as you walk in, and it's hidden under one of them.
The fusebox is the other side of the garage, on the wall.
Please be careful to re-lock the door on you way back in.
Feel warmly welcome to borrow wetsuits (in the weird empty room on the middle floor), and the two bikes that are NOT the Ridley, which is Tim's really posh carbon-fibre bike. if you do want to use the bikes, Whatsapp us and we can explain the locks and keys (to get into both the garage, and the bike locks)
Letting people in
When people ring the gate, it's a loud buzz - the intercom to let them in is on the right of the glass door to the kitchen.
It doesn't work as a two-way comms device (Sorry!) - just press the Enter button and the gate will unlock. Then people will ring the front door doorbell -this is a proper ding dong - and you'll need to open it with your actual hands.
ALERT: Ripley will go nuts throughout this process.
Doors and locks
The lock on the front gate is broken - just push it. But we haven't told everyone this, so people will still buzz to be let in.
We also message you with the code for the key safe. To find the key safe, walk from the gate past the front door and look to your right. It's low down on the wall.
There are lots of doors in the house!
Most of the doors at the back have their keys in them, and we just leave them there.
We don't normally set the alarm.
We don't lock the doors by the swimming pool with a key (because the handle lock is so solid).
Bins
The food bin and the recycling are round the side of the house, to the right of the shed. it's collected on Thursday morning, so on Wednesday night you need to put the rubbish out into the lane.
July 13th will be black bags, recycling and food waste.