Home energy saving tips /ideas...

[Cudzoziemiec]

I was speaking to some friends yesterday, ruffty tuffty outdoor types, with no kids or elderly people. They also have a pretty well insulated house  They said a couple of years ago, they went a whole winter without heating at all. It never got below 16C indoors, which they were comfortable with. But they've never repeated this because by spring the walls were covered in black mould. They bought a dehumidifier and now burn a few logs in the winter, which keeps them comfortable and the house healthy too.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The former Mrs Z's parents had a similar monstrosity that ran on nutty slack and probably caused more pollution than Drax.  This was in 2003.

Sounds very Viz.

[SoreTween]

We've known about the principles of Passivhaus designs since the 70's, to not have built to those principles in the last 20 years at least is gross negligence of the house builders.

A housing companies first responsibility is to it's shareholders, spending more on each house built than the absolute minimum would be gross negligence - welcome to capitalism.  Much as I loathe the average council employee I find it hard to point the finger of blame there either as building companies have far better funded lawyers to fight at appeal.  Nope, the blame lies with central government.  All of them in the last 50 ish years regardless of the colour of tie they wore.

[chrisbainbridge]

I agree totally soretween.  Part of the job of government should be to look forward and to take the hard decisions on behalf of all of us.

[Blodwyn Pig]

OOOoooooooo   Hot off the press!!!!!TopTip ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   From 'Economisering 4U'

Just been to the attic and retrieved one of our summer rotary fans, (on a 2ft pole, and rotates side to side)  Now our heating went off an hour ago,  and it was only on 15 deg anyway, but we have the old 'style' school radiators  downstairs, and they are still quite warm, due to the amount of water in them. So, I shuts thee door, then I places thee fan in thee corner of thee living room , I does,  next to the corner radiator, then i points it up at about 45 deg, puts it on low schpeed, and on rotate,.............................yipppeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sat here in a T shirt

Well, TBH not quite, but it has made a con Sid er able improvement. ,  can't wait for t'heatin' to come bak on agin.  Schlippers, who needs 'em.

Following on from this, we've been out, come home, put heating on, had dinner and pud, now nearly 7.30, (heating been on 2 hrs on and off as set to 15 deg, ) we recently turned it down , so the thermostat is now on 14.5 deg, with this oscillating fan on,  and we are in our lifesavers, and i can honestly say, i'm thinking of taking my jumper off, (but staying undercover). Truly wonderful, Oh and we turned our boiler temp down to 62deg, so it is most efficient, but stays on longer. Our smart meter is now just short of £8 combined, BUT we are as warm as.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Hot water bottles. https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/01/the-revenge-of-the-hot-water-bottle.html
We know about them because we're BRITISH but apparently Americans don't. Nevertheless, some ideas there, such as using one in a backpack. I suppose it would be a handy use for a CamelBack in winter. 

[quixoticgeek]

It's a fact of history, quite recent history – yes even within your lifetime! – and probably of the near future too.

Yes, same as it's fact that right now children go to bed cold and hungry in the UK. One of the richest countries on the planet.

It's fundamentally wrong.

We should all be warm, we should all be well fed, we should all be comfortable.

A housing companies first responsibility is to it's shareholders, spending more on each house built than the absolute minimum would be gross negligence - welcome to capitalism.  Much as I loathe the average council employee I find it hard to point the finger of blame there either as building companies have far better funded lawyers to fight at appeal.  Nope, the blame lies with central government.  All of them in the last 50 ish years regardless of the colour of tie they wore.

Then maybe we shouldn't be putting shareholder value and profit first.

I agree totally soretween.  Part of the job of government should be to look forward and to take the hard decisions on behalf of all of us.

Exactly. Maybe even going so far as for the government to be building the homes.

Following on from this, we've been out, come home, put heating on, had dinner and pud, now nearly 7.30, (heating been on 2 hrs on and off as set to 15 deg, ) we recently turned it down , so the thermostat is now on 14.5 deg, with this oscillating fan on,  and we are in our lifesavers, and i can honestly say, i'm thinking of taking my jumper off, (but staying undercover). Truly wonderful, Oh and we turned our boiler temp down to 62deg, so it is most efficient, but stays on longer. Our smart meter is now just short of £8 combined, BUT we are as warm as.

I have also got a fan going to fix the thermocline in my flat. It's made a significant improvement.

A question for you in your home that's 7°C colder than mine. Are you able to do anything other than snuggle on the sofa? My flat is also a workshop, I make things, using my hands, Things I can't do with gloves on.

J

[barakta]

Similar to disability accessibility standards in homes. 60% of councils have zero accessibility requirements. 1 in 55 people use a wheelchair full or part time, yet it's almost impossible to find a wheelchair accessible property to buy or rent without massive adaptation costs. Grants for adaptation take years to come through and are heavily means tested, despite the fact the costs are single and double digit thousands for various adaptations, so even working disabled folk probably can't afford it.

There was also a point where the large housing builder companies decided that if they were required by a council to build like 4% accessible or "easy to adapt" houses, they'd rather sue the councils because that was only a guideline not law, so the councils were "unfaiiir wah wah" and so the councils who couldn't afford such good lawyers, all caved...

Fucking Tories. We should have been building accessible and eco housing since the 70s and just haven't.

[rogerzilla]

In a normal year, 20-25% of Tory donations come from property developers or landlords.  There is a lot of pressure to keep building the same old crap for stellar profits.

[Cudzoziemiec]

It's a fact of history, quite recent history – yes even within your lifetime! – and probably of the near future too.

Yes, same as it's fact that right now children go to bed cold and hungry in the UK. One of the richest countries on the planet.

It's fundamentally wrong.

We should all be warm, we should all be well fed, we should all be comfortable.

We should but it's a fact that we're not.

[ian]

In a normal year, 20-25% of Tory donations come from property developers or landlords.  There is a lot of pressure to keep building the same old crap for stellar profits.

It always make me laugh when developers claim that if they have to do something, like, oh put in ramp, their development will no longer be profitable. All these big developer make profits so large they're embarrassing, and role in the constant largesse of government (help to buy etc. are little more than financial transfers from taxpayers to developers).

[rafletcher]

1/3 cost the plot, 1/3 cost the house, 1/3 profit used to be the rule of thumb.

[ian]

Given the quality of the new builds we saw the last time around (eight years ago now), I doubt many of those houses will last 25 years. Dreadful. (We looked at new builds because our last place was one, but that was from one of the few remaining small, bespoke developers – and we were impressed with the quality, but really that doesn't translate to Bellway etc.)

[SoreTween]

(click to show/hide)

Fucking Tories. We should have been building accessible and eco housing since the 70s and just haven't.

Yep.  It's all the Tories fault.  Even the 18 years Labour have been in power since 1970 and feck all was done about accessible & eco housing.  That's the Tories fault too. I could mention the 4 years that Lib Dems held the post of Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change but obviously no change there is the Tories fault.

I'm not defending the Tories, just pointing out that all politicians are self serving first.  And second and third.  There will be no utopia when Labour win the next GE just because it is Labour
When it becomes fashionable and a vote winner to do something about accessible and eco housing, then something might happen.  Whichever party is in power when that comes to pass will take the credit.

[rogerzilla]

The eco homes that have been built in any quantity here aren't exactly trailblazers.  This is the UK, where corners are cut and regs ignored where possible in the pursuit of profit.

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/9778336.residents-raise-list-of-problems-with-grand-design-mans-housing/

The developers blamed the builders, possibly correctly.

[Mr Larrington]

I've installed a Thing which I think was originally a thick bedspread on the Grand Escalier, in the hope that any stray therms that wander out into the hall don’t immediately flee up the stairwell and cower where can they do no good at all.

With pegs.

[Jurek]

I've installed a Thing which I think was originally a thick bedspread on the Grand Escalier, in the hope that any stray therms that wander out into the hall don’t immediately flee up the stairwell and cower where can they do no good at all.

With pegs.

Pictures.
Without pictures this post is meaningless.

[Mr Larrington]

It's dark out there!

[Jurek]

It's dark out there!

Get out there, man.
Light a fire.
Or something.

[Mr Larrington]

Oh, alright!


Made in England… by Mr Larrington, on Flickr


…with pegs! by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

[rogerzilla]

Ah, a Native American birthing blanket.

[Adam]

“”The Idea in Practice

The idea of transforming human body heat into electricity has been an ongoing process for scientists for years. In Sweden, for example, Stockholm Central Station uses heat exchanges to convert commuter body heat into hot water, which is then piped to an office building next door: an approach that can easily be replicated in shopping malls and supermarkets around the world. [4] Researchers have been attempting ways to power small devices, such as cellphones and laptops, when there is no conventional and accessible energy sources. At the University of Wisconsin, research engineers have created a shoe that utilizes reverse electrowetting to produce as much as a kilowatt of energy, just by simply taking a walk. [5]””

Sounds like a remake of The Matrix.

[Kim]

…with pegs! by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

Isn't that going to interfere with the operation of the bell when you next summon a servant?

[Tim Hall]

…with pegs! by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

Isn't that going to interfere with the operation of the bell when you next summon a servant?

Presumably there's an array of servants kept in waiting, affixed to the washing line thing by further tactical clothes pegs attached to one ear. Stops them wandering too far.

[Mr Larrington]

…with pegs! by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

Isn't that going to interfere with the operation of the bell when you next summon a servant?

Got an app* for that!

* Lie