[doganjo]

So teh answer is to go back to stone age times when your animals lived in the building with you 

[oor wullie]

So teh answer is to go back to stone age times when your animals lived in the building with you 

But just think how warm you would be with a cow in the house😁

[Fleecewife]

So teh answer is to go back to stone age times when your animals lived in the building with you 

But just think how warm you would be with a cow in the house

Fix her up with a couple of bits of tubing and you could cook your dinner on her output 

[chrismahon]

France has decided that oil heating is a thing of the past. So despite us using only a third of the amount the previous owner did, if the boiler breaks and can't be repaired we can't buy a new one. At the moment the only parts available are the jet and spark electrode. Whether more bits will become available we don't know. The only option for us will be a pellet burner and at €6000 they are not cheap. The water heating will have to change to electric. The layout of the house rules out a wood fire, even though our Winter heating period is only 3 months.


We were very lucky buying this place. The previous owner complained of the cold and the cost and consequently added double glazing, extra loft insulation and an intelligent boiler thermostat. The reasons for her problems were very simply rectified. Mice and rats had stripped the insulation off the water storage tank which was also set at 80C ! The convector radiators had never been cleaned, so the output was a tiny fraction of the intended and the boiler was running flat out for nothing. We swept 23 years of dust, cobwebs and dog hair out of them and consequently found her lost car keys (€260 to replace).


We won't be buying an electric car. Just as the UK, the supply grid here is already overloaded and 5% short of maximum demand- electric cars just make it far worse. Still they are good for cleaning up city air. We will eventually buy a petrol car and move away from diesel. Our milage is very low indeed- we use more fuel for motoculture (garden equipment).

[oor wullie]

There is no need for France to run short of electricity, you export a fairly constant 2GW to the UK. Just cut the cable and all will be fine. 😆

I'm comfortable with my purchase of an EV as I anticipate about 20% of my fuel will come from my own solar and the rest will be charging at home overnight when there is usually an excess of electricity anyway.
If it is managed well the existing electricity network can cope with a lot of EVs.  There are already electricity deals that track wholesale prices of electricity which encourage people to minimise consumption when demand is high.  V2G is currently being trialled which basically makes your car an electricity trader, selling to the grid when demand is high and charging when demand(prices) are low.  A couple of million EVs doing this would be a big help to balancing the grid.  National grid themselves are fairly relaxed about demand from EVs.

That being said a remarkably windless year and issues in Ukraine have depleted European gas reserves and the electricity supply is very tight just now. Prices will go up soon.

[chrismahon]

Gas price went up 8% here 2 weeks ago. Given that the UK imports half (might be more) I think at least 4% is on the cards?


Another thing with electric cars is the batteries. Not convinced they really can be 100% recycled because France can only recover 70%.

[doganjo]

Gas price went up 8% here 2 weeks ago. Given that the UK imports half (might be more) I think at least 4% is on the cards?


Another thing with electric cars is the batteries. Not convinced they really can be 100% recycled because France can only recover 70%.

and creating them isn't environmentally friendly due to where the materials come from, plus the weight of them causes vehicles to use more fuel - even if it is electricity

[Fleecewife]

I have discovered some ridiculous disjointed thinking by the Government yet again, to do with trains. Most of the length of the main lines, east and west coast to Scotland included, are electrified, but for some reason the Gov. decided that certain lengths would not be electrified, so there are gaps.  This means that every electric train has to have a supplementary diesel engine to get it through those lengths of lines, with all the accompanying weight of engine and fuel involved.
The most ridiculous one seems to be Bath, where it is the Council which has refused planning permission for the line to be electrified through the city, so the electric trains run up to the suburbs, then they change power to diesel to get into the station and out again, then once out of the city they go electric again. So diesel fumes are polluting the city unnecessarily

[oor wullie]

[member=23925]chrismahon[/member] - I wasn't being serious about cutting the cable from France to England but shortly after I mentioned it yesterday it went on fire and is now out of action.  Coincidence?
😁😁😁😁😁

[chrismahon]

Perhaps it was overloaded [member=25668]oor wullie[/member] ? Too many people charging their cars at the same time? That is an incredible co-incidence though.


I didn't realise the train system was such a shambles [member=4333]Fleecewife[/member] .Is HS2 still going ahead?

[Fleecewife]

Perhaps it was overloaded [member=25668]oor wullie[/member] ? Too many people charging their cars at the same time? That is an incredible co-incidence though.


I didn't realise the train system was such a shambles [member=4333]Fleecewife[/member] .Is HS2 still going ahead?

I expect so but I don't know.  I'm in Scotland and HS2 will never reach beyond the 'wild northern wastes' of Leeds or somewhere far south like that I think, so I haven't paid much attention except to think what a huge, destructive and wasteful expenditure it is, especially as we can now all zoom instead of travelling.  But if it doesn't go ahead the destruction and massive expenditure will still have happened but for no end.  I remember the cancelling of the beautiful TSR2.  What a total waste that was. Governments seem to get carried away with spending vast amounts of money then wasting it all.

[Anke]

... and as the trainlines north of Edinburgh are not electrified, any train from London to Abdereen has to run on diesel engines all the way rather than changing engines at Edinburgh...

[doganjo]

... and as the trainlines north of Edinburgh are not electrified, any train from London to Abdereen has to run on diesel engines all the way rather than changing engines at Edinburgh...

Some bits are - SAK is (Stirling Alloa Kincardine

[arobwk]

So teh answer is to go back to stone age times when your animals lived in the building with you 

But just think how warm you would be with a cow in the house

Fix her up with a couple of bits of tubing and you could cook your dinner on her output 

And think of that soft carpet of over-floor heating.  But - "Mum, Daisy is eating my rice crispies again !"

[Kiran]

I dont see how wood burners are considered to be that bad? Is it not people using unseasoned fuel that is more if an issue?

We got our first wood burner 10 years ago and the one and only load of logs I bought was at that time. It wasnt properly seasoned and wasnt usable until I left it to season for about another year. Ever since that disaster I've always cut, split and seasoned my own, usually from land that needed clearing or storm damage.

Wood burning used to be considered carbon neutral.without wanting to sound like the tinfoil hat brigade, even if you buy logs there's only a 5%vat charge, that's for ones that aren't just paid for by cash. The fancy new heat pumps etc. all generate  a bigger contribution towards the treasury!

Isulation and draft sealing are the best steps to reducing your energy usage, if you dont need to apply the heat because your house is warm enough both the environment and your bank balance are on to a winner. The downside to making your house airtight is that humidity levels rise and you need to be able to manage those with either mechanical or natural ventilation.

I live in a house that was definitely bodged by the previous owner, this means that as I pull each bodge apart I can make improvements. So far, fixed the leaky roof which was causing damp all over the place, replaced the very old windows and doors that you could feel the air through. Patched the blown render which was letting damp through. Installed a wood burner into the old stone cottage part of the house as the thick stone walls act like a thermal store and started to top up the loft insulation whilst increasing the airflow up there to keep the room timbers dry.