Replacing gas boilers

[FierceKitty]

it'll

[Orcs]

I've lived in two houses with Economy 7 heaters and they were rubbish compared to gas central heating! Time to move either to Iceland (no problems there with geothermal heating) or back to Nigeria (no problems with being cold, quite the opposite).

I had economy 7 heating in my flat.  I had been there about 6 months and calling in with the meter reading each time i got the vastly overestimated bill..  The third bill was actually a reading by the meter man. When I got the bill I had no usage at all on the peak rate.  I thought that was strange.

When the next overestimated bill came I gave them the meter reading again, and noted that the peak rate had not changed.  The eter was in a huge cupboard that I had converted to a painting area. The next time the meter was due to change from off peak to  peak I sat and watched it. The relay gave a loud click as it had always done and the small needle that showed what tarrif you are on flickered and dropped back to off peak.

So the meter was not switching over.  I was only paying off peak.  Each quarter I gave them the meter readings and they duly sent me a bill with zero off peak charges.  This continued for over a year.  I thought they must notice some time.  I then found out from the TV that in the case of a faulty meter they could only charge me 1 years back payments based on previous usage,  so there was no advantage to me notifying them as I was already on a years back payments.

I duly submitted the readings each quarter, the meter was read once a year by the meter man and 5 years later I sold the flat, and they still had not noticed.  

[sultanbev]

And while I am on a rant, for those inclined to glue themselves to road surfaces, a big problem for those of us in modern super well insulated flats with solar gain windows is the unbearable heat in summer. my bedroom doesn't dip below 23C with all windows open in middle of night from April through September.   Several of us are trying to get Aircon fitted (freeholder says no) . 

Passive House type insulation would deal with that. The council in Huddersfield managed to get some built, and they didn't cost anymore than normal houses to build, but their energy bills are ~£100 a year.

Yes, indeed, the human race is well into Overshoot, the sustainable carrying capacity of the planet is ~600,000,000 humans, and that is on a fully functioning planet. Latest UN data shows only 3.5% of the planet's surface is untainted by human activity, so even that figure is moot.
I wouldn't worry about heat pumps too much, this civilisation will not make it that far before all the gas boilers pack up - the technology on this website will be far more useful:
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/obsolete-technology.html
particularly relevant to this discussion:
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/heating-people-not-spaces.html

[mmcv]

Interestingly many places in Japan still use the old "heat the person" style of heating. Most homes are designed to deal with the hot and humid summers to escape the heat, and being quite small don't tend to have heating and cooling systems. So in winter tend to wrap up in the house and gather around radiant heat sources like kotatsu tables, which are basically a table with a heater underneath and a blanket over it.

[sultanbev]

Thankyou for that, didn't know about them. The future of wargaming and painting tables are now secured in a post-collapse world 

[mmcv]

There's also a Spanish version called a mesa camilla which is similar but more raised for chairs. I'm sure other warm weather cultures have similar ones.

I am tempted to make one out of an old table if I can find a suitable heater at a reasonable price. Don't think my western legs could handle sitting on the floor at a low table for any significant length of time, though probably less heat escape on a low floor one than a raised chair one. I've seen people make them out of Ikea coffee tables and old blankets. It's just getting a suitable heater that works in a confined space without risk is the expensive part.

[Orcs]

There's also a Spanish version called a mesa camilla which is similar but more raised for chairs. I'm sure other warm weather cultures have similar ones.

I am tempted to make one out of an old table if I can find a suitable heater at a reasonable price. Don't think my western legs could handle sitting on the floor at a low table for any significant length of time, though probably less heat escape on a low floor one than a raised chair one. I've seen people make them out of Ikea coffee tables and old blankets. It's just getting a suitable heater that works in a confined space without risk is the expensive part.

Whats wrong with an electric blanket?

[mmcv]

Whats wrong with an electric blanket?

It might work, but it's a slightly different system since then it's heating the blanket and radiating the heat from that, whereas these systems have a heater on the underside of the table typically that create a warm zone beneath the table that the blanket helps trap. With an electric blanket a lot of the heat would be wasted on the bits draped over the table (there's usually a double table top with the blanket sandwiched between them) so wouldn't be as effective.

[mmcv]

Looks like there's a similar concept in Afghanistan - a Korsi, according to SultanBev's article above.

[Techno II]

it'll

I've changed it for you.

Cheers - Phil.

[FierceKitty]

You are a supernova!

[Techno II]

I'm not that bright...But I do explode ( )* from time to time.

Cheers - Phil.

*...Now where shall I put my rant about Von's brand new mobile phone ?.....EIGHT blanking hours to receive a text message "with your one time pin number..valid for 20 minutes"....Gimme strength.....

[FierceKitty]

"pin number" - urgh! KILL!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Are all kittys this pedantic ? 

[Ithoriel]

Personal Identification Number number .... as opposed to House Number number .... Account Number number .... so many numbers in our lives today we need to identify which we are talking about