[Backpacker]

As far as home heating systems are concerned, the most efficient system you can have is geothermal ground source or water source heating and cooling. With water/antifreeze solution circulating through tubes buried 6-8 fet in your yard the solution picks up Btu's from the warm earth. The solution then enters a heat pump where refrigerant extracts btu's and enters the compressor. The pressure and temperature of the refrigerant is raised to around 110-120 degrees and the blower forces air across the condenser coil. The heat is then rejected into the house. In terms of Btu's delivered for watts consumed it is far more efficient than fossil fuel furnaces. Of course, though, geothermal contractors jack up the installation price so high that most people won't do it.

[Evltre]

Bah...


I read a piece recently from a doctor where he said one of the healthiest things you can do, is eat your nasal mucus. (ick) As disgusting as it may be, I'm sure he's quite correct. Microbes trapped in your mucus help build your bodies immune reaction. (Man that's disgusting)
"

Must explain why my two year old has the immune system of a bull!

[gg3]

Bad: Shower fixture that consists of a one-knob control that turns the water on full-force and only allows you to select temperature. Analogous to a radio with an on/off switch and a tuning control but no volume control. Unfortunately these are becoming more and more prevalent. The conservation workaround is to use a "low flow" showerhead, which is better than not doing so but not as good as the following:

Good: Individual controls for hot and cold water, so you can set the volume of each independently. And a showerhead with little knob in the middle of the spray area, so you can adjust the spacing of the spray disc so as to get the best spray from a given volume of water (I got one 20 years ago and kept it; I don't know if these are presently made).

Result: I use the latter, and can take a nice, enjoyable, hot, relaxing, and thoroughly-cleaning 20-minute shower on about half as much water as would be used for a 10-minute shower with a "low flow" showerhead.

Generalizations (from many examples): Simpler machines make for smarter humans. Simple machines and smart humans make for sustainable comfort.

[spiritoflennon]

Excellent, you lot crack me up. Keep on going with that oil, we'll be through it all before you know it.


I travelled 100 years into the future to ask which devices from the golden age of civilisation had proved most useful post peak, here's the response.

Fridge - What?
Washing Machine - Excuse me, what does it wash?
Dish Washer - Oh that is clearer a machine for washing dishes. Can I also put my clothes in it? Or maybe the goat, she get's covered in dust.
Microwave - Err. No, got me there
Lights - The sun is going out, oh my, mother do you hear the sun is going out.
Computer - Oh yes they had one in the village a long time ago.
Plug in Air Freshener - Ha hahaa you're having me on right, what is wrong with the air, smell that breeze, ahh.
Lawnmower - Yes the goat is wonderful

[gg3]

Good one, Lennon.

My precognition score was around p<.01 last time I checked, with occasional forays into p<.005. I suppose I should retest soon to get a current score. But 100 years is a neat trick if you can do it.

I suppose if I went out 1,000 years or maybe 10,000 years and popped up on a street corner, it might go like this:

*pop!*

Me: Hi! I'm visiting from the past...

Bystander 1, whose name is John: Uh-oh, look, a Homo Sapiens! They're dangerous, we should call the police-

Bystander 2, whose name is Robert: That one doesn't look dangerous, I say we talk to him first. Excuse me!, hello? Do you speak English?

Me: Yeah, hey I'm not dangerous, in fact I'm proto-Noeticus so I'm almost one of you. I'm dropping in from just before the Malthus Epoch, to find out what you think about fridges and washers, and plug-in air fresheners while we're at it. Just a little research, that's all.

John: Oh, okay. Sorry about the misunderstanding there. So, uh, what's a fridge?

Me: It's a metal cabinet in your kitchen where you put food to keep it cold so it doesn't spoil.

Robert: Oh, we read about those in history classes. Crude technology really, no wonder you ran out of fuel. We have something called a stat box. Stasis field container, it stops entropy. So your food stays the same temperature it went in at, and you don't have to heat it later.

John: But for cold foods you can set a temperature zone in the stat box, for instance to keep your ice cream frozen. Usually people just set entire shelves at one temp or another so they don't have to worry about putting something back on the wrong side of a shelf.

Me: I see. Very interesting. So, what about washers?

John: What are those?

Me: You put your dirty clothes in and it agitates them with water and soap, and your clothes come out clean-

John: That must have been fun to watch. We have cleaners too, but they don't use water. You put your clothes in at the top and a few minutes later they come out clean in a drawer at the bottom, and you empty the dirt container once a month.

Me: I see. Hmm. Okay, what about plug-in air fresheners?

Robert: What?

Me: You plug it into the wall and it releases a little chemical in the air to cover up bad smells.

Robert and John both laugh uproariously.

John: You're not serious are you?

Me: Yes, quite serious. I never used one of those but...

John: We have flowers indoors, and we leave our windows open. I'm surprised that never occurred to your species.

Me: Some of us, yes. Most of us, well, you know the history, right?

Robert: Yeah.

Me: So, uh, what energy source do you run on here?

John: Sources plural. Our roofs are painted with PV material, even the areas that don't get much sun. There's a fusion reactor about twenty kilometers north of here. And out in the Bay you can see the wind towers and tidal capture system. There's a proposal going around right now to tide-capture the entire bay from the inlet, but the utility doesn't have enough votes to get it approved. Just as well, we can build another reactor in a few years if we need it.

Me: Can I get a closer look at some of those...?

Robert: If you want to spend a few days. In the meantime, what are you doing tonight? John and I are having a few friends over for our anniversary, and after dinner we all sit around and tell stories. I bet you've got quite a few to tell.

Me: Uh, yeah, I guess, but probably nothing you'd want to hear.

John: Sure we do. It's not every day a Homo Sapiens drops in from the Malthus Epoch, right?


---

I am not nuts. I am a squirrel. Squirrels gather up nuts. Because they like them.

[MonteQuest]

bump

[WisJim]

As far as home heating systems are concerned, the most efficient system you can have is geothermal ground source or water source heating and cooling.

For heating, superinsulation, with small wood stove backup, passive solar, and perhaps active solar for radiant in floor heat uses much less energy than any kind of heat pump system. An active solar system can often be run with a small pump using less than 100 watts--soome are 30 watts or so if I recall right. And air conditioning isn't necessary if the insulation is well done, and summer shading is carefully designed.

[Barbara]

While having a big house, we spend very few on electricity (like € 35 per month). We have no flat TV and no LCD, just two Tvs (not in the bedrooms!), but the best thing I did was substituting the electric oven with a gas oven! Great!
Also, we stopped to use the microwave, I iron no more than once per week and just some clothes, use the washing machine at 60° (100 F) for normal clothes, and try to use the dishwasher every other day.

About washing without consuming: in emergency times, you can wash the clothes with hot water obtained with gas, fireplace or whatever, and rinse it with the machine at cold temperature. This way, you save a lot of electricity in heating, and a lot of water in rinsing.

[dooberheim]

Bah...


I read a piece recently from a doctor where he said one of the healthiest things you can do, is eat your nasal mucus. (ick) As disgusting as it may be, I'm sure he's quite correct. Microbes trapped in your mucus help build your bodies immune reaction. (Man that's disgusting)
"

Must explain why my two year old has the immune system of a bull!

Actually people DO eat a lot of their own mucus without knowing it. There is a small constant flow down the back of the nose into the throat. In excess it's called "post-nasal drip"

Sorry to anyone I've grossed....

DK