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Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#71

Post by tjansen »

laweijfmvo wrote: post #51
ice3 wrote: post #6

Installed solar power last year and an air source heat pump. My pellet burner is still going to be the main source of heat/hot water though. Got pellets at the start of the year (with only 80% premium over last year, now the prices are 3x of what they used to be ), have wood to offset use of pellets and even some coal [just in case]. Replaced every bulb with LEDs from IKEA. Set all rooms in the house to 18-19 c. Goin…

20c is incredibly warm. As a broke college kid living on the east coast we kept the furnace at 55F (13C) all winter. Wear a jacket. Double socks. Drink warm beverages. Get up and do some push-ups. If you’re reasonably young and healthy, you’ll survive.

Problem with 13C in many European houses is that will get mold at 13C. The insulation prevents any ventilation.

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#72

Post by badpun »

dimensionc132 wrote: post #3

Quoted post unavailable.

Putin, but cutting off the gas without any warning, only showed everyone that relying on Russia's gas so much was pure insanity in the first place. Now, Europe will pay the price for that stupidity. Hopefully, it won't be that high and things will come back to normal in a couple of years.

BTW, I wonder if US is paying attention. It's no longer 1940s when the US manufacturing output won WWII, now the US are mainly people sitting in offices, managing production that happens in China. What happens when the tensions between US and China get really serious? If China decides to cut off US's corporations from their manufacturing base, the US is just a bunch of people in offices sending slack messages to each other... That does not win wars.

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#73

Post by mywittyname »

atemerev wrote: post #15
ice3 wrote: post #6

Installed solar power last year and an air source heat pump. My pellet burner is still going to be the main source of heat/hot water though. Got pellets at the start of the year (with only 80% premium over last year, now the prices are 3x of what they used to be ), have wood to offset use of pellets and even some coal [just in case]. Replaced every bulb with LEDs from IKEA. Set all rooms in the house to 18-19 c. Goin…

In my case the problem is that I literally can’t work (meaning, program) if the temperature is less than 22C. Warm clothing, hot drinks, nothing helps. Tried many times. Hope that electric heating will still be legal.

My office is in a cool (64F) basement. Something I've found works to warm me up is to do a bunch of squats and pushups when I'm cold. If you're able to, perhaps try doing 10 squats then 5 pushups on repeat 3-5 times until you're warm/hot.

I find the warmth lasts about an hour and has the side effect of also warming my office a degree or so.

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#74

Post by cpursley »

rjzzleep wrote: post #18
Workaccount2 wrote: post #11

Are people actually going to freeze? My understanding so far is that industry will freeze (as needed) so that all the reserves can be used for people. I get a feeling that this crisis is becoming more media-gorging-on-crisis-clicks than it is an objective analysis.

Industry doesn't freeze as needed. It freezes indefinitely. Once something is out of business it's out of business and will either be outsourced or bought up by bigger fish. When industry dies the social safety net dies, it will happen when the Euro looses its value, in which case money printing will no longer be possible without hyperinflation. And a devalued Euro is only useful if there is still an industry left to…

A lot of people still don't grasp that de-industrialization is already happening. In Europe, major metal smelters, chemical manufactures, etc are already off line or shutting down soon. And the way factories work, you can just shut them down and fire them back up at a later date - they need to run continuously. Additionally, these are not only large employers, but greatly contribute to the tax revenue which support the generous welfare states. It's not looking pretty.

https://www.ft.com/content/46d3c3fb-e79a-464c-afe1-7079d3e4f...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-17/energy-cr...

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#76

Post by ajross »

fullstop wrote: post #66

How is your insulation? If you want to live with something slightly dangerous, one candle is about 80 watts of heat, and enough of them will heat a room. Moist air heats better than dry air, so be mindful of the humidity and maybe add a humidifier. Not one of the ultrasonic ones, they are garbage -- especially if you have hard water. You want an evaporative one with a wick and fan(s). With that being said, it's easie…

> Moist air heats better than dry air

This is sort of true, but only because the density of humid air is lower, and thus the heat capacity (though IIRC the specific heat of gaseous water is actually quite a bit higher than N2/O2, which takes back a lot of that benefit). There is no meaningful change in heat conductivity given that the medium is a (highly convective) gas, obviously.

The overwhelming majority of the energy used to heat your "living space" doesn't go into the air anyway, it's used to heat the walls and floors and furniture which make up the bulk of your home's mass. Being able to heat the air around your candle rapidly doesn't change anything, because that air will just cool down when it hits the ceiling.

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#77

Post by Brometheus »

dougmwne wrote: post #60
dijit wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate a little on this? I have a free-standing air-conditioner that I got because temperatures hit records this year, are you saying I should put the cold side of it outside and pipe the tube into my home? Split A/C units (like ceiling mounted ones) are uncommon in most of Northern Europe residential buildings..

Unfortunately those free standing units create a pressure differential and you will see all your hot air pushed outside. The split units use a fluid line to the outside to exchange temperature, so you would need one of those.

They are awesome and in Germany you can get up to 45% installation cost help

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#78

Post by ajross »

dougmwne wrote: post #69

I stayed in an unheated apartment this weekend in the mountains and it was truly cold. We ended up building a little tent over the bed with blankets. This make me realize that the curtained canopy bed may be making a comeback.

Yeah, this is miserable by modern standards, but it's not really that big a deal. Wear a ton of layers. Get a space heater or equivalent, close the door, and heat one room to something tolerable (10C/50F, say). You can do that in typical winter weather with just a few hundred watts, so even a gaming PC will probably work.

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#79

Post by cpursley »

jotm wrote: post #35
Workaccount2 wrote: post #11

Are people actually going to freeze? My understanding so far is that industry will freeze (as needed) so that all the reserves can be used for people. I get a feeling that this crisis is becoming more media-gorging-on-crisis-clicks than it is an objective analysis.

Everything in the media is a load of "WE'LL ALL DIE TOMORROW" bullshit these days. Just to get people's attention. Shit will be fine.

> Shit will be fine.

For highly payed ivory tower folks, yes. For everyone else, it's going to be difficult. Energy is everything in modern society.

Re: Ask HN: How do I/you prep for the energy crisis in EU?

#80

Post by MaxPengwing »

Scandic Northerner here. I've made sure I have rice several kilos, a couple of bags of dried legumes like lentils, and beans for proteins, and a few boxes with crushed tomatos.

For lights everything is LED, and I have bought 20+ camping gas stove cartridges for my itawani stove. A 100+ of candles for power outages (3-5 boxes of 30 normal Duni long candles) and about 400+ paraffin tea candles.

Live in an old thick stone blrick building with insulation, but still buy thermal underwear if you font have it and get used to wearing layers of clothing.

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