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Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

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Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#161

Post by jedberg »

duncans wrote: post #99
fnbr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I find that people spend the least amount of money on insulation/heat that they can. I’m from Edmonton, and the coldest I’ve ever been was the winter when I lived in London, UK, as their insulation sucks and their heating sucks. In Edmonton, that’s not possible, because you have a few days of -40C weather annually, so your pipes will freeze without proper insulation (and you’ll die). Now, it’s not comfortable l…

I guess most people's experience of living in London is because they lived in shitty rented accommodation. Most houses in London were built before the 1970s. Being rented would mean they they would be less likely to have double-glazing retro-fitted or insulation improved because the landlord wouldn't give a shit.

I don't know what the rules are in London, but in Chicago landlords are responsible for paying for heating. An interesting side effect is that even crappy old buildings have triple paned windows and super efficient heaters.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#162

Post by saalweachter »

Kluny wrote: post #147
wolverine876 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some reasons why not: > you may live with other people who have different basal temperatures from yours, aren't comfortable at 16 degrees or whatever you settle on, and didn't consent to participating in your wacky experiment; > other people may come over to visit your house without realizing in advance that they need to wear long underwear; C'mon. We can't figure out the solutions to these problems, in a moment? :…

No thank you. I grew up in a house with a dad who fully bought into the "wear a sweater" philosophy. He'd make us go around all winter wearing two sweaters, a hat, and shoes indoors, and I still froze. My nose ran constantly and my hands got so cold I couldn't use my computer. Now I'm an adult and I've learned that the extra cost to heat my condo to 23 degrees all winter is basically the same as my Netflix subscripti…

I bought an older house built in the era of coal heating. Popped open an exterior wall to fix some water damage and discover it was completely un-insulated.

Better than finding the walls stuffed full of asbestos, I guess, but man, how was I the first person in a century to think of insulating?

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#163

Post by amingilani »

peteretep wrote: post #11

From the comments: > Sorry, I am not buying it. Not because you haven't done good work on the article: you have. Also not because N.American homes are overheated, and the residents under-dressed: they are. I do not buy it because the Japanese live the way you suggest in the winter, and it is miserable I have a mother in Scotland and I have a mother-in-law in Canada. Worst it ever gets near my mother seems to be -5C,…

I concur. My account is just as anecdotal and also limited to a specific region. That said, I recently moved to North America and have lived in Pakistan my entire life. A combination of poorly insulated building materials, old houses, an energy crisis, and a low GDP per capita leads most individuals to people conserving body-heat in the winter. It isn't fun, and you're never warm enough.

It was bizarre for me to lounge around in a T-shirt and jeans while it was snowing outside this month. The average coldest in winter for Lahore is 5.9 °C (42.6 °F). When the weather turns, you pack your summer clothes and unpack your trunk of winter clothes. You're wearing many layers and a heavy jacket indoors with your gas-heater burning a flame for extra measure. Oh, and your blankets are much heavier in the winter.

The record coldest it's ever gotten in Lahore was an unfathomable –2.2 °C on January 17, 1935. It's never been that cold in my lifetime.

And yet, winter feels infinitely colder in Pakistan than it does in Canada.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#164

Post by Guest19023892 »

peteretep wrote: post #11

From the comments: > Sorry, I am not buying it. Not because you haven't done good work on the article: you have. Also not because N.American homes are overheated, and the residents under-dressed: they are. I do not buy it because the Japanese live the way you suggest in the winter, and it is miserable I have a mother in Scotland and I have a mother-in-law in Canada. Worst it ever gets near my mother seems to be -5C,…

I lived in Cyprus one winter. It would only go down to about 5-7C at night. I was freezing. Actually, I got sores on my toes because the tile floors were so cold in the apartment and I needed to start wearing my sandals in the house.

It was a small one bedroom apartment. During the day it was fine, I had the windows open. At night, I'd run the two wall heaters, I'd wear a hoodie, and I'd be cold unless I was under the heater. To warm up the bedroom before going to bed I'd close the bedroom door, turn the heater on high, and leave it for at least 30 minutes. If I then went in the room and turned the heater off, within 20 minutes it would be cold again.

In Canada it can be -10C outside and I've always been perfectly cozy indoors. In my Canadian apartment now, I don't even run the heat at night and it's fine, and I only partly cover myself with the duvet. In Cyprus I was using multiple blankets and was uncomfortably cold in bed, even with the heat running.

I can only imagine people in Cyprus and other countries with poorly insulated homes hearing about the weather and Canada and fearing for their life. Meanwhile, it's December in Canada and I'm literally wearing shorts in my house now.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#165

Post by war1025 »

lm28469 wrote: post #77
war1025 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've stopped using heating altogether > heating XXX cubic meters of air is a pure waste of energy Tell me how you feel about that when the water in your pipes freezes. Because that is sure as hell not a good time.

Of course if you _have to_ heat then do it, as I said when I was going through -20c degrees winter you can't really escape it. I'd argue most people can live perfectly fine without heating. (not living up north / at high altitude / in cold micro climate). People don't heat their flats/offices to 25c in Berlin or London to avoid frozen pipes. Unless you live in a 1800s house there is no way your pipe would freeze here

I just looked up the yearly average high / lows for Berlin and London. I never realized they were both so temperate.

They are both 10 degrees of latitude further North than me here in Iowa, yet they both look to rarely dip much below freezing.

I knew London's temperature was buffered by being so close to the ocean, but I always thought Berlin was far enough inland to not have that benefit.

And then on top of that they both have milder summers than here.

That's all very interesting to me.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#166

Post by pea »

peteretep wrote: post #11

From the comments: > Sorry, I am not buying it. Not because you haven't done good work on the article: you have. Also not because N.American homes are overheated, and the residents under-dressed: they are. I do not buy it because the Japanese live the way you suggest in the winter, and it is miserable I have a mother in Scotland and I have a mother-in-law in Canada. Worst it ever gets near my mother seems to be -5C,…

I think there's a specifically British thing about accepting being cold and not complaining about it - I've lived in Scotland or London for most of my life, and no one will turn on their heating before November and most houses are 150-400 years old and are not insulated. I can literally feel the breeze inside as I type this.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#167

Post by 1996 »

amingilani wrote: post #163
peteretep wrote: post #11

From the comments: > Sorry, I am not buying it. Not because you haven't done good work on the article: you have. Also not because N.American homes are overheated, and the residents under-dressed: they are. I do not buy it because the Japanese live the way you suggest in the winter, and it is miserable I have a mother in Scotland and I have a mother-in-law in Canada. Worst it ever gets near my mother seems to be -5C,…

I concur. My account is just as anecdotal and also limited to a specific region. That said, I recently moved to North America and have lived in Pakistan my entire life. A combination of poorly insulated building materials, old houses, an energy crisis, and a low GDP per capita leads most individuals to people conserving body-heat in the winter. It isn't fun, and you're never warm enough. It was bizarre for me to loun…

> That said, I recently moved to North America and have lived in Pakistan most of my life.

Welcome here! I hope you'll like it!

Is it your first winter? It's a special experience!

My favorite thing in the winter is a hot Tim Hortons drink - I rotate them, because they are all quite good!

> And yet, winter feels infinitely colder in Pakistan than it does in Canada.

Until you go outside and try to walk in the street :)

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#168

Post by quickthrowman »

wolverine876 wrote: post #102

I expect people on HN to have already figured out the obvious: It takes much less energy to heat the area under your clothes, using existing heat, than to heat a room or building with artificially generated heat. Your body is 37 deg C. Wearing low-insulation clothing and letting that heat float away, and then heating the entire room or building to warm you up again, is absurd if you understand basic physics and think…

> Heating a building when you aren't there is silly. [0]

If I don’t heat my home when I’m not there in the winter, the water supply lines will freeze and burst causing thousands or tens of thousands in damage. I think I’ll heat my home when I’m not there, thanks.

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