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

lowtechmagazine.com

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

#231

Post by jniedrauer »

vinc wrote: post #155

I live in a 150 years old farm in the middle of a forest that have no heating, it's my third winter here and the temperature goes down to 5C inside for a few months (oceanic climate, it's rarely below 0C outside), especially on cloudy days when the sun can't warm up the stones of the walls. The first winter I didn't have proper clothing and it was really hard. But now I have all the right gear and it feels very comfo…

> The only issue is finding the right gloves for typing on the computer, I haven't found any good ones yet.

Have you tried fingerless gloves? During long winter backpacking trips or situations where I'll be living without heat for a while, I take some liner gloves and cut the fingers just past the first knuckle. The gloves stay clean even with prolonged use, and you can still use capacitive touch screens and do dexterous work like typing.

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

#232

Post by hyko »

I can tolerate pretty cold environments, but why should I have to? The outdoors are the reason we invented the indoors.

“The potential energy savings are huge; the costs are almost nil.”

This is a complete fantasy. What’s actually happening here is, faced with a hard problem (heating indoor spaces in a sustainable way), they have decided to solve a much harder one (changing the behaviour and physiology of everyone on Earth) in the guise of a simple one (if only we all wore more clothing). What sounds like a simple solution is therefore actually nearly impossible, and of little use to us unless we’re facing extreme circumstances.

The whole point of civilisation is that life does not have to be a survival exercise. If we can’t come up with anything better than this line of reasoning, then we are done for.

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

#233

Post by distances »

Kluny wrote: post #221
quickthrowman wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Also, there's this concept of thermal mass - once you heat up you walls, floors, furniture, etc, they retain it. If you keep on letting your house cool down and then heating it up again, you basically lose that stored heat and need to pay for it again. It's cheaper to just maintain the same temperature all the time. And, as a PNW resident I really need to emphasize this: MOLD. It's a thing.

This seems to be a common misconception, but not true. Letting the apartment cool down will always use less energy than keeping temperature up.

I would think this is just very obvious. Keeping the temperature up will lead to more heat loss. I can try to find some supporting material if you wish though as I've heard this same claim before.

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

#234

Post by oillio »

oftenwrong wrote: post #43
whalesalad wrote: post #10

My wife and I just moved from LA (my birthplace) to Detroit (my wifes birthplace, I have lived here previously) and it sure has been a struggle to keep my office environment 'good'. I have a hyperhidrosis issue (excessively sweaty hands) that compounds the situation. I feel like homes and offices do not breath. My anecdotal napkin math would say like 10% of buildings are designed with proper ventilation, blending of…

I recall reading a blog post in which a heat lamp was used to warm the hands while working at a desk. I like to work outdoors even when it is fairly cold, and cold hands are the main limitation. It is difficult to type with gloves.

Try open hand warmers designed to warm the blood on the top of your hand as it flows into your fingers. In my experience, these work great at keeping my hands warm while not reducing dexterity.

https://images.app.goo.gl/DZofccEmDPGdSKvGA

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

#235

Post by xupybd »

I lived this way for a long time. What they are not talking about is getting sick from the mild building up around you. If you don't hear moisture builds up and mild grows on the walls. I spent so many winters where I was sick for at least half of the winter. It is not worth it.

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

#236

Post by Niccizero »

When I went to europe I was surprised by European houses being heated like ovens during winter, with temperatures beyond 20c in some cases. Being from Southern South America (with my native city having a climate roughly similar to that of Ireland) I was used to houses being "fairly cold" during winter, with interior temperatures of 5~10c, we just fight the cold by wearing more clothes and going to bed early!

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

#237

Post by freetime2 »

sleepydog wrote: post #171
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 Kyoto for a year. To me it seemed that the houses there prioritized being comfortable during the oppressive summer heat they have there -- lots of windows, very drafty, shaded outdoor porches, etc. I wouldn't call the winters miserable -- I had a space heater, a warm robe and thick blankets. Kyoto does have fairly mild winters, though.

Kotatsus[1] are also wonderful inventions. You can turn down (or turn off) the heat in the room and crank up the kotatsu and be very cozy.

It’s not the most practical source of heating since it doesn’t follow you around to different rooms like warm clothing does. But it’s good if you know you’re going to be in one place for a while (e.g. watching TV). The feeling to me is almost like taking a bath, where your lower body is at a warmer temperature than your upper body, and your circulation keeps your whole body warm. Definitely not miserable!

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu

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

#238

Post by lizknope »

I don't necessarily disagree with the article but where I live I spend far more on cooling than heating.

I can walk around with minimal clothing but if it is 100F outside I am going to need to run the air conditioner. I spent $5000 on insulation upgrades and enclosing the crawlspace.

The house originally had 2 separate 2.0 ton SEER 8 units. They lasted 14 and 17 years. They were replaced with 2.5 ton SEER 18 variable speed compressors that can also use the heat pump for heating.

The house is so much more comfortable now. When it was 100F outside the old systems could only get the indoor temp down to 81F. Now they can get down to 70F if I want. The variable speed keeps the compressor running at a low rate to continue dehumidification without cooling too quickly.

I had multiple electric bills in July/August of $300 and since the upgrades my high is $180.

The crawl space enclosure with a tiny HVAC vent keeps the crawlspace at 60F in the winter which has the added benefit of keeping the water temperature reasonable and not having to wait 45 seconds to get warmer water to wash your hands.

My natural gas bills for heating used to be around $110 in the winter and now they have dropped to $50. The systems are set to to use the heat pump for heating until the outside temp drops below 40F and then switch to natural gas.

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

#240

Post by PurpleFoxy »

hyko wrote: post #232

I can tolerate pretty cold environments, but why should I have to? The outdoors are the reason we invented the indoors. “The potential energy savings are huge; the costs are almost nil.” This is a complete fantasy. What’s actually happening here is, faced with a hard problem (heating indoor spaces in a sustainable way), they have decided to solve a much harder one (changing the behaviour and physiology of everyone on…

This kind of comment gets posted on everything from low tech magazine.

I think the authors intention is not to give practical ideas that could be widely deployed to the world but instead to give ideas to people who find enjoyment out of maximising efficiency as a hobby.

The author is a person who turns most of the lights off so they can run their office on a solar panel hanging out their apartment window.

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