Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain • Hacker News Board

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#181

Post by roenxi » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 4:28 AM UTC

vkou wrote: post #157

roenxi wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are lots of things you could do to save resources but most things are not done and are not going to be done because it is inconvenient and takes time, and time is money. This is radically underselling how much most people are willing to do for 50 pounds. If people are being squeezed out of their lifestyle due to energy costs (which seems quite likely, looking at the aggregate stats) they'd spend the time to c…

> It remains a mystery why everyone was so calm walking in to this while tightening the screws on fossil fuel industries to stop them investing int he future. Because the only half-solutions we got for mitigating climate change were drafted by people who are largely free market types, and they can only envision free market solutions - which require end users figuring out how they are going to deal with more expensive…

The German situation is pretty illustrative of what would have happened to anyone stupid enough to try and build more power plants in Western Europe - nuclear stations would have been shut down, fossil fuels have been staring down the barrel of the burgeoning Green movement for at least 20 years and are somewhere close to being hit with legislation designed to make them unprofitable.

Renewable haven't been cost-effective (or technically feasible in some cases, renewabled seem to have been a warning sign for incoming grid instability so far) and all the alternatives have been blocked by politics. I don't know about Europe's environmental legislation but it would be no surprise to discover even most renewable plays were facing legislative challenges too due to the area they take up.

For a market solution to work somebody has to be allowed build something and let it run for 20-50 years to reclaim the capital costs and make a profit. Speaking as someone who would quite have liked to be investing in energy plays about 5-8 years ago when the problem started to become apparent, the legislative environment in the west is too fraught to risk it. We weren't going to start doing anything useful until a crisis happened to get some political cover for the unpopular energy sources. Here we are, so now maybe something will get done.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#182

Post by askvictor » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 4:35 AM UTC

tempestn wrote: post #109

Problem is you're not just adding heat, but humidity. Normally while having a shower you're going to run an exhaust fan in the bathroom. So if you want to conserve heat, the better approach is just to make the shower as short as possible.

Also, cold showers are better for the skin, and good for mental health. Take a bit of getting used to though, particularly in the middle of winter!

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#183

Post by fsckboy » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 4:37 AM UTC

I just want to put in a word for standard microeconomic theory. If our water (or energy) use in aggregate suggests to the govt that our consumption needs to go down, then raise the price of water (or energy) across the board till it does.

Individuals can choose which of all your amazing water (and heat) savings ideas they feel would best suit them.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#184

Post by Atheros » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 4:53 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #163

I've noticed that people wildly overestimate the environmental impact of things they personally touch. This, I theorize, is why sub-rounding error things like plastic straws, plastic bags, cups, etc get such disproportionate attention. Bathwater that heats every pore of our naked bodies is probably even more susceptible to this bias.

The plastic straws were for virtue signaling. A bar near me put up signs in the bathroom with pictures of sea turtles advertising that they no longer use plastic straws. Outside the bathroom, the AC units were running (completely on and running; not just the fan) along with household electric space heaters. Outside the building, it was snowing.

The plastic bag laws are because municipalities don't want to pay to haul as much garbage and so seek to save themselves money.

I don't know what "cups" is but so far, none of it is honest.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#185

Post by seba_dos1 » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 5:04 AM UTC

zarzavat wrote: post #174

refurb wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Having living in SE Asia where you can drink the tap water, it’s rough getting a glass of water from the tap and it’s 25C. There is no “cold” tap, just warm and hot taps.

> SE Asia where you can drink the tap water A very verbose way of saying Singapore.

Your way is more verbose, by two characters to be exact.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#186

Post by moepstar » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 5:06 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #163

I've noticed that people wildly overestimate the environmental impact of things they personally touch. This, I theorize, is why sub-rounding error things like plastic straws, plastic bags, cups, etc get such disproportionate attention. Bathwater that heats every pore of our naked bodies is probably even more susceptible to this bias.

You may not be wrong - however, what's your suggestion then?

Not doing these things?

IMHO, every little bit counts towards a livable future.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#187

Post by baybal2 » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 5:08 AM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#188

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 5:12 AM UTC

jtc331 wrote: post #137

cameronh90 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the UK, extra humidity is the last thing I'd ever want in winter. At the moment, I've got two beefy dehumidifiers running and I'm still at between 70-85% humidity in each room. I don't have any damp or leaks, it's just that the outdoor humidity has been 80-90% for the last few weeks, so ventilation is futile. And because of the weather at the moment, we're drying clothes indoors.

What is the temperature outside? Humidity is measured relatively (to how much water air can hold at the current temperature), so even 100% humidity outside at a moderately chilly temperature outside can still translate into uncomfortably dry (e.g., less than 35%) humidity inside.

[deleted]

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#189

Post by chihuahua » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 5:16 AM UTC

syockit wrote: post #161

chihuahua wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems like a more realistic suggestion to me. If you want to take this further, switch to taking Navy showers: get wet, turn off shower, apply soap, turn on shower to rinse off.

What, all my life I thought that was the normal way of showering. So how do you people actually shower? You leave the tap on while soaping?

Yes, I believe that is the common way of taking a shower. Turn on the water, do whatever you need for approximately 10 minutes, then turn off the water at the end.

Re: Re-using the heat in bathwater in Britain

#190

Post by refurb » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 5:21 AM UTC

zarzavat wrote: post #174

refurb wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Having living in SE Asia where you can drink the tap water, it’s rough getting a glass of water from the tap and it’s 25C. There is no “cold” tap, just warm and hot taps.

> SE Asia where you can drink the tap water A very verbose way of saying Singapore.

You can drink it other countries! It's risky, but you can drink it!