The Environment Thread :-)

59 watchers
rf_fozzy
rf_fozzy
Jul 2020
11:20am, 7 Jul 2020
10,559 posts
  •  
  • 0
rf_fozzy
So today's uk govt announcement might be interesting, particularly if you're in a lower income bracket.

As ever with govt schemes, the devil will be in the details.

I might see if I can replace or improve my loft insulation and possibly replace a couple of windows.
HappyG(rrr)
HappyG(rrr)
Jul 2020
11:51am, 7 Jul 2020
35,515 posts
  •  
  • 0
HappyG(rrr)
That was my first though Fozzy - what home energy improvements can we do. Though MrsS(rrr) pointed out it would probably cost a lot more than £5000 for our old 1890s farm house! :-) G
jda
jda
Jul 2020
11:54am, 7 Jul 2020
7,787 posts
  •  
  • 0
jda
Draught proofing is almost always the place to start. Not to perfection, old buildings need a bit of ventilation. But not the sort of draft that would blow papers off a desk :-)
HappyG(rrr)
HappyG(rrr)
Jul 2020
11:55am, 7 Jul 2020
35,517 posts
  •  
  • 0
HappyG(rrr)
I can feel and even hear the wind whistling through our living room sometimes!

However, that's a vent for the fire (wood-burning stove). Can I block that off?
jda
jda
Jul 2020
12:01pm, 7 Jul 2020
7,788 posts
  •  
  • 0
jda
Certainly when it's not in use, and if I believed the house is draughty enough, I would probably block it off safely. We went through this when getting stove replaced - ridiculous to think our draughty (and very large) open-plan area needed a specific vent. For various reasons we got direct air inlet anyway.
rf_fozzy
rf_fozzy
Jul 2020
12:05pm, 7 Jul 2020
10,560 posts
  •  
  • 0
rf_fozzy
Happy - my reading of the thing is that £5k is that that's the maximum you can claim, but from the reading of the BBC news article, the govt would pay 2/3 and you pay 1/3, so £5k would be 2/3 of the total cost.

It would get you cavity wall insulation or replace windows with at least double glazing or put in loft insulation (which is most of the basic stuff I posted yesterday).

Plus of course, blinds, thermal curtains, draught excluders, seals etc. But these are cheap enough that you shouldn't need a grant to cover them anyway.
rf_fozzy
rf_fozzy
Jul 2020
12:06pm, 7 Jul 2020
10,561 posts
  •  
  • 0
rf_fozzy
(Btw - wood burning stoves aren't great IMO anyway)
HappyG(rrr)
HappyG(rrr)
Jul 2020
12:11pm, 7 Jul 2020
35,518 posts
  •  
  • 0
HappyG(rrr)
Feel free to expand on why my wood burner is bad too Fozzy...!

For context, was in house when we bought, we use wood that has fallen from our own trees, and cut and dried ourselves, and if we heat the living room in winter and don't have the oil fired central heating on, we can heat one room instead of firing up the heating for whole house! :-) G
rf_fozzy
rf_fozzy
Jul 2020
12:14pm, 7 Jul 2020
10,562 posts
  •  
  • 0
rf_fozzy
PM2.5 particles mainly Happy.

And Oil fired central heating adds new context to you Q yesterday too. Definitely think about Solar thermal central heating.
run free
run free
Jul 2020
10:02pm, 7 Jul 2020
4,254 posts
  •  
  • 0
run free
Foz do you know anything about whether solar panels are bad for the environment.

I read somewhere that solar panels contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel and also the switches for the electrical installation contain SF6 - 23,000 times worst than CO2 if it leaks.
bbc.co.uk

But then everything seems bad and you gotta weigh up the bad from the badder

HG - might like this link: carbontrust.com

About This Thread

Maintained by HappyG(rrr)
Hi
I've seen environment (whether emissions, power, climate change, access to countryside, whatever you think of as "environment") discussed in various threads: Politics (obviously), the Electric Car thread fetcheveryone.com/forum/electric-car-anyone-61481/ , run free's excellent "Competitive Running and Keeping The Environment Clean" fetcheveryone.com/forum/running-competitively-keeping-our-environment-clean-60907/ my own Greta Thunberg thread fetcheveryone.com/forum/greta-thunberg---jfk-for-the-climate-generation-61044/ etc. but I haven't seen a general one.

So here it is. For those interested in the science, the politics, the action for (and I'll state that for me, this is mostly pro-environment, anti-emissions, anti-pollution etc.) and the hope for the future of our planet.

Useful links posted by contributors:
rf_fozzy: This is quite a good article about how disruptive technology works too: lesswrong.com
Basically about why Kodak completely missed the boat when it came to digital cameras timkastelle.org
run free's Grand Designs example Ben Laws is a man who built his dream: granddesignsmagazine.com granddesignsmagazine.com
Carbon Commentary carboncommentary.com

Useful Links

FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.

Related Threads

  • debate
  • environment
  • politics









Back To Top
X

Free training & racing tools for runners, cyclists, swimmers & walkers.

Fetcheveryone lets you analyse your training, find races, plot routes, chat in our forum, get advice, play games - and more! Nothing is behind a paywall, and it'll stay that way thanks to our awesome community!
Get Started
Click here to join 112,375 Fetchies!
Already a Fetchie? Sign in here