SteamyTea

Perfect is the enemy of good

TL;DR But two things struck me, apart from the bollocks about fallen timber bring better burnt than add to the carbon store in the ground (wrongly called rotting). People tend to close curtains at night, so that can help energy losses. The big one though us that we need to reduce continuous energy usage, not only to save money, but to make implementing renewables easier and cheaper. The less we have to generate, the less we need to build. So decent windows, decent fitting curtains and leave trees to do what they do best.

I had to do a complete module on it as part of my BSc. And I was not studying building. Basic physics works every time, you can't fool nature.

Yes, but it is a global problem. We could bury it up in Cumbria, that has the right geology, Trouble is the council wants more cash from central government to host it. All petty politics.

There are a number of ways to transfer energy, only one of them is with a higher temperature. You can increase amount of pipework (reduce the spacing) in the UFH and still deliver the same power. There is a difference between energy, power and temperature.

If only were were burying it. We have been storing 60+ years worths in tin cans plonked in swimming pools, usually next to a low lying coastline. But they are guarded by men with guns.

Two points. Clean in power generation means low CO2. Nuclear, even allowing for the whole supply chain, decommissioning and accidents, has a very good safety record when compared to coal and hydro.

The C-Max is the same, but quite comfy on the rough roads because of it.

Or they will loose 10m2 of floor area.

And it will probably need more than 1 ASHP in reality. What size water and electrical connections do you have?

Putting in a vapour barrier will improve airtightness, so that should help thermal performance a bit. As it is a flat roof, can you add external insulation, and improve the covering to stop leaks?

We are currently getting our long overdue revenge. They are back to school next week, and most of us have been vaccinated, so no angst about going out. What we need is every school to become a boarding school. Get the (expletive deleted)ers back when they are 21.

That's shocking. When the kids are screaming and crying, it means the parents are winning. And the little shits are learning.

Better than a shot gone for dispatching the buggers.

Or a black paint that reflects. SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 61% Menu Infrared-reflecting paint can cool buildings even when it is black TECHNOLOGY 24 April 2020 By Layal Liverpool New Scientist Default Image A new paint reflects infrared with a layer of polymer, which helps keep objects cool Jyotirmoy Mandal A two-layered paint that reflects infrared light while maintaining its colour could help keep buildings and vehicles cool under hot sun. This could help reduce energy used in cooling, such as by air conditioners. This coating was developed by Yuan Yang at Columbia University in New York and his colleagues. It consists of a top layer of commercial paint, which provides the colour, and a bottom layer made of a polymer similar to Teflon, which reflects infrared light. Advertisement Sunlight contains both visible and infrared light but the infrared accounts for the majority of the solar energy, says Yang. When the sun shines on an object coated with this paint, the top layer absorbs certain wavelengths of light, depending on the paint’s colour, while the bottom layer reflects infrared light, preventing the object from heating up. A similar cooling effect can be achieved using white paint or metal mirrors, but Yang says the advantage of this new paint is that it can be any colour desired. Read more: Earthquake-resistant paint could help brick buildings survive tremors Usually black paint absorbs heat, but painting an object with a black version of this new coating kept it about 16°C cooler than when an object painted with commercial black paint was exposed to the same amount of sunlight. In another test, the new paint coating was found to be able to maintain its colour despite being placed in an oven at 60°C for 30 days. Yang says this paint could help save electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. “Solar reflective and thermally emissive surfaces offer a sustainable way to cool objects under sunlight,” says Mingqing Wang at University College London, who was not involved with the work. This could be useful in tropical locations to help keep buildings cool and reduce electricity consumption from air conditioning, as well as to prevent cars, buses and trains from getting too hot, she says. An intriguing next step would be to try and add more functionality to the coating, for instance to enable the energy from the reflected infrared light to be harvested to generate electricity, says Wang. Journal reference: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5413 More on these topics: materials science Advertisement TRENDING LATEST VIDEO FREE How to keep your brain healthy: The 7 things you should do every day Quantum computers are revealing an unexpected new theory of reality The frequencies of a vibrating spider web have been made into music What causes the rare blood clots linked with some covid-19 vaccines? Covid-19 news: Doubts about Olympics as cases surge in Japan New Scientist Default Image SUBSCRIBE VIEW IN THE APP BUY IN PRINT Advertisement MORE FROM NEW SCIENTIST Whitest paint ever reflects 98 per cent of light and could cool homes Whitest paint ever reflects 98 per cent of light and could cool homes ENVIRONMENT camel Gel layer inspired by camel fur could keep food and medicines cool TECHNOLOGY White building Superwhite paint can cool buildings even in hot sunlight ENVIRONMENT water in desert Water could be extracted from desert air using heat from sunlight TECHNOLOGY PROMOTED STORIES [Pics] You Need To See What Nostradamus Predicted For This Year [Pics] You Need To See What Nostradamus Predicted For This Year Maternity Week Two Drops Of This Before Bed Relieves Years of Joint Pain and Arthritis (Try This Tonight) Two Drops Of This Before Bed Relieves Years of Joint Pain and Arthritis (Try This Tonight) CBD oil The biggest losers from covid-19 The biggest losers from covid-19 The Economist Discover The Benefit Everyone Can Claim Discover The Benefit Everyone Can Claim Reassured Knee Surgeons Amazed By These Revolutionary Knee Sleeves Knee Surgeons Amazed By These Revolutionary Knee Sleeves The Wire Magazine Your Horoscope: so accurate that it will give you goosebumps Your Horoscope: so accurate that it will give you goosebumps The extraordinary Chris Recommended by Sign up to our newsletters Enter your email address to get started Your email Contact usCoronavirus: customer updateHelpAbout usPrivacy & cookiesCookie preferencesTerms & conditions AdvertiseWrite for usEventsScience jobsSyndicationRSS feeds Gift subscriptionsStudent subscriptionsEducational subscriptionsCorporate subscriptions GET THE APP Get it on Google Play FOLLOW US © Copyright New Scientist Ltd. Back to top Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241717-infrared-reflecting-paint-can-cool-buildings-even-when-it-is-black/#ixzz6sD4F2w3p

Missed this as I was burying my best mate in Dorset. A decade or so ago I would almost have agreed with you. Since then the electrical grid has been changing from centralised generation to distributed generation. We can now cheaply and easily monitor grid frequency, voltage and power at the microsecond level, respond to change at the millisecond level. This is rather unnecessary as the grid works at 50 hertz. So where spinning reserves, and hot spinning reserves, and agree more flywheels (been in use for decades) are useful, their impact on dynamic grid stability is diminishing.

I have always found a quarter sheet orbital palm sander better. And you can by a roll of paper for it and not have to pay over the odds for the velcro ones.

I seem to remember a conversation on here about how concrete will attack aluminium foil. Or it may have been about a different material.

Mention to your legal people that you know the portaloo company is owed money, and that they told you others were owed to. They may be about to get a list of names with a carefully worded letter to the portaloo people.

Posted it up last week, now it is up to you to find it. If you, @epsilonGreedy, claim many extraordinary thing from well connected men in pubs, I suggest you get a copy of 'Tales from the White Hart". I have always considered you a Harry Purvis.

36W here. I should buy a 50W LED security light and leave it on 24/7, just to compete with my neighbours old incandescent one.

I could show you some research that shows the contrary, but you will just dismiss it.

Yesterday the manager of my Local Costa Coffee got me to download the app because there is an offer in today, and for the next 2 days. 50p s coffee, about the right price. So after a tourtous login process, as I already have an account, I go in today to claim my cheap coffee (this is after a 7 mile walk because St. Michael's Mount us not really open, they just say it is to get people to park at 8 quid). App says it is broken. Try again later. One day, all our apps will say we cease to exist.

Yes, lights are now 5W instead of 60W. I have leaving a light on, but as all mine are 3W LEDs, it takes 20 minutes for the meter to register. What is the difference between light and hard? You can sleep with a light on.

@epsilonGreedy You really don't understand heat pump sizing, and how they are designed to run do you. Shame you don't like facts. Show me where were have breached the grid generation capacity recently, like in the last 20 years. Not counting that unfortunate incident a few years back which was a management failure. I suspect that natural gas us going to fill most of the missing generation over the next 30 years, they are quick and cheap to build, reliable, fast acting and I think the UK will wiggle out of its environmental promises.