balkanradfem · 10 months ago
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My neighbour came to give me some gift apples for the holidays, and I had to explain to her that my apartment is cold because I turned off the heating in all rooms except the kitchen, to save on energy while my roommates were gone for the holidays. I put my mattress in the kitchen to sleep on the floor under the tree and the radiator.
She then came later to inform me that I should turn the heating back on, because we bills will be just the same, so there's no use saving, they charge us by the square meter. I reassured her that I already knew that, and didn't do it in order to lower my heating bill, but because I believe saving energy in any way is important, and because energy always comes at the cost to the environment, and I care for the environment so much I'm happy to do this even if it's just one drop in the ocean.
She frowned at me and told me I'm not doing anything, displeased with my naive spirit. I, in turn, remained sure that I'm doing the right thing, and my spirits still raised by the idea that I'm not wasting energy.
I actually have more reasons for doing it, and some of them are that I just wanna be used to and comfortable with sustainable living. People heating the entire house when they're not even using 80% of it, is a very recent, and wasteful development. People used to heat only one room in the house, and just sleep in that same room, next to the fireplace, because it made no sense wasting all that wood, fuel and effort, when they could stay warm and cozy right where they are.
Having my entire place heated up would not make me more happy than I am, it would make me forget that any energy is even necessary for heating, if it's spent so dismissively, like it's a normal thing to do. It makes me appreciate the warm kitchen so much, every time I step into my cooled down bedroom and experience how the building would feel without heating. How wonderful it is to have a room that is completely warm, in the times of the cold.
I am aware that if it gets below freezing, I need to turn the heating on just a little tiny bit, in order for the pipes to not have a chance to freeze over and burst, I know it can happen in the times of extreme cold. But it's not even below freezing right now, so I'm perfectly safe in enjoying my little sustainable ways.
I don't think we'll have enough energy to keep big establishments completely heated while empty, if we want to have a future on this planet, so why not go back to being used to limited heating? It's not something that takes away from happiness, even if it's a slightly less convenient way of life. And we're saving energy as we do it, just like we do when we don't leave the lights on, take quick showers, recycle, turn our electronics off. Heating takes burning fuel, and burning fuel emits carbon in the atmosphere, and creates leftover waste. It's a good thing to be aware where the energy is coming from, and to take only as much as we need to be happy and safe.
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frog-thief · 1 year ago
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"once a ordinary monk picked up a lonely and lost sparrow"
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reasonsforhope · 1 year ago
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"The search has intensified for alternative energy-saving technologies for heating and cooling that don’t run on fossil fuels.
Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, Chinese scientists have developed a cheap energy-efficient, cost-effective coating on houses.
They say the new material could keep buildings cool in the summer or warm in the winter without using additional energy.
“Many desert creatures have specialized adaptations to allow them to survive in harsh environments with large daily temperature shifts,” said Dr. Fuqiang Wang, author on the paper describing the invention and researcher at the Harbin Institute of Technology. “For example, the Namaqua chameleon of southwestern Africa alters its color to regulate its body temperature as conditions change.”
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Pictured: A Namaqua Chameleon
...Many systems, such as cooling paints or colored steel tiles, are only designed to keep buildings either cool or warm, and can’t switch between modes.
Inspired by the Namaqua chameleon, Dr. Wang and his colleagues wanted to create a color-shifting coating that adapts as outside temperatures fluctuate...
When heated to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the surface began to change from dark to light grey. Once it reached 86F, the light-colored film reflected up to 93% of solar radiation.
“Even when heated above 175 degrees Fahrenheit for an entire day, the material showed no signs of damage,” reported Dr. Wang.
The team then tested it alongside three conventional coatings—regular white paint, a passive radiative cooling paint, and blue steel tiles in outdoor tests on doghouse-sized buildings throughout all four seasons...
In summer, the new coating was significantly cooler than the white paint and steel tiles, according to the findings published in the journal Nano Letters.
“During spring and fall, the new coating was the only system that could adapt to the widely fluctuating temperature changes, switching from heating to cooling throughout the day,” Dr. Wang added.
The researchers say that the color-changing system could save a “considerable” amount of energy for regions that experience multiple seasons, while still being inexpensive and easy to manufacture."
-via Good News Network, September 21, 2023
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personal-blog243 · 2 months ago
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I have the privilege of living in a house with air conditioning and working in an office with air conditioning. But even when I walk to the train station to take the train instead of driving I wish my city would do something as simple as make sure all sidewalks are shaded with trees, but instead most sidewalks in my area are not near shade trees 🙄. That alone would make so many pedestrians, commuters (and homeless people obviously) have a higher quality of life and would even make my neighborhood look nicer 🤷🏼‍♀️
I wish I knew what to do about that but aside from sending an email that won’t get read does anyone have any tips as to solve this issue locally?????
A lot of bus stops in my city are also not shaded.
Sorry I’m mostly just complaining about getting sweaty walking to the train station but for some people this problem is obviously much worse.
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zevrans-remade · 10 months ago
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#it's my last shift in 2 days and then i'm leaving this job i'm actually so happy i no longer has to work there! 🎉#i need to find a new one asap of course but i never had energy to do so on my off days so i'll focus on that now#i've endured the hardest shifts with freezing -25-30 °C where the heater conditioner did absolutely nothing#shifts with the roof leaking trying to not let the orders of customers get wet constantly wiping shelves throughout 2 days on top#of everything i has to do#these past 2 days sewage system froze and i had no water to wash my hands or use the restroom properly..🤦‍♀️#i know the wet hand wipes are bad for ecology but man they continously saved me and also i had to wash my hands using water from kettle and#i had to do it outside freezing of course because the sink and restroom are in another building and i didnt have time to constantly walk#there.. and this on top of 2 last weeks of december being especially batshit crazy stressful and having heated karen encounters each shift.#and it was so hard on me because i am a nonconfrontational person and i don't like arguing with people#but i learned so much in these months of working there and for that experience i am still grateful :")#it's bittersweet that i won't see the friendly regulars that were always kind to me anymore tho 😔 and my coworker came yesterday#and we spoke for like an hour or so and he said he is is sad that i'm leaving because i'm such a nice person and a great coworker 🥺#ngl this made me sad too but life goes on.. he said he'll be leaving in a month too#said he didn't think that i'll leave first 😂#i woke up almost an hour ago from 3 bg3 related dreams in a row btw 😂🤦‍♀️ i need to play 🙈 ok i need to get up first..😭#tbd
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head-post · 9 months ago
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Britons have to choose between heating and eating this winter
The UK has some of the most poorly insulated homes in Europe, although the nation was previously a leader in this area. Fifteen years ago, around a million homes a year were retrofitted with insulation and a target was set for all new homes to be zero-carbon by 2016, Big Issue reports.
However, all these initiatives are now forgotten. The UK has pulled out of the race for a low-carbon economy – and working families in need of money will be paying the price. As the cold weather arrives, energy prices are on the rise again, and from this month, people are facing another price hike: a typical annual energy bill will rise by £95 to £1,928.
It costs over £700 a year more to heat a poorly insulated home than a well-insulated one. Yet the government offers nothing to the millions of people living in draughty homes and being overcharged.
The abolition of minimum energy efficiency standards in rented properties and a return to fossil fuel boilers points to a fundamental failure of leadership, according to Big Issue.
Read more HERE
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foyiiwae · 2 years ago
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I tend not to let work leak into my personal life too much. But I know a lot of people are suffering with heating and keeping warm and costs and such. And I do work giving money guidance...so the knowledge helps in some cases.
I do want to direct to Money Saving Expert and their tips on heating the human not the home. It may help some of you who could be struggling. Being cold is rotten.https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/.../heat-the-human-not.../
Stay warm friends <3
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vanquishedvaliant · 3 months ago
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Had an incredibly baffling moment of first world privilege astonishment at the wonder of civilization as I turned on the tap to fill the kettle and gladly let many seconds of water just go down the drain water waiting for the tap water to run hot
So I could… put it into the kettle starting slightly warmer?
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wearily-confused · 4 months ago
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I was talking with my bestfriend ystrdy and there was too much to tell and i realized that oh no wonder I am so tired when there are soo many things going on in my life (and going wrong as well)
like just be kinder to yourself, sometimes even you dont realize you have too much going on until you start talking about it
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phocids · 1 year ago
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everyone agrees 80f/26c is too hot for the thermostat to be set at right
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lunarlanderdwelling · 8 months ago
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This is very interesting.
Heat fabric.
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dredshirtroberts · 11 months ago
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i am allowed to both be delighted and content with the way my evening went and how lovely it was to be around friends, and also be really upset over the fact that i cannot do much without intense and great pain.
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teabazile · 1 year ago
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On behalf of Ceiling fans.
Is your room to hot? to cold? Change the direction of your ceiling fan. On the base of the ceiling fan there is a little switch, this changes the direction of the blades. Note: Please make sure to turn off the ceiling fan before attempting to flip the switch. For more information and explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gWIj4DivVA
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newkiqx · 1 year ago
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Installed a sensor on my girl so i know when
#Funy jokey#I've become addicted to cheap zigbee switches and sensors#I set this up so the air conditioner in our bedroom will stop running when the bucket is almost full theres something wrong with me#It works too and i love it :')#Next up is a small switched pump that will pump the water out for a set amount of time#Directly to the balcony plants#Our windowsill is too high up to run the condensed water out with gravity sadly so some kind of reservoir with sensor and pump has to do#Also planning a dedicated channel for outside air directly to the compressor with some kind of blowback valve#I hate mobile acs for how they are designed but there are no good high capacity mobile acs on the market yet#This should mitigate most of the issues though#The main issue is the lack of separation of compression and expansion stages which is why you should use outside air for the former#AND i have an hourly energy price contract which means i should switch the ac on/of on a set of preset conditions#I love tinkering and this is both pretty cheap and actually rewarding us with much better sleep during heat waves & less fuss#Also electricity savings#I put a bunch of stuff on this kind of sensing/logic already and its so nice to see your expenses go down with little to no impact#I feel like such a dad even though i dont have any kids#All of this is completely local and relatively cheap to set up but you have to like tinkering a little#Hmu if you want some advice i can point you away from large cloud based nonsense & help with initial startup#The two investments are a raspberry pi and a zigbee dongle#Possibly also a p1 reader or similar if you want data directly from your utilities#And after that most investments should be 10 dollars max per sensor or switch and most of the ali ones will work#And even have fancy features like somewhat accurately displaying power usage and current#Sorry for extremely rambly long tags i just get excited sometimes
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skylordhorus · 2 years ago
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hngh Cold
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rajkaran-12345 · 14 hours ago
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