Guest ranter, er, blogger Mark
Ok, so there aren’t many readers out there who are going to be excited by that title, but just wait… Although most of you are in the northern hemisphere and thus more likely to be thinking about when/whether to turn on the air conditioner, things are backwards down here, and we’re beginning to experience some chilly nights. So you just hit the switch on the thermostat and play the game of deciding whether to opt for comfort, economy, or the environment, right? Well, it’s not so simple here. Like most of New Zealand, there is no reticulated gas supply; people cook their food and heat their water and homes with a combination of electricity and LPG (aka “propane”) delivered in 45 kg bottles. And “central” heating, at least the way we think of it with many ducts and vents and a single central thermostat, is virtually unheard of. [The builder/proprietor of our little motel on Stewart Island was very proud of the “central” heating he had installed in our 2-bedroom family unit. After setting the six wall radiators at mysterious numbers between 1 and 5, a single “central” wall switch could turn them all on or off at once!] Instead, people use a mixture of wood or gas fireplaces, “space” heaters, heat pumps, and underfloor heating, with most residences having at least two options. Like most modern homes, the one we’re renting comes with an absolutely dizzying array of options: a sealed-front gas fireplace, a heat pump (both fixed in the central “lounge”), 2 basic electric space heaters that look like miniature fireplaces, 3 electric space heaters with integrated timers and fans, 1 electric oil-filled “fin” heater with a timer, and 3 underfloor heaters (with the 2 in bathrooms on timers). Eleven options, and that’s without even considering the hot water heate
r (which is on an irrigation-system style timer with discounted nighttime rates), and 2 heated towel racks. Before laughing at my mention of towel racks as a possible heat source, note that they provide heat right where you want it, and electric heat is electric heat, right?
And that leads to my conundrum and the source of the title of this posting. Which of these many options should the environmentally-conscious consumer use? I’ve done a bit of research and have just about given up, having concluded that it might need a degree in thermodynamics (or at least an understanding of the 1st and 2nd laws) and/or access to each of the appliances’ efficiency ratings. Having said that, my tentative conclusions are: 1) use the gas fireplace, since the primary energy conversion is done right here where it’s needed, whereas all of the other options involve electricity generated hundreds of miles away, 2) use the heat pump, since its hybrid technology shouldn’t be as bad as straight electric heat, and its fan helps circulate the fireplace’s heat throughout more of the house, and 3) use the underfloor heaters, because they’re really neat and we may never live in a house with underfloor heating again.
In closing, did I mention that dual-glazed windows are also almost unheard of? I’ve yet to actually touch one in New Zealand, unless you count the 150-year old original windows in the Larnach Castle. Remarkably, they built the castle with old-fashioned dual glazings – each window is in fact two completely separate double-hung wooden-framed windows, separated by a space of about 4 inches!
On the plus side, there’s no need to find (and read) a 16-page manual for a programmable, electronic, battery-backup(?), daylight-savings-time-ignorant thermostat!
Ok, so there aren’t many readers out there who are going to be excited by that title, but just wait… Although most of you are in the northern hemisphere and thus more likely to be thinking about when/whether to turn on the air conditioner, things are backwards down here, and we’re beginning to experience some chilly nights. So you just hit the switch on the thermostat and play the game of deciding whether to opt for comfort, economy, or the environment, right? Well, it’s not so simple here. Like most of New Zealand, there is no reticulated gas supply; people cook their food and heat their water and homes with a combination of electricity and LPG (aka “propane”) delivered in 45 kg bottles. And “central” heating, at least the way we think of it with many ducts and vents and a single central thermostat, is virtually unheard of. [The builder/proprietor of our little motel on Stewart Island was very proud of the “central” heating he had installed in our 2-bedroom family unit. After setting the six wall radiators at mysterious numbers between 1 and 5, a single “central” wall switch could turn them all on or off at once!] Instead, people use a mixture of wood or gas fireplaces, “space” heaters, heat pumps, and underfloor heating, with most residences having at least two options. Like most modern homes, the one we’re renting comes with an absolutely dizzying array of options: a sealed-front gas fireplace, a heat pump (both fixed in the central “lounge”), 2 basic electric space heaters that look like miniature fireplaces, 3 electric space heaters with integrated timers and fans, 1 electric oil-filled “fin” heater with a timer, and 3 underfloor heaters (with the 2 in bathrooms on timers). Eleven options, and that’s without even considering the hot water heate
r (which is on an irrigation-system style timer with discounted nighttime rates), and 2 heated towel racks. Before laughing at my mention of towel racks as a possible heat source, note that they provide heat right where you want it, and electric heat is electric heat, right?And that leads to my conundrum and the source of the title of this posting. Which of these many options should the environmentally-conscious consumer use? I’ve done a bit of research and have just about given up, having concluded that it might need a degree in thermodynamics (or at least an understanding of the 1st and 2nd laws) and/or access to each of the appliances’ efficiency ratings. Having said that, my tentative conclusions are: 1) use the gas fireplace, since the primary energy conversion is done right here where it’s needed, whereas all of the other options involve electricity generated hundreds of miles away, 2) use the heat pump, since its hybrid technology shouldn’t be as bad as straight electric heat, and its fan helps circulate the fireplace’s heat throughout more of the house, and 3) use the underfloor heaters, because they’re really neat and we may never live in a house with underfloor heating again.
In closing, did I mention that dual-glazed windows are also almost unheard of? I’ve yet to actually touch one in New Zealand, unless you count the 150-year old original windows in the Larnach Castle. Remarkably, they built the castle with old-fashioned dual glazings – each window is in fact two completely separate double-hung wooden-framed windows, separated by a space of about 4 inches!
On the plus side, there’s no need to find (and read) a 16-page manual for a programmable, electronic, battery-backup(?), daylight-savings-time-ignorant thermostat!
1 comment:
Okay! that was way tooooo confusing! I think I'd opt for a couple of extra woolen socks and a few layers of quilts!! The towel warmers would come in handy though.
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