Cycling UK Forum

rjb wrote: 29 Jul 2024, 8:09pm Its going to be chilly this winter now we have lost our winter fuel allowance. Labour have lost the pensioner vote but will replace it by giving it to 16 year olds.

I'm an OAP who has lost this payment - which I could have done without and won't miss.
There are many younger people with children that would benefit from it.
A lot of us elderly can manage perfectly well without it - it's loss won't effect the way I vote - how can you claim to know the voting intentions of so many people ?

francovendee wrote: 30 Jul 2024, 9:45am As someone who doesn't qualify for the winter fuel payment and have managed easily since no longer being eligible I say good idea Ms Reeves, long overdue.
Why should all pensioners get it, irrespective of need?
I know of young families in far, far greater needs.

ANTONISH wrote: 30 Jul 2024, 10:13am I'm an OAP who has lost this payment - which I could have done without and won't miss.
There are many younger people with children that would benefit from it.
A lot of us elderly can manage perfectly well without it - it's loss won't effect the way I vote...
....

Sounds right to me.

I was surprised by how low the income limit is for the means testing. But there can always be emergency implementations if needed in particularly bad weather.

Jonathan

Keeping heat outside the home

We have a front door which is mostly double-glazed glass. It faces east and the hallway used to heat up dramatically in the summer. I first installed a heat-insulating curtain inside (obviously) and this helps a little to keep the hallway cooler in summer but much more to keep it warmer in winter. I recently installed 3M™ Sun Control Window Films, Prestige Exterior Series, the 70% version. It has made a very big difference: the hallway is noticeably cooler but not much darker.

We could have added a porch to shade the door but we rent the house. The downstairs windows have exterior shutters, which are very common in Germany but almost unheard of in Britain. We added heat mesh exterior blinds to our Velux roof windows - this also makes a huge difference.

Notice the common thread here? All these are external. Internal heat protection is barely effective because the heat is dissipated inside the building. A small fraction will be re-radiated or conducted outside if the internal arrangement can get hot enough right next to the window.

Plancashire's point is spot on. Here in France 99% of houses have external shutters.
Over the years here we've seen many Brits come and go but they really don't believe that drawing a curtain doesn't give the same result as closing a curtain. They usually cotton on after their first summer here.
Keep heat on the outside, 'You Know It Makes Sense'.

francovendee wrote: 31 Jul 2024, 8:32am Plancashire's point is spot on. Here in France 99% of houses have external shutters.
Over the years here we've seen many Brits come and go but they really don't believe that drawing a curtain doesn't give the same result as closing a curtain. They usually cotton on after their first summer here.
Keep heat on the outside, 'You Know It Makes Sense'.

First time my in-laws were visiting us in Paris we came home after a shopping trip on a roasting day to our gloomy apartment and while we were stashing the shopping my father-in-law went round opening the windows and shutters to "let some air in". Before we stopped him he'd succeeded.

Audax67 wrote: 31 Jul 2024, 10:27am

francovendee wrote: 31 Jul 2024, 8:32am Plancashire's point is spot on. Here in France 99% of houses have external shutters.
Over the years here we've seen many Brits come and go but they really don't believe that drawing a curtain doesn't give the same result as closing a curtain. They usually cotton on after their first summer here.
Keep heat on the outside, 'You Know It Makes Sense'.

First time my in-laws were visiting us in Paris we came home after a shopping trip on a roasting day to our gloomy apartment and while we were stashing the shopping my father-in-law went round opening the windows and shutters to "let some air in". Before we stopped him he'd succeeded.

I'd expect external shuttering, blinds and shading to start appearing in Britain if we continue to have really hot weeks in summer when the sun overheats home interiors, unless the air conditioning salesmen get in there first!

As a long-established Australian company says,

• "Air Conditioning and fans can only do so much if your windows are unprotected
  Outdoor awnings and blinds actually take the pressure off the use of air conditioning and in some cases you don’t need it at all"

https://www.campbellheeps.com.au/how-ou ... lian-heat/

My well insulated little cabin has eaves with a good overhang and is surrounded by trees. I am now wearing a fleece.
The trees protect me from the chily winds of winter too.

Mike Sales wrote: 31 Jul 2024, 12:16pm My well insulated little cabin has eaves with a good overhang and is surrounded by trees. I am now wearing a fleece.
The trees protect me from the chily winds of winter too.

Trees provide a wonderful microclimate, wherever they are. Cooler when warm, warmer when cold elsewhere and as a pollution reducer.

Jdsk wrote: 30 Jul 2024, 12:01pm

francovendee wrote: 30 Jul 2024, 9:45am As someone who doesn't qualify for the winter fuel payment and have managed easily since no longer being eligible I say good idea Ms Reeves, long overdue.
Why should all pensioners get it, irrespective of need?
I know of young families in far, far greater needs.

ANTONISH wrote: 30 Jul 2024, 10:13am I'm an OAP who has lost this payment - which I could have done without and won't miss.
There are many younger people with children that would benefit from it.
A lot of us elderly can manage perfectly well without it - it's loss won't effect the way I vote...
....

Sounds right to me.

I was surprised by how low the income limit is for the means testing. But there can always be emergency implementations if needed in particularly bad weather.

After this announcement it was widely reported that Pension Credit is grossly underclaimed.

The government is now promoting it:
"Pension Credit awareness drive as thousands of eligible pensioners yet to claim":
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pens ... o-claim--2

Jonathan

"‘We’re ready to explode in scale’: Adam Chapman, the Heat Geek founder set on getting Britain decarbonised and warm":
https://www.theguardian.com/business/ar ... d-and-warm

"Guaranteed efficiency." That could help with uptake.

Jonathan

Heat Geek Guarantee
https://vimeo.com/917624890/a143a394b6

I think I'd want to see a lot more detail about how they're measuring efficiency.

Biospace wrote: 1 Aug 2024, 11:15am

Mike Sales wrote: 31 Jul 2024, 12:16pm My well insulated little cabin has eaves with a good overhang and is surrounded by trees. I am now wearing a fleece.
The trees protect me from the chily winds of winter too.

Trees provide a wonderful microclimate, wherever they are. Cooler when warm, warmer when cold elsewhere and as a pollution reducer.

Here's a lovely story of a good brain working out how to make their house comfortable, how a couple cooled their house in Australia without air conditioning, https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -naturally

One thing that no one has mentioned ( that I can see) is earth sheltered housing.
Such a dwelling will always be cool in summer heat and warmer in really cold weather.
Damp issues can be resolved straightforwardly with modern materials.
A lot of really old houses were so built.

axel_knutt wrote: 21 Aug 2024, 12:26pm Heat Geek Guarantee
https://vimeo.com/917624890/a143a394b6

I think I'd want to see a lot more detail about how they're measuring efficiency.

By measuring heat output and electricity input.

Heat output is measured by a heat meter (which has three basic sensors, flow and return temperature and flow rate).
Electricity input is measured by a power meter.