Re: Banding of homes for energy efficiency

In message <4491ba43$0$3602$88260bb3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Michael Saunby <msaunby2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
"John Beardmore" <wookie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eOsIZ0bEnRkEFw45@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Again, why not just look at the bills?

Because if nobody ever uses the toilet, it won't have any impact on the
water consumption ?

In short, they tell you f.all() about what you're buying !

Thanks. This pretty much confirms what I suspected. It's not what people
live in, but how they live that is the biggest factor in whether the
environment (and their pocket) suffers.

No - that's not what I said at all.

The point is that some people will live with little impact because of their habits, others because of their domestic infrastructure. Both have an effect, and utility bills don't differentiate between the two. That doesn't mean that infrastructure has a marginal effect.

I suspect our family of four produces far less carbon dioxide now, than I did living on my own in this house alone 20 years ago. This is simply because in those days we had coal fires, a crap gas heater, crap windows and not a lot of insulation. 7 centigrade was the sort of temperature at which I'd end up sitting working at a desk.

These days, we have a modern condensing boiler, have extended the house with a better insulated envelope, have few drafts, and a much more even heat distribution. Although we run the house at 17 to 19 centigrade, our winter fuel bills don't seem to be too bad, and they are typically under a fiver for the summer quarter as the solar heating kicks in then.


Though you will no doubt contend that how much fuel a person uses isn't a
useful measure of anything

Well - it tells you a lot about what they'll consume and emit, but nothing about why, what they achieve by it, environmental impacts vs societal benefits, or the context in which it happened.


I'd still be more interested in seeing stats for
energy usage against housing age, size, location, income level, education,
than "energy efficiency ratings" - since I reckon that wouldn't tell you
very much at all about future energy needs, etc. whereas the others might
suggest ways in which society might be persuaded to use less fuel.

But that isn't the question that house buyers are trying to answer is
it ?


Cheers, J/.
--
John Beardmore
.

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