Hearthlist Digest #601 - Wednesday, May 2, 2001 Re: Fireplace without Heat by "The Firebird" <[email protected]> Political Energy Rant by "Craig Issod" <[email protected]>
(back) Subject: Re: Fireplace without Heat From: "The Firebird" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 20:47:03 -0400 Someone suggested more chimney and/or insulating the chase. That will help if the lack of heat is because the fireplace is not performing. The 16' of rock wall & the customer's usage pattern may also play a part = in the problem. We've had problems in the past with vacation cabins that have mass = (masonry and/or rock) walls. These types of mass walls require huge amounts of btu's to heat up when = they are cold. The problem seems to be that the owner lets the cabin get cold, 50 degrees or less, when they are gone. They go to the cabin for the weekend and want the place to get warm fast. The mass walls absorb all the btu's the appliance puts out, and the cabin feels cold for a long period of time = until the walls finally warm up. The customer blames the appliance for not putting out enough heat, when in fact the unit is fine. It just takes seemingly forever to raise the temperature of several tons of rock by 30 or 40 degrees. In most cases the only real solution is to never let the cabin drop much below room temperature in the first place. Gene Butler, The Firebird Stove, Fireplace, & Irrigation Specialists Since 1977 1808 Espinacitas Street Santa Fe, NM 87505 phone:(505) 983-5264 fax:(505) 983-4195 www.thefirebird.com
(back) Subject: Political Energy Rant From: "Craig Issod" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 22:14:18 -0400 I didn't write this for the hearthlist, but for my personal weblog. However, since it relates to energy it might be of some interest to list members. Being as many of us are in the energy conservation and renewable energy business, we have to keep a keen eye on public sentiment and national policy. Beginning of rant: <rant> Interesting that Dick Cheny has unveiled his new energy policy for America on the same day the American Lung Association has announced that more "Polluted Air is reaching more Americans than ever before" http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/05/01/air.quality/index.html Dick, a former President of an oil or gas company who made over 50 millions dollars last year from this operation, is calling for more oil drilling, oil refining, nuclear power, coal extraction and other actions that will harm our environment more, while doing great benefit to the large contributors that put him in office. He also claims that conservation cannot really play a big part in this equation. Let's step back and look at this from a reasonable perspective. Having been involved in the energy business for 25 years, this is one subject that I am surely qualified to speak on. As it stands now, the US uses 1/4 of the worlds energy, while only housing 1/20 of the global population. We use TWICE as much per person as the countries in western Europe which have a HIGHER standard of living than we do. Anyone with a reasonable sense of fairness can see that this is not only wrong, but it is unfair. When we use resources in a wasteful manner, it takes them from others...and returns more pollution for both us and those others to live with. Let's look at Chenys claim that conservation can do very little good. This is only true if people do not conserve or are not forced to conserve. Two instances that might hit close to home: 1. The New Ford SUV - They've come out with a new model that gets about 12 MPG. Therefore, you'd use over TWICE as much gas as the average car, and 5X as mush as the best car available today. Simple math will tell you that we would therefore extract a tremendous savings in gasoline and pollution. 2. Air Conditioners - The Bush administration recently rolled back rules which would have made air conditioners more efficient. The technology exists, but Bush claimed it was too expensive and would cost consumers dearly. Here's the problem with that logic; the savings for the customer from lower electric bills would offset the higher air conditioner sales price within 2-4 years. Therefore, the only reason a customer would save money is if the air conditioner were never used! One common theme runs through all this.... more money for the energy companies, most of whom are Bush and Cheney buddies. It is so blatant of a crime that it is amazing we are not all marching to Washington and protesting. A vote for more oil, coal and refining is really a vote against your children and responsible stewardship of the earth we live on. Make no mistake about it. Oil and cheap energy are a drug and we Americans are very addicted. As with the other intoxicating compounds, there are hidden dangers which lurk beneath the temporary high. Personally, I feel better about myself when I use less energy. How about you? Do you like to show off by having a house six times as large as you need? A 4 ton car for a 110 pound soccer mom to drive around in alone 90%+ of the time? This is what makes us the Ugly Americans to much of the world. We want more than what is ours...we want what is theirs. That is why we fight wars for oils. At some point we must decide what is important to us. My guess is that, for most of you, it's your family and the beauty of life (nature). If so, you owe it to both of these parties to consider our energy policy and take steps to assure a cleaner future. </rant> -- ------------------------------------------------------ Craig Issod HearthNet at http://www.hearth.com [email protected] Everything your Hearth Desires ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------