The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
Clive wrote:

PV?

yes, photovoltaic. Unless youre a long way from the grid its a
non-starter option.

More because its costly than because its einneffective I guess.

.... so costly that a realistically priced system can only be
ineffective


Also add trees - natures own air conditioners.

yes, quite effective, but its important theyre deciduous, otherwise you
get cooling in winter too.

yup. Agreed. Watch foundations tho..

Yes, thats one reason why climbers are preferred. Ideally those are
grown on a wire frame 2'-3' from the house, but most of us just grow
them direct on the house, and accept they may need to be cut back
occasionally.

Another reason is leaf fall and gutters, its not a problem when the
cilmbers are trimmed to stay below roofline, but with trees it is.

Another plus of climbers is quicker cover. Another is that being
smaller plants, you can have many different varieties in the space
you'd have just one tree. How many people can use 100lb of one fruit?
20lb of 5 different fruits harvested at 5 different times is a lot more
practical and enjoyable.


A new boiler probably only makes sense if your old one dies. I would
not usually expect it to pay back its buy & fit costs otherwise.

Easy enough to do the comparisons. You might reduce heating bills by
10%...amortize that over whatever period..compare cots of new installation..

Yes, but be aware, where people often err in these calcs is that modern
boilers have short life times and need more repairs during that time.
Those are the factors that kill off any perceived advantage in a new
boiler in most cases.


NT