Merv outvoted

Generali

Harry_Boyle wrote: »

Surely it must pay off to insulate the houses to keep out the heat rather than to rely on air conditioning. There are plenty of house designs from ancient Persia that use passive air conditioning techniques that could be updated and used. There shouldn't really be a need for aircon if the houses are designed and built correctly.

Passivhaus designs in Northern Europe need little or no heat even when the temperature gets down in the minus double digits. The same should hold true if the temperature gets into the high 30s.

You'd imagine so but it isn't that simple. Australians, contrary to popular opinion, are pretty conformist: because mom and Grandma didn't have double glazing, why should they? It's snobbish to have it.

Lots of passive cooling isn't allowed in new houses either because they don't fit the fire code (it's pretty annoying if your neighbourhood burns down because your neighbour started a bush fire by mistake) or simply because Aus is conservative and so councils are slow to adopt new designs.

Eventually I want to build a house in a rural area. Not really 'out bush' but in an area that will get fires and floods now and again. I want to build something that I can live in comfort in during heat waves and that wont wash away or catch fire. That's quite an ask when you see the pictures from Black Saturday. It takes some fire to melt your hubcaps!

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=ReYOXL7fJcLRpM&tbnid=mXyfF1VMSMka7M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Frural%2Fcontent%2F2008%2Fs2486052.htm&ei=L_clUe-cA6XJmQWBt4DIBA&bvm=bv.42661473,d.dGY&psig=AFQjCNHzqVVIPajXO77IFZW0fsKeLKq9wQ&ust=1361529003587031

grizzly1911

Generali wrote: »

You'd imagine so but it isn't that simple. Australians, contrary to popular opinion, are pretty conformist: because mom and Grandma didn't have double glazing, why should they? It's snobbish to have it.

Lots of passive cooling isn't allowed in new houses either because they don't fit the fire code (it's pretty annoying if your neighbourhood burns down because your neighbour started a bush fire by mistake) or simply because Aus is conservative and so councils are slow to adopt new designs.



Eventually I want to build a house in a rural area. Not really 'out bush' but in an area that will get fires and floods now and again. I want to build something that I can live in comfort in during heat waves and that wont wash away or catch fire. That's quite an ask when you see the pictures from Black Saturday. It takes some fire to melt your hubcaps!

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=ReYOXL7fJcLRpM&tbnid=mXyfF1VMSMka7M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Frural%2Fcontent%2F2008%2Fs2486052.htm&ei=L_clUe-cA6XJmQWBt4DIBA&bvm=bv.42661473,d.dGY&psig=AFQjCNHzqVVIPajXO77IFZW0fsKeLKq9wQ&ust=1361529003587031

I love these rural news items.:)

Mr. Thomas lost 30 sheep in the fire, who were burnt or injured and needed to be put down. He also lost all of his feed and a water tank.

sabretoothtigger

30 Sheep is alot to lose, worse then a car

Magnesium alloy wheels possibly. Best house to build is with fortress thickness walls, they act as a natural heat sink both in hot and cold extremes apparently.

Ages ago on ch4 I saw this awesome house built out of some kind of hay pasted and bonded with clay or some natural but strong material.
They could literally mould the house with amazing curves to it. Cant remember the exact material name,not sure this is it but I reckon DIY is well doable (with hard work)
http://www.small-scale.net/yearofmud/2008/11/02/late-october-cob-building-photo-update/#.USYPfW_EGnk
http://muddyhands.typepad.com/cob/workshopsworkparty/

Merv and other Governors have regularly had split votes and that's how it should be, again contrary to the views of some here, as each member of the MPC is independent from the others as well as from the Government.

With the Fed minutes last night, they also had some disagreement. However I think the FED chief can just overrule everyone anyway

Its obviously these policies are not the solution they had hoped. It would change my expectations alot if they were capable of admitting failure

Perhaps the Currency Wars are entering a new phase, moving on from a phoney war to the shooting bit.

India has cut Iron ore exports to near zero. Selective trading would be a step towards a more inward, poorer world I think
“I must not serve my distant neighbour at the expense of the nearest.”

Thrugelmir

coastline wrote: »

link shows 30% of all UK savings is deposit based at £1,218 billion...thats a few bob.

Thought that this was more telling.

There are, however, considerable differences in the value of savings with some UK households holding little or no savings. Almost one in three (30%) UK households have no savings (accounts and investments) and a further 19% hold savings of less than £1,5002.

Not surprising that growth is struggling with many living month to month.

wotsthat

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Thought that this was more telling.

There are, however, considerable differences in the value of savings with some UK households holding little or no savings. Almost one in three (30%) UK households have no savings (accounts and investments) and a further 19% hold savings of less than £1,5002.

Not surprising that growth is struggling with many living month to month.

Can't see why that is evidence for sluggish growth - without a comparison to see the change in number of people living month to month it's just an explanation of savings distribution.

Harry_Boyle

wotsthat wrote: »

Can't see why that is evidence for sluggish growth - without a comparison to see the change in number of people living month to month it's just an explanation of savings distribution.

It would be interesting to see if savings distribution was any different before the credit crunch. Looking at it in isolation tells us nothing apart from the fact some people aren't saving enough and that's probably been the case for centuries.

wotsthat

Harry_Boyle wrote: »

It would be interesting to see if savings distribution was any different before the credit crunch. Looking at it in isolation tells us nothing apart from the fact some people aren't saving enough and that's probably been the case for centuries.

Looks like we're saving more since the credit crunch...

The consumer debt boom and relatively low interest rates that characterised the 'noughties' saw the household saving ratio decline during the 2000s to a low of 2.6% in 2007. The saving ratio has recovered since 2007 to reach 7.4% in 2011 as households have sought to bring their finances onto a sounder footing.

Sluggish growth might be related to an increase in savings. Can't find any data to demonstrate that the number of non-savings households has increased since 2007.

Looks like the paradox of thrift in action.

Harry_Boyle

wotsthat wrote: »

Looks like the paradox of thrift in action.

We're becoming savers, just like the Japanese and we all know what happened to their economy (and their interest rates). A decade of 0.5% rates will help people rebalance their mortgages. Kudos for those who saw this coming, and more importantly, arranged their finances accordingly to take advantage!!

Mr._Pricklepants

wotsthat wrote: »

....a low of 2.6% in 2007. The saving ratio has recovered since 2007 to reach 7.4% in 2011 as households have sought to bring their finances onto a sounder footing.

Didn't know that. I keep on reading on this forum how the majority is living hand to mouth.

Oh well.

Graham_Devon

Becoming like Japan should not be an aspiration.