Posts by Josh Petyt

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  • Hard News: Going solar?, in reply to Downbeatdan,

    Some people are now implementing solar hot water, by simply wiring PV panels to a second element in the hot water cylinder with a power controller. Simple dumping of PV electric into the hot water tank.

    That sounds smart. You can also then dump excess hot water into a swimming pool or spa/bath.

    Japan • Since Apr 2014 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: It was 30 years ago today,

    I was only 11 in 1984 but I remember the '81 tour and the general feeling of excitement at the election.
    The thing that really stays with me is the memory of my late stepfather declaring that he'd break the habit of a lifetime and vote so that he could tell people he'd 'voted Muldoon out'. I think not voting had been some kind of principled position but it was one he was willing to break to see Muldoon gone.

    Japan • Since Apr 2014 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Going solar?,

    As it's often said about cars the greenest car is the one you’re already driving.
    If you need to replace your HWC then solar hot water may well be the best choice. I trained as an architectural technologist (a fancy name for a drafter and specifier) from ’06~’08 and at that time we were told that evacuated tubes were better than flat panels and naturally more expensive.
    As others have said, it’s more efficient to heat water than make electricity and then heat water. The heat exchange systems mentioned above are usually used if you are located in the south or at high altitudes where freezing is likely (glycol is an antifreeze) but they’re more expensive. I have not heard anything about direct heating evacuated tubes being less hardy than heat exchange ones. One would expect direct systems to be more efficient though I have no evidence about this.

    Japan • Since Apr 2014 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The People's Poet is dead!,

    I was 12 in 1985 and going through Form 2 at primary school. In my class there was (and it still seems pretty surreal) a punk with dyed hair, safety-pins the whole shebang. A 12-year-old punk. Anyway, I don't remember being friends but I'll never forget that she put me on to the Young Ones. The first episode I saw was the University Challenge one. I didn't really understand what was going on but after a few more episodes I was sold.
    I wouldn't mind seeing a few old episodes.
    RIP Rik

    Japan • Since Apr 2014 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to debunk,

    Just do some reading – and not just the bits of articles that reinforce your existing prejudices.

    If that’s your philosophy, and it’s an admirable one, I’ll assume that you haven’t read David Nutt’s Drugs Without the Hot Air. Please do. It is an excellent and easy to read examination of the issue of harm in relation to drugs.

    Why do you persist in implying that the Act is more permissive when in fact it seems that the opposite is true, as Russell has patiently pointed out more than once ?

    Japan • Since Apr 2014 • 45 posts Report Reply

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