How long do we have until the permafrost in Alaska, Canada, Siberia, and other far northern areas melts and releases co2 that has been trapped in frozen plants sence the last ice age? When that happens things could change way to fast and even Trump might have to look at things diffidently especially with his water front hotels.
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I think about 3 months and it will start melting again. Spring comes fast up there maybe sooner
How long is Trump actually expected to live? He is 70, so what at most 20 maybe 30 years? Hell he might be terminally ill right now (beyond mentally) and we donāt know it.
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Beyond mentally! I really did LOL
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To Sean Omalley
A chum of mine was telling me last week he had a chimney fire its been several months since he cleaned it ( wood boiler with electric back up home made system ).
Heās a great guy, but he does not understand combustion ( he thinks he does because he used to fix his own oil furnace ).
A lot of people are like that they understand a little but they completely fail to understand burning solid fuels require a 5% excess of combustion air to burn clean. ( over stoked fires that smolder and waste fuel pollute we all know this and see this all the time and shake our heads ).
Itās that mentality that has lead to EPA stoves and regulations on wood burning.
It was even that mentality that lead to the great London smogs that killed people ( and poor quality coal I will concede ).
We are never going to get handle on pollution and waste ( never mind global warming ) until we educate people on how to do things right and safely.
Obviously improving the efficiency of your home is a smarter place to spend your money.
You have it right when you say it is the costs that turn people off and they would rather spend a little more on fuel ( or inefficient wood supplement heating )
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When a house is more efficient ( better insulated) it becomes even harder to burn wood efficiently without keeping a door or window oper. You would need some form of heat storage or a very good stove. The cost would be hard for many people who understand the problem to deal with even though they would like to. Need to find ways to upgrade one step at a time so savings can pay for the next step. Things like the info in Chrisās water storage may help. Donāt have to store heat until spring just until the next fire. Fred
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I just want to cancel Trumpās federal flood insurance on his estate in Florida. Since he doesnāt believe in climate change why carry the insurance ? We will be saving him money. He should appreciate the savings.
As to his mental state I think anyone who wants that job is crazy. Like the old saying anyone smart enough to do it is smart enough to know better.
OK with the stoves. First off there is a big difference between a turn of the century house and a too tight modern house where you canāt run a wood stove. There is a middle ground that should be the design goal. When a house gets soo tight it need mechanical air exchange it is too tight to be healthy we all need fresh air. But if you want your house that tight make sure you turn up the fresh air when company comes over we donāt want anyone to pass out from lack of O2. Seriously you can plumb in outside air to most modern wood stoves. It is something that is recommended with masonry heaters because they draw alot of air when you burn them.
As to the wood boiler. Your friend need a better boiler the gasification boiler are great fill them with wood and walk away I had a tarm and it was never out of wood but didnāt put much more gunk in the chimney then an oil furnace. I still cleaned the chimney once a year but didnāt get much more then a half gallon of fine powder out of it. Cleaned the boiler heat exchanger about 2 times a winter just watch the temp of the pipe leaving when it got about 500 F on the exaust in a hot burn then it is time to clean the pipes and save your heat. You only want a good gasification boiler to put smoke about 300 F up the chimney. Ran it for about 6 years like that with no trouble at all. All airtight non gasification wood stoves and boilers should be banned from home heating they are a chimney fire waiting to happen.
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Sean, King fred and Dan, NOW, youāre getting political. Time to stop. This isnāt the place.
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I agree with Danās comments, better to bring in a cold air duct for stove air breathing. My little cabin is so tight I provided ventilation for the wood stove.
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I guess I was thinking that some one with an airtight stove would have a hard time burning clean without over heating a well insulated house. Many older and some newer stoves were made shut down the air flow to make the fire last over night. If that type of stove is left open it puts out a lot of heat but does burn cleaner. Not for long though.
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Hadnāt thought much of that aspect. Usually when it gets somewhat warm here winter is practically over. 
A stove should be matched to the heating requirements, better to have a small hot fire than more wood smoldering. In a super insulated house the stove could be pretty small.
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If government would pitch in some money to help with insulation so much energy could be saved. An average home lasts about 80 years (though I wonder about the newer OSB McMansionsā¦) , but builders and homeowners have to calculate a payback over a few years, leaving nations to pay for the wasted energy.
Windows I have a slightly different view on. The main thing is that they are air tight, as the R value of glass is very low regardless of how much technology and expense is thrown at it. The main point is to keep frost or condensation forming in extreme cold, or excessive heat transfer if air conditioning. If serious about energy efficiency, windows should be smaller.
In the same vein regarding energy efficiency, houses south of the snow belt should be built to the same standards to reduce air conditioning costs and increase comfort, the insulation and climate control are just as important.
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You were/are able to write off insulation from your taxes at least some of it in the states. Iām not sure a lot of people did it. It might still be available. It was like 20%.
Actually, what you do with windows if you trap air in between two panes, so the heat doesnāt transfer as fast. I noticed a huge difference with plastic over my single paned window, where I didnāt have a storm window. Storm windows also help some, but the double paned glass with the vacuum layer, just doesnāt have many particles in it to transfer the cold/heat. The -OTHER- place is actually -around- the window. A lot of installers wont put insulation around the window, so the window is great but air leaks in around it. smaller windows actually do help, but even small panes in a big window help quite a bit like real muntins as it disrupts the heat transfer or so I read.
I agree. I canāt believe they donāt insulate those buildings. They actually have fairly high heating bills if it gets chilly for an extended period of time too since they use space heaters.
One thing to watch with modern windows. The ones with wooden frames are actually only good for about 7 years. Then the wood shrinks enough to generate a small leak and your argon or whatever gas they filled it with leaks out. The house I sold to move here had the windows frost up between the two pieces of glass. I had to replace the windows to sell it several places told me it is very common but if you keep the house heated you donāt realize that they broke down.
That said the modern coating on glass does work well. I was told to buy the vinyl windows.
Iām sorry dan that is simply not the case. The window panes themselves are bonded together with a spacer. You should expect 10 to 20 years from an insulated window and then have to replace the glass assembly in the sashes. Or go to storms which are more efficient. For some reason people stopped installing and maintaining storm windows when energy got cheap; itās not cheap anymore. 3.5 inches of dead airspace between 2 pains of glass with the r value of the glass will give you a value of r 3 or more. Itās worth doing and relatively cheap. As to government grants and tax credits I love them as a renovator but they donāt really seem to accomplish much except remove tax dollars from doing something else. The Price of energy seems to be the only proven motivator to get people insulating and upgrading.
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David I am only speaking from my personal experience. The windows I had where double pain windows with wooden frames. I moved out of the house and left it heated to 40 degrees. When it was showed mid winter there was frost between the two pains of glass on the inside of the windows. They where 7 years old at the time. Several window manufacturers in this area said they see that with the wood frames. I couldnāt get them warranted because they came from a good local company that went out of business with the housing market crash in 08.
Sorry dan Iām probably being too harsh. There has not been two pane windows here for over 30 years. They were a nightmare of condensation and rot. We moved to thermo sealed units maybe that was not the case in the us; my bad. All the rest is accurate. It amazes me how resistant to storms we have become all due to some idea of esthetics. Itās a bugaboo I have.
Best regards, David Baillie
Iām all for energy efficient windows, but at least here in Canada for the price they charge, I canāt see thereās a payback. If it costs $10,000 to upgrade a house the only real recovery on the investment is if the house is sold and people appraise their value highly. An energy star rated window has an R value of 3. Single pane glass .9, plain double, 1/4" air space 1.72. Acceptable wall R value here is R 20.
Thatās why I question the added expense. Window manufacturers make incredible profits by marketing windows, but added insulation on a wall, even polystyrene board is orders of magnitude cheaper to reduce energy losses.
So Garry price is an interesting one. If you look at the price of energy and you project it forward and you see a steady price in our future you are completely right efficient windows will not pay for themselves. I donāt see that scenario myself. I see continually rising energy prices far above inflation for the forseeable future I can show you a dozen examples around me where people built their home to the efficiency level they were told was enough and are now trapped with energy bills they canāt afford and a continuous drain on their resources which robs them of the savings needed to upgrade. My cynical rule of thumb is to build at least 1 possible 2 levels of efficiency above what people tell you is enough. Costs will catch up to you.
Best regards, David Baillie
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I agree with what you say David, particularly regarding wall and attic insulation, but I think that as energy prices rise, it will always be cheaper by a wide margin to insulate walls than throw great technology and resources at windows. Smaller windows, perhaps light pipes should also always show a far greater return. It seems to me that our expectations to live in practically glass houses is a product of the petroleum age. The main advantage of better insulated windows is to keep the frost and condensation from damaging sills and wall structure.