Forum Topic

‘                Busy old fool, unruly sun,              Why dost thou thus,Through windows, and through curtains call on us?Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?              Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide              Late school boys and sour prentices,        Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,        Call country ants to harvest offices,Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.              Thy beams, so reverend and strong              Why shouldst thou think?I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,But that I would not lose her sight so long;              If her eyes have not blinded thine,              Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,        Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine        Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.              She's all states, and all princes, I,              Nothing else is.Princes do but play us; compared to this,All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.              Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,              In that the world's contracted thus.        Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be        To warm the world, that's done in warming us.Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.’

Russell Pearson ● 1719d

Vanessa - I agree that there is a trade off between heritage and being energy efficient, and I agree the rules should be same for council and private properties. However, when fossil fuel derived heating costs go - sorry - through the roof, something has to give. The time for talking is past - except for discussing the fine detail.Bobbie - solar panels are no longer radiators on the roof and have not been for at least a couple of decades. The favoured technology now used is photo-voltaic (PV). PV cells convert light into electricity using semi-conductor materials. This means that even on cool, cloudy days electricity is generated. However, in the UK we particularly need electricity in the dark cold days of winter when the daylight hours are at their shortest. Battery back-up can help but the extra cost "takes the gilt of the ginger-bread". As an aside, as the planet heats up we Brits may take to air conditioning in a big way. If that turns out to be the case the photo-voltaic technology will be a god send. Fewer old people dieing of hyperthermia and more dieing of heat stroke and dehydration. This is not a trade off that anyone should be happy with. Air conditioning or reverse heat pumps? We have the technology.  PV tiles may provide a partial solution for listed/old buildings where it is important to maintain the tiled roof effect. This will not however mollify the conservation purists. I can still remember arguing with conservators that lead paint should not be used on interior surfaces in historic spaces that people worked in. Fortunately the law was changed to protect people from the purists - many of whom were actually based in offices decorated with lead based paint.  PV tiles were (when I last looked)at least twice as expensive as 'conventional' photo voltaic panels. Elon Musk pledged five years ago to manufacture more efficient and cheaper PV tiles. Tesla Tiles? It has all gone quiet. But perhaps someone has more information? Planning Officers look kindly on applications that have zero-carbon measures built in. Legally required higher energy efficiency standards force architects, developers and builders to "go green". Do you have an energy performance certificate for your home? Just a thought.As the saying goes "if things are to stay the same, something has to change". It sound better in Italian.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 1717d