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topic of discussion: is anyone else concerned that all the new things being clearly pushed hard, regardless of reasons(good or bad), has the common theme of cen

topic of discussion: is anyone else concerned that all the new things being clearly pushed hard, regardless of reasons(good or bad), has the common theme of centralizing. In a world where if your heatpump stops working, you die from cold, it would be an awfully sad thing if social credit scores dictated a very low kilowatthour limit. Much more sad than a world where you obtain firewood from some local vendor

kevstev 4y ago
I am not sure the case you are making here- most people who would be switching to a heat pump for heat are almost certainly using oil, natural gas, or propane to heat their homes, all of which require a good deal of centralization. Those that have the ability to use firewood to heat their homes today can continue doing so if they need to- its not a requirement to close up your chimney permanently to use one. FWIW I am considering switching to a heat pump, but would still have natural gas fireplaces as a backup.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
> has the common theme of centralizing. In a world where if your heatpump stops working, you die from cold, Using machinery for heating isn’t new. Virtually nobody in the modern world uses firewood from a local vendor to heat their homes. These conspiracy theorist angles are baffling. Heat pumps are just another variation of AC, which is already ubiquitous. If people don’t use heat pumps, they won’t use firewood. They’ll use a regular furnace or electric heat.
pjc50 4y ago
> Much more sad than a world where you obtain firewood from some local vendor A while ago I ran the numbers, and to meet UK electricity demand from wood would consume every single tree in the country in three months. Limiting that to heating and giving up on industry would stretch that a bit, but the country is fundamentally dependent on imports to stay alive. We can't not be global.
micromacrofoot 4y ago
They could also just shut off your gas, heat pumps introduce no newfound ability to be authoritarian that isn't already there.
triceratops 4y ago
Did you know that installing a heat pump doesn't magically cause fireplaces in the house to stop working? Or that if you're concerned about being cut off from electricity because of your low "social credit score" the heat pump will run just fine off solar panels and batteries?
adrianN 4y ago
Yeah, if we could only cut down our population by 20x or so in order to make firewood sustainable again, that would really show Big-Heatpump /s.

kevstev 4y ago

I am not sure the case you are making here- most people who would be switching to a heat pump for heat are almost certainly using oil, natural gas, or propane to heat their homes, all of which require a good deal of centralization. Those that have the ability to use firewood to heat their homes today can continue doing so if they need to- its not a requirement to close up your chimney permanently to use one. FWIW I am considering switching to a heat pump, but would still have natural gas fireplaces as a backup.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago

> has the common theme of centralizing. In a world where if your heatpump stops working, you die from cold, Using machinery for heating isn’t new. Virtually nobody in the modern world uses firewood from a local vendor to heat their homes. These conspiracy theorist angles are baffling. Heat pumps are just another variation of AC, which is already ubiquitous. If people don’t use heat pumps, they won’t use firewood. They’ll use a regular furnace or electric heat.

pjc50 4y ago

> Much more sad than a world where you obtain firewood from some local vendor A while ago I ran the numbers, and to meet UK electricity demand from wood would consume every single tree in the country in three months. Limiting that to heating and giving up on industry would stretch that a bit, but the country is fundamentally dependent on imports to stay alive. We can't not be global.

micromacrofoot 4y ago

They could also just shut off your gas, heat pumps introduce no newfound ability to be authoritarian that isn't already there.

triceratops 4y ago

Did you know that installing a heat pump doesn't magically cause fireplaces in the house to stop working? Or that if you're concerned about being cut off from electricity because of your low "social credit score" the heat pump will run just fine off solar panels and batteries?

adrianN 4y ago

Yeah, if we could only cut down our population by 20x or so in order to make firewood sustainable again, that would really show Big-Heatpump /s.