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Yes, it's being lost in translation. The notion that you might heat a house with electricity or by setting trees or dinosaurs on fire is so foreign to Icelande
by avar 3y ago
Yes, it's being lost in translation.
The notion that you might heat a house with electricity or by setting trees or dinosaurs on fire is so foreign to Icelanders that they don't think this is worth clarifying in the English translation of the news feed.
It'll have other long-tail effects, e.g. some people with outdoor hot tubs in the area are probably scrambling to drain them and all their plumbing now. Some rely on constant drip heating to avoid the pipes bursting.
Why are outdoor hot tubs full in the first place when it's -10°C (15°F) outside?
Well obviously when boiling water practically bubbles out of the ground for free you're going to get in it at scalding temperatures even if you need to dig it out of the snow first. Doesn't that go without saying?
- samus 3y agoI for sure hope they thought about the risk of that infrastructure being damaged. There better be backup heating sources at least for hospitals.
- avar 3y agoIn general the backup plan in Iceland is "Well, I guess we're having to wear all this clothing we put on so we don't die of exposure when we venture outside inside the house now.". I think the hospitals have backup diesel electric generators, but in general nobody's got backup heating, except perhaps the odd free-standing electric heater. I don't know, but I'd expect someone at the hospital there is thinking of running those in select places. Icelandic media is now patiently explaining to people the upsides ("yay, heat!") and downsides (you might die) of running the propane gas heaters that have just sold out in enclosed spaces: https://www.ruv.is/frettir/innlent/2024-02-08-ad-ymsu-ad-huga-thegar-gas-er-notad-til-hushitunar-404467 https://www.ruv.is/frettir/innlent/2024-02-08-ad-ymsu-ad-hug...
- samus 3y agoThanks for the information. Without electricity, the situation would become really gnarly, as those heaters, hairdryers, and electrical stovetops could also be used for heating.
- dagurp 3y agoThey did and the backup system was far along. This is why they will be able to get the water flowing again tomorrow or saturday.
- RandallBrown 3y ago> Why are outdoor hot tubs full in the first place when it's -10°C (15°F) outside? Why wouldn't they be? Those are really normal temperatures to use a hot tub in.
- sib 3y ago>> The notion that you might heat a house with electricity or by setting trees or dinosaurs on fire is so foreign to Icelanders I'm sorry but this is hyperbole. I just spent nearly a week staying in a house *in Iceland* that was heated with wood and diesel fuel. Granted, it's an old house, built about 100 years ago, but it's hardly a foreign concept.
- avar 3y agoWas this a house or a hotel? Obviously my comment's a bit torque-in-cheek, but I've never heard of fossil fuel heating in Iceland in residential dwellings outside af Grímsey, an island 40km off the coast. There's fireplaces, but not for heating entire building, unless it's a small summer home or a cottage. I'm sure there's exceptions, but what I was pointing out is that geothermal heating is universal enough that the implications of the hot water being out don't need to be explained.
- sib 3y agoThis is a house, not a hotel. It's in Hornstrandir. (Coincidentally, I'm going to Grímsey this summer to shoot [with a camera!] puffins...)
- meheleventyone 3y agoJust for comparison my house was built in 1897 and whilst it had a chimney because it used to be heated that way it’s fully hooked up to hot water for heating.