8 ms·
>Islanders are used to rationing their power That is key.
by marquis 13y ago
>Islanders are used to rationing their power
That is key.
- arethuza 13y agoThe mild temperatures there presumably help - I be surprised if they had many days above 25C or below 0C.
- gus_massa 13y agoThe article says that they cover the 90% of the energy from renewables. It’s not vey clear if it’s the 90% of the electricity or the 90% of all the energy requirements, where they should include cooking and heating. (Let’s forget about gasoline and diesel for transportation.) The Eigg island is part of the Inner Hebrides. According to Wikipedia, in this group of islands, in August the average hight is 15.7 °C (60.3 °F) and in February the average low is 2.2 °C (36 °F). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Hebrides#Climate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Hebrides#Climate . From the article: > On days that are really sunny - or, more likely, really wet or windy - Eigg Electric has a useful way for dealing with excess energy. "We have heaters in all the public spaces on the island, the two churches, the community centre, [the shop and café] down at the pier. So we put free heating into these buildings to keep the island's costs down and to keep the infrastructure of the buildings dry," says Scott. So, probably they don’t have air conditioning (or they don’t use it very much), and they are using a traditional no renewable energy source for heating.
- arethuza 13y agoI don't think I've ever been in a home in Scotland that has air-conditioning. A lot of people here think that 10C is the temperature you start wearing shorts and t-shirts (this is actually to be observed most Aprils when temperatures soar from the ~5C average we get over winter to the ~15C average we get the other 6 months).
- rmc 13y agoSo, probably they don’t have air conditioning Erm no. Air conditioning is not common in UK homes. What's much more likely is heating. I can't imagine a home not having heating in this part of Europe.
- arethuza 13y agoCareful modern designs can give you a "zero-heating" house - even in the North East of Scotland, which is a fair bit chillier than Eigg: http://www.ecbcs.org/docs/Annex_38_UK_Aberdeen.pdf http://www.ecbcs.org/docs/Annex_38_UK_Aberdeen.pdf [I own a property that is at the other end of the spectrum from a "zero-heating" house - we have parts that are effectively impossible to heat, so we don't even try.]
- JetSetWilly 13y agoHardly anybody in Scotland has aircon. Most likely the islanders use oil for heating - that's what most rural places in Scotland have to use anyway. Housing stock in scotland is often old and very poorly insulated. Although it is very rarely chicago-style cold - once per decade it might hit -20C - it is cold enough consistently enough that heating is used for a good 9 months of the year.
- arethuza 13y agoReminds me of my childhood of chipping the ice out of the bath before getting washed and sleeping in unheated bedrooms pinned to the bed by 15 layers of woolen blankets..... :-)
- pjc50 13y agoSee http://www.ashden.org/files/reports/Isle%20of%20Eigg%20case%20study.pdf http://www.ashden.org/files/reports/Isle%20of%20Eigg%20case%... The idea of aircon on Eigg is hilarious. They've only just built an electric grid. Heating is a mix of oil-fired boilers, wood, solar water heating, and probably the occasional portable few kW electric heater. I suspect quite a bit of food is locally produced. Crofting is an ancient way of life. Note that Eigg's population is only about 100, about the Dunbar Number.
- rmc 13y agoYou need heating though. That costs money.