Old-style bulbs 'being hoarded'

Quintus · Post by **Quintus** » 06 Sep 2009, 23:23

kenneal wrote:If you haven't finished your insulation yet, I would get on with it quickly.

Good advice ... and tighten our belts.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 09 Sep 2009, 23:46

We've just had our walls filled. Unfortunately the chaps also had to put in a sodding great vent in the room where our woodburner lives. We've yet to find out whether the net effect will be to make us warmer or colder. The weird thing is you can hear the traffic noise through the hole, it sounds as if any passing cars are on the telly.

The regs in force when our extension was built mean that the place is riddled with holes, they assume that people have tumble-driers in the boiler-room (we don't) and god only knows what the regs assume we get up to in the small downstairs loo.

Quintus · Post by **Quintus** » 10 Sep 2009, 00:36

RenewableCandy wrote: The weird thing is you can hear the traffic noise through the hole, it sounds as if any passing cars are on the telly.

It's called "F1" and - alas - the BBC wasted £200m on it.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 10 Sep 2009, 09:35

RenewableCandy wrote:Unfortunately the chaps also had to put in a sodding great vent in the room where our woodburner lives.

Sounds like a good case for a heat exchange unit.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 10 Sep 2009, 14:44

RenewableCandy wrote:... Unfortunately the chaps also had to put in a sodding great vent in the room where our woodburner lives. We've yet to find out whether the net effect will be to make us warmer or colder. ..........

The regs in force when our extension was built mean that the place is riddled with holes, they assume that people have tumble-driers in the boiler-room (we don't) and god only knows what the regs assume we get up to in the small downstairs loo.

This is not official advice.

Block them up fully or partially when not in use. The one for the woodburner will be sized for the full opening but that is only needed for the short time the door is open so you only really need a fraction of that area most of the time.

Do you have a vented under floor, Candy? If you have, put a controllable vent into the underfloor space near the fire and block the one through the wall.

In the loo put in a powered vent, you can get ones that only use 20/40 watts, connected to the light switch with a short time delay on switch off. That will reduce the ventilation to the short periods when the loo is in use. (edit) And get every one to put the lid down on the loo to reduce evaporation.

If you find you are getting damp in the upstairs bedroom or cupboards, usually low down in the corners against outside walls, open the vents up a bit, especially in the wet rooms.

With your knowledge, you can be expected to use your controls properly. The average Joe will block them up and forget to unblock them, with a possible deadly result. So remove any blockages if yuo move.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 10 Sep 2009, 14:57

I ran a large diameter pipe from my wall vent to a vent near the back of my stove. I think that helped to avoid drafts in the room, and the incoming air must have been warmed up a bit. The pipe was boxed in to make a seat.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 21 Sep 2009, 12:54

Guidelines from the Irish Department of the Environment:

If a CFL accidentally breaks…
As with any other glass products, caution should be taken to avoid injuries.
If you do break a CFL, do not panic and take the following steps:
Switch off the electricity
Ventilate and leave the room for 15-30 minutes
Wear rubber gloves and use robust card or similar to remove fragments
Don’t use a vacuum cleaner
Wipe the area with a damp paper towel or disposable wet wipes
Carefully bag and seal all fragments gathered and materials used
All cleaned up items should be disposed of at your local authority WEEE re-cycling facility
Do CFL’s [sic] contain Mercury?
CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing of the lamp. Mercury is currently an essential component of CFLs and is what allows the lamp to be an efficient light source.
No mercury is released when the CFL is intact or in use.
A CFL contains a maximum of 5mg of mercury,
CFL Lamps put on the market must comply with European and Irish Environmental and Health and Safety law.

I was in a packed O'Briens snack bar recently and an assistant accidentally broke a cfl with the end of her mop following cleaning up of a customer's spill. I must pass these guidelines on to them...

I like that: 'do not panic and take the following steps'. Alright, I won't.