WEBVTT NOTE Transcript 2024-04-11 from FLAC by https://elvery.net/prototypes/transcribe/ on my MacBook Air M1 on maximum quality setting. NOTE Body edited. 00:00.000 --> 00:02.000 Diarycast 00:02.000 --> 00:07.000 [INTRO MUSIC] 00:07.000 --> 00:17.000 Hi, I'm Damon Hart-Davis, and welcome to Earth Notes podcast on all things eco and green and efficient at home! 00:17.000 --> 00:23.000 21st December 2020, sub-8-hour solstice edition. 00:23.000 --> 00:33.000 Autumn and (warm!) winter updates for a year most of us would rather hadn't happened, even if there have been a few silver linings, and still a lot going on. 00:33.000 --> 00:36.000 28th September: 00:36.000 --> 00:46.000 tonight the upstairs MHRV (Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation) fan is on and windows have been closed to retain heat overnight. 00:46.000 --> 00:55.000 Careful use of the MHRV at least some nights keeps us going longer before we turn the heating on, usually in November. 00:55.000 --> 01:18.000 September generally: looking again at the data, I see that shoulder months could make good use of an additional 1kWh or 270W of Enphase ACB (AC battery). I could measure simulated change in self-consumption or "energy independence" in March and September, then over the full year versus extra overheads... 01:18.000 --> 01:25.000 (The Enphase Enlighten formula is 1 - (imported / consumed) for "energy independence".) 01:25.000 --> 01:26.000 October: 01:26.000 --> 01:33.000 last month and this I've been finding out that there are lots and lots of bats around 16WW! 01:33.000 --> 01:41.000 I've been detecting and recording them with various devices and learning how to tell a pipistrelle from Myotis by ear and by eye! 01:41.000 --> 02:03.000 3rd October: I took a trip to and from Tottenham to see friends. Passenger density was low on the train, slightly higher on the tube. Maybe 20% or more of passengers were not wearing masks at all, or not wearing them properly, for example on the chin or not covering the nose, thus suggesting that the wearer is unlikely to be legally exempt. 02:03.000 --> 02:07.000 Mostly, but not exclusively, single males under about 40. 02:07.000 --> 02:19.000 7th October: I've supported a scheme to bring back native water voles to the Hogsmill. " ... water voles were last spotted on the river in 2014 and they are now locally extinct." 02:19.000 --> 02:32.000 4th November: it is frosty this morning, officially about 3 degrees C at 7am. Internal house temperatures are more like 17 degrees C, and so our central heating is still not on. 02:32.000 --> 02:37.000 Every day we can hold off after 1st November chips away at our carbon emissions. 02:37.000 --> 02:50.000 5th November: I submitted a response to the government consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes. I worry that I may have done this one twice, parts of it seem familiar. 02:50.000 --> 03:06.000 Also, lockdown 2 started today, but I was cheered by lovely soft light on my walk and when I found a delicious ripe blackberry, passing several people also out with babies and dogs. (I can't remember if I counted the dogs.) 03:06.000 --> 03:16.000 Also, I have been listening to Betatalk on heat pumps from the point of view of potential installers and users. Interesting! 03:16.000 --> 03:32.000 11th November: according to Bloomberg, "Global road usage was down 65% in April, now down nearly 25%, ... but also not going up anymore either." We have to do better, but it's a start. 03:32.000 --> 03:44.000 17th November: the Park Brewery crowdfunded, eventually reaching more than twice their target with my dulcet tones in the promo video. Here's my bit: 03:44.000 --> 03:54.000 You come in here to have a nice beer and have a nice chat and ... you get to meet people and drink something nice and that to me is an ideal pub. We have beer for social bonding, right? 03:54.000 --> 04:02.000 So they're providing another useful social anchor to the community as well above and beyond all all those economic value[s]. 04:02.000 --> 04:21.000 I was nearly coherent. 22nd November: our heating is still not switched on. This month has only accumulated a little over 47 HDD12 (Heating Degree Days with a base temperature of 12 degrees C that I use for 16WW) so far this month. 04:21.000 --> 04:35.000 26th November: I accepted the Energy Institute's "Innovative Technology Award" for Vestemi Radbot at a virtual ceremony. Dozens of onlookers may have admired my wardrobe which I sit in front of. 04:35.000 --> 05:01.000 Also, our dishwasher finally expired after over a decade, and an online award was made for an A++ energy efficient replacement tonight. 29th November: our heating is still not on but we're seeing enough condensation in 1g (my girl's room) to run a dehumidifier for several hours to get relative humidity down to 65%. 05:01.000 --> 05:11.000 Inside the house is easily staying about 6 degrees C above external from appliance and people gains, which accords with my use of HDD12. 05:11.000 --> 05:21.000 Also, the planning application to redevelop the estate went in before the consultation had finished... I lodged a comment / objection. 05:21.000 --> 05:38.000 1st December: the heating has now been switched on, running on the clock, just before 7am. The clock schedule in 15 minute increments is roughly 06:30 to 15:59 and 19:00 to 21:44. 05:38.000 --> 05:46.000 The gap is to avoid electricity peak demand, letting the house coast on its thermal capacitance, sometimes called "thermal mass". 05:46.000 --> 06:03.000 2nd December: the replacement dishwasher is too big. It is a couple of centimetres deeper than shown on the retailer's site. We can't fit it fully in and so can't open a drawer beside it that was okay with a ZDS2010. 06:03.000 --> 06:24.000 12th December: my first ever free 'flu vaccination today ("Flublok Quadrivalent") with HA proteins of two A (H1N1, H3N2) and two B subtypes, since I am officially old and frail enough with covid floating around. 06:24.000 --> 06:33.000 14th December: my daughter was sent home from secondary school and told to self-isolate until Sunday 20th ... then Tuesday 22nd. 06:33.000 --> 06:43.000 18th December: the dishwasher saga is resolved, I hope. A working machine is in place running and not blocking access to one of our drawers. 06:43.000 --> 06:53.000 It has taken four 'installer' visits, two visits from an independent sensible tradesperson, a stream of refunds and a lot of interaction with customer services, but we're there. 06:53.000 --> 07:00.000 19th December: we in London are now in tier 4 lockdown restrictions as of tomorrow. 07:00.000 --> 07:08.000 20th December: it's a sunny (and still too warm!) day with some half-decent solar PV generation. 07:08.000 --> 07:16.000 I'm enjoying seeing peaks of more than 100 watts being captured by my off-grid system from the sunshine. 07:16.000 --> 07:23.000 21st December: the Zoom H1n arrived, and I've made some test recordings, 07:23.000 --> 07:28.000 and as it's warm enough, about 14 degrees C, I'm trying for a bit of bat detection. 07:28.000 --> 07:36.000 I reckon that I have a better chance of hearing bats than seeing the Saturn/Jupiter great conjunction given the cloud cover tonight... 07:36.000 --> 07:42.000 And indeed got a close pass off my front window by a pipistrelle at 16:26! 07:42.000 --> 07:48.000 Continuing thanks to Deniz for the long, long loan of his Olympus field recorder. 07:48.000 --> 07:56.000 I have bought a Zoom H1n which arrived while preparing this episode and I shall be returning his Olympus with a new wind muff. 08:01.000 --> 08:08.000 There's more on my Earth Notes Web site at Earth.Org.UK.