Originally published at: Electric wallpaper warming Scottish homes in winter - Boing Boing
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The technology, which uses the Internet-of-Things and AI-enabled data analytics to collect information on efficiency, comfort, and tenant’s feedback
Why?
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The aspect that I’m missing in this solution is how this addresses the poor insulation. Ok, we’ve got more radiant heat for maybe less resource expenditure, that’s a win. How will the heat be retained efficiently to sustain the energy savings?
Also, radiant heaters on the ceiling seem silly to me, unless they’re meant to either be quite intense (ala restaurant salamanders) or they’re designed to heat the floor above them, which isn’t the worst outcome but still!
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My guess? To get funding…
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Sadly, this is a gimmick.
Their “electric wallpaper” is nothing more than a radiant heater, and attaching it to a badly insulated surface will just increase heat losses to outwith the flat.
It’s just down to physics. It’s not physically possible to get a more efficient electric heater than an electric resistance heater without using the refrigeration cycle (Yes, feel free to insert Alec’s videos here.).
This is a shame, because the problems mentioned in the article are real. We really do have lots of old, badly insulated housing stock here, and it’s going to take a lot of work to retro-fit it with better insulation and new heating systems, but there are no flashy short-cuts.
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Central heating? Luxury! I wouldn’t be surprised if there were still a lot of places that use gas fires in various rooms.
A useful habit I did inherit: Keep the thermostat low, and if you’re cold, put a sweater on.
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Yeah, but this one has AI and IoT!
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It’s just heating that goes through the wall if there is no insulation. I also have a problem with electricity going into flammable paper, no matter how low voltage. Or maybe it’s plastic, or they put some flame retardants in the wallpaper and then it will outgas into the room.
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This sounds like a slogan that would be on one of those posters with the British meme/trope/thing of someone looking sternly yet compassionately at you.
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How about a program that adds say 2" of foam installation to the main outside walls (on the inside) and a new layer of sheet rock. Sure, you will lose some livable space, but wouldn’t that help out a lot with the efficiency of your current heating?
Considering you’re not supposed to sleep with a heating pad on for fear of fire, I can’t imagine coating a wall in it…
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The trouble with insulating many of these properties is that they’re old, and fitting new insulation is difficult. We’re talking about Victorian stone-built walls, with lath and plaster for the rooms. You’d need to strip these back to the stonework and reclad the interior to do it properly, while also taking care to get the ventilation right so there isn’t a problem with condensation. Old housing is often just hard to work with, as it was never built for keeping the heat in in the first place.
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Well, they did say to put it on the outside.
And that is indeed being done.
The problem is that outside insulation costs a lot to install and it changes the character of the building (like the above one going from stone cottage to generic new-build). It’s also not a panacea when it comes to fire safety. Grenfell tower was caused by an outside insulation fire jumping the internal firebreaks between floors.
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For some reason I get an error message when I try to edit my own post, so this is an answer to my own post instead:
ETA: oh, I misread, @Mister44 actually said to put it on the inside on outside walls…
Anyway, outside insulation is a thing, and slightly more practical than inside insulation. Still not a panacea, though
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Cavity wall insulation can be added to existing buildings, if they have cavity walls.
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Insulating old homes can be tricky when they were never insulated to begin with. Adding vapor impermiable insulation to either side of an existing wall should be done with care to not create condensation issues.
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I kinda assumed if they had cavity wall it would already have been insulated at some point or foam filled now.
Yeah, fixing old houses is a pain. I had a house from the 50s and when ever I had to fix something it didn’t look like the “Home Depot DIY” book I bought.
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For more information please reread.
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Unless you use mineral wool instead of extruded foam polystyrene.
(And even XPS isn’t a problem when it’s used in accordance with building codes. Meaning in combination with mineral-based insulation as fire breaks on the outside within the insulation layer, on small to mid-size buildings. Not on a high-rise, at least not in combination with other measures.)
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Electricity for the wallpaper can be sourced from offshore wind farms, making it a clean heating source.
I found this particularly unimpressive. Any fucking gadget could in theory get its power from an off shore wind farm, doesn’t mean the gadget itself is particularly good does it?
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