The vicarage at Teene had been rebuilt in the ’seventies of the last century by a parson with sporting proclivities and large private means. To his successors it had been an incubus. No other incumbent had been able to afford the tons of coal required to keep those spacious, high-pitched rooms and long, draughty passages even tolerably warm, or the number of servants needed for its maintenance. It had killed their wives by inches, and sapped the youth and strength of their daughters.
Moray Dalton - The Case of Alan Copeland (1937)
We tootled off for a local walk today, taking in the town and a couple of nearby villages. And a coffee shop stop of course - with cake.
Even a casual look at older houses in our part of Derbyshire suggests that many may not suited to the installation of heat pumps. There are still plenty of big Victorian and Edwardian houses where the owners presumably grit their teeth and pay through the nose to heat the place.
Most older houses will not be the incubus described in the quote and a few will have been divided into flats, but government energy policies seem likely to create plenty of heating incubi.
Maybe messing up a chunk of the existing housing stock has something to do with the housing shortage. Governments are clever like that.
Most older houses will not be the incubus described in the quote and a few will have been divided into flats, but government energy policies seem likely to create plenty of heating incubi.
Maybe messing up a chunk of the existing housing stock has something to do with the housing shortage. Governments are clever like that.
3 comments:
I see a marketing opportunity, though:
"Incu-belper. Heat pumps for the discerning eco-fanatic. Taking all that warmth out of millstone grit and making your living room tepid since 2023".
With all the tosh scribbled about global warming, one wonders if we'll even have to heat our homes at all by Christmas next year!
Sam - good idea, maybe the thing to do is market the idea of tepid living. It could be a health benefit with the added advantage that warmth would become unhealthy.
Scrobs - probably not. Next it will be "Our helpful Central Heating Inspection Teams are coming to your area soon."
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