SCN: Re: [Fwd: Kyoto Pact to Prompt Big Changes (without the US)

[David Barts]

melissa roberts <getmelissa at circlesys.com> writes:

> [snip!]
> That means old houses should have their electrical wiring redone, their
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Um, no it doesn't.  The resistive loss from a length of No. 14 copper
wire manufactured in 1901 is exactly the same as the loss from the same
length of No. 14 wire manufactured in 2001.

There may be safety issues for having old wiring upgraded (these often
tend to be exaggerated, however -- there's plenty of buildings out
there whose wires are entering their second century of trouble-free
use).  Capacity is more often the driving factor -- in the early days
of electric service, light bulbs were essentially the only things
powered; now there's all these other appliances people have.

Of course, adding more capacity facilitates the consumption of more
electricity -- just the opposite of the goal being promoted by this
article!  It might be a good incentive for conservation to NOT upgrade
and to learn to scale back one's use so those fuses don't blow.

[Guess that clause brought out my inner physics teacher.  I'll return
to lurking now.]

-- 
         David W. Barts (davidb at scn.org) / http://www.scn.org/~davidb
      "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and
     demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of
                     justice and mercy." -- Wendell Berry
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