France to ban heating/airconditioning the streets - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 12:49:43 am
content: I went to Amerstam many years ago and in the winter and it was the cold all around. About 2 years later I went back about the same time of the year and noticed these floodlights with this bulb that emitted a red light with lot heat and they seem to be all over the streets in many shop fronts in the place I was staying. Where it was really cold on some streets without these things it was like summer on busy streets with these things everywhere and switched on. I thought what a waste of electricity and that couldn't be good for the environment. I remembered in about Spring time something about an early short heatwave from hot air flowing from Europe into Britain but maybe that is just a coincidence. I didn't know they did this in France but I read that they going to put a stop to this.https://www.fastcompany.com/90533015/france-will-ban-outdoor-heating-at-restaurantsQuote

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 01:47:17 am
content: I always felt future historians would show pictures of these things when global warming and our folly are discussed.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 03:57:11 am
content: They would not be using radiant heating outdoors unless it made economic sense, which it may not if the cost of the power for it is being subsidized but how would the businesses know that?So somewhere the government is subsidizing the power. Stop doing that and if radiant heating outdoors does not result in greater profits from increased sales, businesses will stop doing it. Solving one market distortion with another will just lead to rent seeking, which it already has.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 04:16:55 am
content: Wouldn't it make more sense to just heat the seats that are being used?

author: KaneTW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 04:20:15 am
content: What nonsense. All patio heaters combined don't even make a drop in the bucket in energy consumption.If they did, they would be too expensive to operate for a restaurant.The trend of taking away comforts for a perceived improvement in climate change while bigger, actual improvements flounder is extremely irritating.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 04:42:27 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on August 13, 2020, 03:57:11 amC'mon Dave, gimme a break. There will be no need for economics in the new post-capitalist, post-modern socialist utopia that is about to begin. It will all be social credits and virtue signaling from now on.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 05:53:05 am
content: These are all over in Chicago too, in front of some businesses, at a lot of the commuter rail stations, awnings with a bank of blazing halogen heat lamps under them. It feels nice to stand under one on a frigid evening but it has struck me as a huge waste of energy too.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 06:36:35 am
content: Quote from: MrMobodies on August 13, 2020, 12:49:43 amThis is a technical forum, mostly electronics oriented, and I would like to keep it technical.Your last messages were:General Chat / France to ban heating/airconditioning the streetsDodgy Technology / Re: Evaporative coolers hysteria waveGeneral Chat / Re: Jordan Pier on elitist attitudes for younger playersGeneral Computing / Spinners/ page dimming overlays increasing and blocklistGeneral Chat / Re: level of Advertising is getting RidiculousAre you a propaganda bot?

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 06:49:09 am
content: I always wonder if people these days don't even know what 'troll' or 'bot' actually means or if their perception of reality really isthatwarped

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 07:03:59 am
content: Quote from: james_s on August 13, 2020, 05:53:05 ami think they are a good idea at train stations and bus stops and places that you need to wait for a long time in the winter, and its nice for homeless people. Making public transportation more pleasant to use might reduce greenhouse emissions more then the lights consume.It does reduce virus spread when you have a warmed outdoor area rather then packing people into a warmed waiting booth, and its safer because you can be seen (unlike frosty windows etc). Even with non coronavirus diseases (common cold), reducing public disease spread causes massive savings in health care and productivity, allowing for more taxation. There was always someone sneezing and sniffling inside of the waiting booth at a train station I used to go to. So, I would simply stand outside under the warming lamp, and sit far away from them on the train (the train is huge in comparison to the small warming stations).And its a bit more of a charming atmosphere, since you usually still have snow around, and you are not sitting in a puddle filled overly dry hot waiting booth with sick people listening to coughing and boots squeaking.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 12:59:39 pm
content: Wouldn't it more efficient to have the benches be heated? Have them pressure sensitive so they only operate when in use with a foot operated lever to adjust the heat output.

author: SilverSolder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 01:55:04 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on August 13, 2020, 03:57:11 amI seem to recall that France is something around 80% nuclear powered... their incremental cost of electricity is likely extremely low.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 01:58:26 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on August 13, 2020, 07:03:59 amYou know what's nice for homeless people? Housing. Heating the street for them is solving one stupid problem with another.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 02:25:09 pm
content: These things are everywhere. People dine outside in the middle of the winter. They offer more seats, so there is more profit, so they keep them operating. I dont blame them. The heater uses 1-2 KW, so for about 1 EUR cost , you can serve maybe extra 4-6 meals. Easy profit.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 03:53:01 pm
content: The Chicago "L" system has most of its platforms outdoors. During the cold season, the platforms have semi-sheltered areas with overhead heat lamps, activated by a pushbutton for a timed interval. Sometimes, near the lake, we get a cool snap in August, and it is amusing to watch the teenagers from suburbs that don't get the Weather Channel, dressed in shorts and T-shirts, pushing the button (despite the label that specifies the active months).