Heating

It's cold everywhere right now.

Inside it's warm. It's great to have a warm home, warm water for a shower. I take these things for granted.

Living in Southern California most of my life, I thought that everyone used the same system(s) to heat the house, heat water, wash dishes and laundry. We have a balloon water heater that holds a large capacity of water. It keeps the water constantly warm so that when you need it you get it. Hot water is not instantaneous since it has to travel from the tank through the pipes to the needed spigot. But, eventually it is nice and warm. Since most of the time there are only two of us at home, we don't run out of hot water. But if we have visitors, we have to remember that the amount of water is limited by the size of the tank and not immediately replaced. So, if four or five people take a long hot shower while the dishwasher and the clothes washer are going, we will be out of hot water. Don't take the last shower or you'll be out of luck.

The dishwasher and the clothes washer rely on water heated by the hot water heater so they use up their share.

In France, there are many systems for heating and hot water. On rue de Seine, we had electric heaters on walls that you turned on individually. We had a balloon for hot water in the closet. The place was so small that we never ran out of hot water and we rarely turned on a heater. If it was cold, by the time I'd finished cooking dinner, the place was nice and warm. Even candles helped.

Now we have a "chaudiere". It is one of these instant hot water things. It is used for both hot water and heating the apartment. It works really well. It is economical since it doesn't heat the water until you need it. Water is instantly hot. Warmth starts coming out of the radiators the minute you turn them on. We never have to worry about who will get the last shower since the water will be hot whenever it is needed.

The most unusual thing about french appliances is that both the dishwasher and the clothes washer use only cold water. The machines heat the water during use. You can tell the machine how hot you want the water to be. So, these machines don't compete with showers either.

I think the French have been much more conscious of their usage of gas and electricity. Lights are not on in the hallways of buildings. You have to turn them on. Then they are on timers. You're left with enough time to go up about three flights of stairs and then the hallway goes dark again and you have to turn the lights back on again. People don't leave lights on when they leave a room. Lights switches (no idea why) are often on the outside of the bathroom.

I wonder how long it would take for the US to change to these systems. It seems that it would save a lot of energy consumption with an added benefit that everyone would always have a warm shower.