I wrote a short paper for the recent International Passivhaus conference about heating Passivhaus buildings using electricity preferentially when there is an abundance of wind. As grid electricity decarbonises matching variable supply from renewables with demand will become increasingly useful. In Scotland the main renewable power source in winter is currently (and likely to continue …

  In this blog post I take a quick look at the physics behind summer overheating problems and unpack claims that high levels of insulation make the problem worse or more likely.

  I’ve owned an electric car since July 2016 and I’m generally pretty enthusiastic about EVs. I’m excited by the idea that we might be able to make enormous reductions in transport energy use through switching from fossil fuels to electricity, and that we can simultaneously decarbonise electricity generation in order to have truly zero-carbon …

  In the previous post I looked at the main factors other than internal air temperature that affect how thermally comfortable we feel in a room. Internal surface temperature played a big role, both because of its influence on radiant heat loss and because of the ability of cold surfaces to cause fast-moving air through …

  I live in a 70’s house that has had double glazing installed but little else in the way of thermal improvements since then. Imagine the following situation. Yesterday was a mild winter’s day, temperatures around 10°C, and I was comfortably warm working at home. Today the weather’s changed, it’s been cold all night and …