From September 1, manufacturers will be unable to make or import vacuum cleaners with a motor that exceeds 1,600W and in 2017 the limit will be lowered to 900W. Article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28878432)
The power rating may not equate to cleaning efficiency though. I bought a Henry vacuum cleaner in March which is 600W and 1200W in high power mode. I find that 600W setting is a vast improvement on my previous more powerful cleaner :claphappy: and rarely have the need to use the high power setting.
I decided to sell my vacuum cleaner - well, it was only gathering dust :sorrysign:
Quote from: Pengi on August 24, 2014, 07:09:06 AM
From September 1, manufacturers will be unable to make or import vacuum cleaners with a motor that exceeds 1,600W and in 2017 the limit will be lowered to 900W. Article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28878432)
The power rating may not equate to cleaning efficiency though. I bought a Henry vacuum cleaner in March which is 600W and 1200W in high power mode. I find that 600W setting is a vast improvement on my previous more powerful cleaner :claphappy: and rarely have the need to use the high power setting.
well that sucks.....
My Vax is 2,000 Watts. I use it to strip lead from church roofs.
Can anyone beat that?
Quote from: Agrippa on August 24, 2014, 07:45:54 AM
My Vax is 2,000 Watts. i use it to strip lead from church roofs.
Can anyone beat that?
I trust that's your day job rather than another hobby! :D
Dave G
I hope that means lower prices for less efficiency But I doubt it......................
With our world literally tearing itself apart at the roots and people dying all over the world through lack of food or water!
ALL the MEP's are concerned about is bloody vacuum cleaners! :veryangry:
I agree Peter after all how long do you have a vacuum cleaner on for, In tests they recon you save £5 a year on your electric bill .While talking about electricity I can't understand the idea of electric cars giving less pollution yes the car does BUT what about the pollution caused by generating the electricity to charge it up.
Sorry that should be in the angry thread.
Bob
Quote from: Bob Tidbury on August 24, 2014, 10:22:30 AM
I agree Peter after all how long do you have a vacuum cleaner on for, In tests they recon you save £5 a year on your electric bill .While talking about electricity I can't understand the idea of electric cars giving less pollution yes the car does BUT what about the pollution caused by generating the electricity to charge it up.
Sorry that should be in the angry thread.
Bob
£5 - is that it for less dust in the floor? I'll take 2 and it's still cheaper than getting a cleaner in...
As for the greenwash which surrounds electric cars, you are absolutely right at the electricity having been produced from less than environmentally friendly ways. You also have to consider how labour/energy/CO2 intensive they are to make, how much CO2/pollution goes into getting all that lithium, shipping it about the globe, the process if turning it into the battery and then still making the car around it (plastics, aluminium etc). Then the car will be designed to have a lifespan of 10 years and then you have the recycling nightmare of dealing with it all. Despite putting out a bit more pollution over it's lifetime there is a whole argument for older cars being more environmentally friendly rather than going down the "this car's old, it could break down and be an embarrassment in front of the neighbours; lets bin it and buy a new one" route.
Quote from: Bob Tidbury on August 24, 2014, 10:22:30 AM
While talking about electricity I can't understand the idea of electric cars giving less pollution yes the car does BUT what about the pollution caused by generating the electricity to charge it up.
Sorry that should be in the angry thread.
Bob
This is very true in the UK with our backwards attitude to energy generation where idiots believe that it's better to have a coal or gas power station that will definitely destroy the planet than a nuclear plant that only might destroy a small bit of the planet, and then only in a very unlikely set of circumstances.
Burning gas at a power station is slightly more efficient than burning fuel directly in a car but nearly all of the benefit is lost in the transmission losses of getting that electrical power to your garage.
However, if you have a power system like France's (80% nuclear) then the benefit of electric vehicles over burning fossil fuels is enormous.
[blue touch paper lit... stepping away!] ;)
What really hoses me off is that no matter what the EU dictates re vacuums, light bulbs etc, China and India are still pumping millions of tons of CO2 in to the air from their heavy industry and power stations. The US wouldn't sign up to the Kyoto agreement either. :censored:
Better tell the missus to pull her finger out and make use of the one we have already.......oh god she is looking over my shoulder with a scowl....ouch that hurt....... :'(
Quote from: Malc on August 25, 2014, 11:03:11 AM
What really hoses me off is that no matter what the EU dictates re vacuums, light bulbs etc, China and India are still pumping millions of tons of CO2 in to the air from their heavy industry and power stations. The US wouldn't sign up to the Kyoto agreement either. :censored:
Of course it sounds crazy when you phrase it like that.
But perhaps you'd be less offended if you saw the EU's actions as being about setting an example. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world".
Also, by pushing industries towards greener technologies, you hasten progress in those fields, meaning EU-based businesses will be better able to supply markets with clean technology.
Don't for a moment suppose China and India are ignoring the pollution in their backyards; they can't. The thing with ecological damage is that it can't be ignored. If water is filthy, people get stick. If the air is polluted, people get sick. If the seas are overfished, people lose their jobs as well as their dinners. There is progress in China and India, as well as the United States. It's slow, to be sure, but it's there, and if anything, the toxic nature of the environment in many big Chinese and Indian cities only accentuates the need for improvement. As the Economist phrased in recently, "China is the world's worst polluter but largest investor in green energy".
So, if British, German and other companies come up with home-grown technologies they can sell, they'll find massive markets for them in China and Asia generally.
Oh, and do let's drop the "EU dictates" idea. The EU Commission is appointed by the governments we elect, and the EU Parliament is directly elected by us. In and of itself the EU doesn't come up with anything that hasn't first been proposed and then carried by a majority of member states, whether directly through its parliament or via the commissioners our national governments have sent there on our behalf. It's no better or worse than the US federal government system and just as remote from the individual. If you don't like this approach, then getting out of the EU is absolutely what you should be advocating. But there'd be an economic and geopolitical price to pay, and a pretty stiff one at that.
Unfortunately our governments at home like to take the credit for popular laws while blaming unpopular laws on the EU. That's easier for them, and for the most part the British electorate has fallen for it hook, line and sinker. In reality it's far more complicated than this, and statements like 75% of laws come from Brussels are extremely difficult to justify, any more than the opposite statement that barely 7% of them do. There was a terrific Radio 4 programme (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041yf8s) on this topic by the FT's stats analyst Tim Harford.
Cheers, NeMo
Very well argued NeMo, are you thinking of standing for election? You would get my vote.
Whilst this adult Kyoto debate rages...I am still banished by the missus in the cold garage for my childish quip about the hoover....now where did I leave that coal fired heater.... :angel:
Next directive from The Reichsfuhrer, I mean EU, all rail modellers to switch to T gauge
to reduce consumption of power and materials. Locos limited to hauling 1 wagon.
BTW, the 19th century atmospheric railways would be banned also as I'm sure
their vacuums would need a bit more than 1600 watts.
Further BTW, if you model these you don't need a loco . Money saving tip. :D
... and what about the hydrogen fuel cell that Honda and others have been working on?
James May drove the Honda in the USA some time ago but I think the TG link has been taken down now.
Dave G
Will hydrogen fuel cells be nmra compliant ...I hope they will work with my powercab :hmmm:
I had a bad dream last night...the Grim Reaper came for me, but I beat him off with the vacuum cleaner hose. Wow, talk about Dysun with death!!
Small point: China has a its own big set of problems but it is implementing a lot of green energy policies (not always one environmentalists approve of for other reasons like a certain large hydro scheme) - including of course rail ones, and has set itself some very stiff targets. They are also trying very hard to at least move from coal to gas as part of a stop gap, and they continue to make the worlds cheapest solar panels. They just have a huge set of problems of scale and where they are coming from.
They are also about the open people successfully investing in de-desertification by planting entire new forests and making it work.
At times they are way ahead of us too: they banned thin-wall plastic bags long before we did.
Quote from: EtchedPixels on August 25, 2014, 02:01:13 PM
At times they are way ahead of us too: they banned thin-wall plastic bags long before we did.
Of course, that argument isn't as clear cut as people think either:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291023/scho0711buan-e-e.pdf (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291023/scho0711buan-e-e.pdf)
Basically, when you consider that a 'bag for life' type bag takes between 10 and 100x as much energy to manufacture (depending on if it's plastic or fabric and how sturdily it is made) you have to re-use them a lot before you break even on disposable bags. And that's before you consider re-using the disposable ones (probably get 2-3 uses before they tear).
Most of the countries that banned them did so because of the other environmental impacts (litter etc) as well. Denmark took action in 1994, Bangladesh banned them entirely in 2002. China in 2008, and the EU requires member states cut the use by 80% for 2019.