[Greenbuilding] Jevon and plumbers

[Clarke Olsen]

Jevon's observation was of the increased use of coal when early steam engines became more efficient. 
As individuals, we may not all get on that train, but collectively, we're gonna use more.
Plumbers, of course, do know 3 things: shit don't flow uphill, get money in advance, and don't put your fingers in your mouth.
Clarke Olsen
clarkeolsendesign.com
373 route 203
Spencertown, NY 12165 
USA
518-392-4640
colsen at taconic.net




On Jul 30, 2012, at 10:52 AM, RT wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:23:56 -0400, Clarke Olsen <colsen at fairpoint.net> wrote:
> 
>> Time again to remember Jevon's Paradox: the more efficiently something is used, the more we will use.
> 
> 
> Pwah!  I say the same thing to Jevon as I would to the plumber who told my nieghbour
> 
> " ... if  your well is drilled the chances of it going dry are slim to nil
>   but dug  wells go dry"
> 
> To both, I would say   "Horse-puck hockey !"
> 
> As a "for instance"...
> 
> The sole auxiliary heat source for my home (other than occupancy gains) has always been a woodstove.
> 
> In the days before EPA-approved designs existed, I had a down-draft unit which implemented secondary combustion. While it was a darned impressively efficient unit, the smalled EPA woodstove that I replaced it with after over 20 years of service has turned out to be even more efficient.
> 
> The net result is that I use less firewood per heating season as compared to the older less efficient woodstove and there would be no point in using the stove any more than it is used now because the house would overheat.
> 
> Okay. Another example just came to me.
> 
> My newest car is much more fuel-efficient than my previous vehicle but I put fewer miles on the newer car simply because I use my bicycles more than I used to.
> 
> I could probably think of more examples but I learned long ago to not believe anything a plumber tells me and I think that I'll add this "Jevon" character to my $#!+ list of "Don't believe 'em-ers"
> 
> 
> -- 
> === * ===
> Rob Tom					AOD257
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
> 
> < A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  >
> (manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply")
> 
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