Narrowboats Too Cold For Winter Living

[Richard10002]

On my 45ft boat if I am on board 24/7 keeping the stove going all the time, I use 20kg of Excel every 3 days so, pro rata, £80 a month in the depths of winter.

 

I have to be careful that the boat and stove don't get too hot. Sometimes the temp in the lounge gets up to 30c or a bit more, when I turn things down. The bedroom is a bit cooler than the lounge, and I'm sure that the other end of a 60ft boat would be cooler.

 

But this is all nothing to do with the fact that they are narrow boats or the way they are built, but how they are heated, and whether the occupants can afford it and manage it. Exactly the same problems occur in houses if the occupants are infirm and/or with little money.

[mross]

I can't find any info on a Dr Alison Fells on google , Bing or Linkedin. Odd.

[MtB]

I too doubt Dr Alison exists, for a completely different reason.

 

She has committed a cardinal sin (in the world of science, upon which doctorising is built). She has taken a tiny self-selecting sample of two, and extrapolated it to the whole set.

 

Two elderly and unwell people who happen to live in a cold narrowboat have presented themselves, and firstly she has assumed the narrowboat is at fault, and secondly she has assumed all narrowboats are the same. A really basic error for a technician or scientist to make.

 

I'd also posit that these two chaps were likely to have become ill had they lived in a house. They are managing their environment in a way the doctor disapproves of, and I suspect they would do the same in a house.

[frangar]

Could it be that NBW have made a story up???....or got "confused" with reporting certain facts?? I wonder??

 

Cheers

Gareth

[mross]

Could it be that NBW have made a story up???....or got "confused" with reporting certain facts?? I wonder??

 

Cheers

Gareth

I have emailed its editor to find out.

[bargemast]

I have emailed its editor to find out.

 

I hope you don't expect them to tell you that they'd made up the whole story.

 

Or they may say that they changed her name to protect her, and they promissed her to not give her real name to the world.

 

But.... it would be good to know who she is (if she exists) and to invite her on a few warm narrowboats, only to show her how very wrong she was generalising that narrowboats are too cold.

 

Peter.

[Peter X]

This is speculation, but it's quite plausible that the reason Dr Fells appears not to exist is that the Dark Side have misspelt her name. Going on from what MtB and others have written, anyone who's studied science to a decent level, which certainly includes doctors, should know better than to make sweeping conclusions based upon the one boat. A little investigation of the subject would soon have led her to relevant articles on this forum. If Dr Fells joins the forum, I hope she'll get a warm welcome.

[Mike Todd]

I too doubt Dr Alison exists, for a completely different reason.

 

She has committed a cardinal sin (in the world of science, upon which doctorising is built). She has taken a tiny self-selecting sample of two, and extrapolated it to the whole set.

 

Two elderly and unwell people who happen to live in a cold narrowboat have presented themselves, and firstly she has assumed the narrowboat is at fault, and secondly she has assumed all narrowboats are the same. A really basic error for a technician or scientist to make.

 

I'd also posit that these two chaps were likely to have become ill had they lived in a house. They are managing their environment in a way the doctor disapproves of, and I suspect they would do the same in a house.

Coroners appear to be quite good at extrapolating from samples of one.

[nebulae]

My old dad used to put his false teeth in a glass of water(with some sort of cleaner in it). One morning he woke up and his teeth were frozen into the glass. Had to thaw them out in the kitchen.We used to dream about living in a cardboard box.

[Captain Pegg]

I too doubt Dr Alison exists, for a completely different reason.

 

She has committed a cardinal sin (in the world of science, upon which doctorising is built). She has taken a tiny self-selecting sample of two, and extrapolated it to the whole set.

 

Two elderly and unwell people who happen to live in a cold narrowboat have presented themselves, and firstly she has assumed the narrowboat is at fault, and secondly she has assumed all narrowboats are the same. A really basic error for a technician or scientist to make.

 

I'd also posit that these two chaps were likely to have become ill had they lived in a house. They are managing their environment in a way the doctor disapproves of, and I suspect they would do the same in a house.

She hasn't done the extrapolation; it's the author of the article that has done that in a way that suggests that Dr Fells has said it. Directly the quotes attributed to Dr Fells talk only about the specific cases. Also consider that you are a GP and have these concerns; would NBW be the source you would take your concerns to?

 

I looked carefully at the article to see what the currency of the cases involved may be but it does suggest they are recent while not being definitive. I wondered if the reason that Dr Fells couldn't be found is that they were old cases dug up to make a story. A lot depends on how literally the terms 'recent' and 'approached' are taken.

 

JP

[Guest]

I too doubt Dr Alison exists, for a completely different reason.

 

She has committed a cardinal sin (in the world of science, upon which doctorising is built). She has taken a tiny self-selecting sample of two, and extrapolated it to the whole set.

 

Two elderly and unwell people who happen to live in a cold narrowboat have presented themselves, and firstly she has assumed the narrowboat is at fault, and secondly she has assumed all narrowboats are the same. A really basic error for a technician or scientist to make.

 

I'd also posit that these two chaps were likely to have become ill had they lived in a house. They are managing their environment in a way the doctor disapproves of, and I suspect they would do the same in a house.

An old guy around the corner from us died a couple of weeks ago largely owing to poor management of his house. Sad to see him decline, when he had a choice.

[MHS]

Coroners appear to be quite good at extrapolating from samples of one.

So do you wear your life jacket when using the Harecastle tunnel?

[Timx]

I didnt find the heat/cold difficult or affecting my health whilst I lived on the boat. What I did find affected my health and breathing was the dust and smoke from the woodburner.

It worries me as it is dustier than I thought and copd killing off so many that the consensus is that it is down to dust,however is it dustier or less than a house,dunno,

[blackrose]

The insulation on a boat is different to loft insulation, being solid. I wonder what the heat transfer coefficients are like in comparison.

Foam isn't really a solid it's a cellular material, the main insulator being the air/gas in the cells used to blow the bubbles. Lots of modern houses have polyurethane foam insulation too and at much greater thicknesses than boats. But anyway, even though polyurethane foam has lower heat transfer for a given thickness, an inch of sprayfoam (or Kingspan/Celotex) still doesn't come anywhere near the performance of 10" of rockwood loft insulation.

 

http://www.spray-insulation.co.uk/Insulation_material_comparison.htm

 

The fact is that most boats are poorly insulated compared to most houses and so are generally more expensive to heat per m3.

Edited November 13, 2016 by blackrose

[Grassman]

It's a well know fact that many elderly people suffer chronically from the cold in winter but I wonder what percentage of boaters compared to house dwellers actually die or become ill due to the cold?

 

Surely that is more relevant and I bet the percentage figure for boaters would be far less.

[Phil Ambrose]

It worries me as it is dustier than I thought and copd killing off so many that the consensus is that it is down to dust,however is it dustier or less than a house,dunno,

My wife has COPD and we have a fantastic room HEPA filter, the amount of dust it collects is amazing, also means far less housework for Chris as surfaces remain dust free for a long time.

Phil

[WotEver]

My wife has COPD and we have a fantastic room HEPA filter, the amount of dust it collects is amazing, also means far less housework for Chris as surfaces remain dust free for a long time.

Phil

Phil, which filter would you recommend!

[mross]

The editor of Narrowboat World has confirmed that Dr Alison Fells is an alias. Probably justified considering the comments here!

Edited November 13, 2016 by mross

[mross]

also read this in NW today

 

"Too cold?

I'm told that there are a few responses to the claim by a doctor that narrowboats in winter are not suitable places for living, with people not agreeing, that we shall no doubt see tomorrow.

I had been invited into a narrowboat a couple of weeks ago and have to admit it was very warm indeed from the stove in it's saloon at its bow.

Yet as I left, making my way to the stern and the outside, the boat became progressively colder, and passing the bed by the stern doors it was very cold indeed, it being just about the coldest day of the winter so far.

And though something we rarely do, the name of the doctor was changed under the circumstances, but is indeed a general practitioner, and the person is known to us, having the share in a boat.

Victor Swift"

[bargemast]

A police officer told me :

 

Last night in the dark, there was a car driving without any lights.

 

Because of that I can say : "Cars are not safe to be driven at night, because they have no lights".

 

 

Peter.

[tizzy]

Just to say... 3 weeks ago I had to call the paramedics to our boat about my OH ,who was diagnosed with pneumonia in hospital, and the first thing he said to me was " It's nice and warm in here "

[MtB]

A police officer told me :

 

Last night in the dark, there was a car driving without any lights.

 

Because of that I can say : "Cars are not safe to be driven at night, because they have no lights".

 

 

Peter.

 

 

I'd say cars are dangerously cold too, given they do not have the regulation 10.5" of roof insulation.

[bargemast]

 

 

I'd say cars are dangerously cold too, given they do not have the regulation 10.5" of roof insulation.

 

Between the 2 of us, we could make a long list to prove that cars are too dangerous to be legally allowed on the roads, and because of their lack of insulation not allowed to live in either, even if they are providing living accomodation (shelter) for some poor buggers.

 

Peter.

[blackrose]

A police officer told me :

 

Last night in the dark, there was a car driving without any lights.

 

Because of that I can say : "Cars are not safe to be driven at night, because they have no lights".

 

 

Peter.

A friend of mine who said he could drive but had never passed his test actually believed that drivers without licences were safer because they had fewer accidents!

 

I couldn't believe what he was saying so asked him if by that rationale, he would be happy to fly back to Spain where he lived on a plane with an unlicensed pilot.

 

Some people have a weird logic.

Edited November 13, 2016 by blackrose

[Phil Ambrose]

Phil, which filter would you recommend!

Crikey, er I just searched on eBay, there were quite a few to go at. My choice was one which gave the most square metres in terms of coverage. The filter inside is about 8" square and the fan has 3 speeds plus the option to ionise the air, though we don't use that option because we read that ionised air is not good for COPD sufferers'

Phil