[GeronL]

meanwhile the windmills and solar panels are pointless and they’ll be buying their electricity from France like Ireland.

[Patrick1]

Good. That money they saved on heat can pay for their antibiotic pacs for their bronchitis.

[Billthedrill]

Yes, but the new boilers are politically superior. Their owners only think they're cold. When they reach truly advanced political thought they'll realize they were warm all along. War is peace, freedom is slavery, cold is warm. Praise the Party!

[Swordmaker]

Whow! They have been bitten by one of the most immutable laws... the law of unintended consequences! It most frequently hits do-gooders and liberals.

[okie01]

Government has a solution for everything.

Unfortunately, none of them work.

[kittymyrib]

Governments everywhere are failures at designing consumer products. No one should buy anything that the government hacks are pushing as “green.” Mark Steyn, filling in for Rush today, did a hilarious bit about how to safely clean up a “curly fry bulb” (the mercury-laden compact florescent bulb), as recommended by the Maine energy conservation geniuses.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Al Gore strikes again, across the Pond.

Hey Brits! I’ve got some land in Lexington and Concord that I want to show you.

[Graybeard58]

Yet another example of a government “fixing” a problem that didn’t exist, thereby creating a real one.

[JRandomFreeper]

Do not attempt to disobey the laws of God and nature. Kipling wrote a great poem that his fellow country men need to read. "The Sons of Martha". "They do not preach that their gods will wake them before the nuts work loose".

That and "Gods of the CopyBook Headings". They did it once, they can do it again. If they summon the will.

/johnny

[Bean Counter]

And here in the United States, GM is about to introduce the first coal-powered vehicle since the decline of the steam locomotive...

[crazyhorse691]

It is a wonderful idea to redirect that weak acid back into the boiler instead of just letting it go up the stack...especially if you make a living repairing or manufacturing boilers. Overall, not so good for the pocketbook or the environment. The stack is the only winner in this(prolonged life because less acid condense).

[RightGeek]

As always the average citizen gets screwed

[mamelukesabre]

There’s nothing wrong with the condensing boiler concept. This is just one particular model with a poorly designed condensation drain. About every 2 to 3 years they need a thorough cleaning, however. That’s more often than the non condensing boilers need. Other than that, there’s nothing to gripe about. On a small house, you may not save enough to make up for the more frequent servicing plus the extra installation costs. But over 2000 square feet house in american upper midwest and new england winters the savings is plenty to justify it.

[Palladin]

Another hoax perpetrated by the Greenies!

Traditional heating systems work well enough—so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

[AnotherUnixGeek]

This is the natural result of politically driven mandates. When the government requires that we buy a certain type of heating system, the heating system’s primary purpose is to satisfy political requirements, not heating requirements. The application of this object lesson to healthcare should be obvious.

[Texas Fossil]

Old Chineese proverb:

“Today’s Problems were often Yesterdays Solutions.”

[polymuser]

Ahh...the ever-present, harmful unintended consequences from government 'wisdom'.

Will we ever learn?

[kiryandil]

On a related heating note from the United States, when the EPA (End Progress Altogether) forced a change in the formulation of kerosene to low sulfur kerosene several years ago, they disabled upwards of 75% of the portable kerosene space heaters that were in use at the time, and going forward.

The price of kerosene went from $1.75 to $4.00 a gallon, and the new low sulfur formulation attracts more water - which clogs the wicks much more quickly.

I went from using one wick a season to 3-4 wicks a season, and having to burn off the wicks much more frequently (wasting fuel, because you have to burn off outside the space you're heating).

Even though I'm very experienced at using a portable space heater, I still have lots of trouble these days - whereas before the change the operation ran smooth as silk.

Anyone who has one of these portable heaters and doesn't maintain the heck out it is GUARANTEED to find it nearly useless when the emergency comes. And since it's a pain to maintain them, that's easily 3 out of every 4 portable kerosene heaters (most likely more!).

Another successful .gov micromanagement EPIC FAIL. Of course, the peasants are the only ones who pay the price...

[Straight Vermonter]

In cold weather, the pipe that takes waste water from the back of the condensing boiler-which isn’t there in a normal boiler-freezes solid, shutting down the system and in many cases causing permanent damage.

Do people have these boilers outside? Could they possibly be freezing indoors?

[Chode]

Ungland...