[NevadaGhosts]

I ran across an article today talking about how American homes are getting larger and larger on average, and how these homes are filled with more and more high energy use appliances and other gizmos to make life 'easier'. I wonder how these people will be able to survive once we start having more and more power blackouts as our energy crisis worsens.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')What's more, Americans are adding refrigerators so they don't have to travel far for a cold drink. "We're seeing that second, third, or fourth refrigerator in a home," says Elliott. "People want a small one upstairs, one in the basement, maybe one in the garage."

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

Good God, three and four fridges? Fire place dampers wedged open? I'd like to know how Americans can pay for all of this???

[NevadaGhosts]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('uNkNowN ElEmEnt', 'G')ood God, three and four fridges? Fire place dampers wedged open? I'd like to know how Americans can pay for all of this???

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

All the time I keep hearing that North Americans live in palaces like the kings of old. I kept thinking "what the hell are you talking about??" Now I know who they were referring to.

The SUVing of modern homes is going to PO us even faster. I might actually cheer to see that kind of waste curbed.

[Guest]

They can't! Your average family isn't buying 6 fridges and sticking one in each room. Only the top 5% can buy this shit. They are the ones who really don't give a damn how much it costs. They have the cash are a willing to buy through the nose for "luxury".

The poor and middle class are the first ones to notice that energy bills are going up. They try to decrease their conusmption as much as possible. By the time the pain would have reached the rich, consumption and thus prices have dropped. If gas was $200 a gallon, only Bill Gates would be able to drive. But that never happens. All of the people who can't afford 4 bucks a gallon are kicked off the road.

The Market finds a sweet spot for prices and stays there. When PO hits, the poor countries will be kicked off the energy wagon. Then the poor people in the rich countries. Finally the Middle Class are bumped off.

We end up with a situation where the elite have everything they want and everyone else learns to deal with it. There is enough oil to last centuries if only a select few use it.

A barrel never has to reach 2 million dollars (today's dollars, not the trash they'll print in the future). Lots of oil is being sucked up by the various lower classes. If they were priced out of the market...

[NevadaGhosts]

[quote="Anonymous"]They can't! Your average family isn't buying 6 fridges and sticking one in each room. Only the top 5% can buy this shit. quote]

I have to disagree with that statement. I have seen many, many poor families purchasing (with credit cards) the most worthless crap I have ever seen. Most poor and middle class families do live way beyond their means, due to credit cards. And remember that Americans don't own most of the stuff in their homes and driveways (much less owning their own homes). The credit card companies and banks own most of that stuff. So theoretically, Americans are not as rich as they appear.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

I don't think it will play out that way. As has been noted elsewhere, the US has had its citizenry revolt in the past. I don't think it will get to only the top 5-15% using energy before the masses will revolt.

Especially when you consider how well armed the average US citizen is and the low inhibition level of its populace to using weapons to kill, I think there may well be an equalling of the populace.

When the Czar and his family fell in teh revolution it was not "them against the rest". there were loyal military personnel who tried to protect them. People used to talk about the possibility of China invading. Whie they pointed out that the US has a lot of arms, others pointed out that a machine gun or 80 can only do so much against 2 million screaming Chinamen (or however big their army is now).

it will be the same for those who have large mansions, lots of guns and razor wire. the white farmers in africa could only hold out for so long regardless of how many munitions they had. the best guarded compound will only stand for so long as well. its amazing what a portable rocket launcher can do.

[Ludi]

I don't think most Americans are lazy enough. They work too hard accumulating things they don't need.

[MikeB]

Whaaaaaat the.... 4 refrigerators?

Would you believe we actually don't have a refrigerator right now? It's always seemed the height of stupidity to PAY to cool food in the Northeast between October and May. Right now, all our milk and stuff is in a floor-level cabinet, and the rest of the food is in the pantry with the door closed, where it barely stays above 32 degrees F.

We have been known to use an ice box in the summer: If you've got a freezer running in the cellar 24/7, why not make blocks of ice and use them in a traditional ice box? We also have a 1940 kerosene-fired refrigerator in the woodshed, which is handy in the hot months (both of them).

4 fridges?

[NevadaGhosts]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I') don't think most Americans are lazy enough. They work too hard accumulating things they don't need.

[NevadaGhosts]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MikeB', 'W')haaaaaat the.... 4 refrigerators?

[BabyPeanut]

http://www.tulane.edu/~internut/Countri ... inaxx.html
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he provinces of Guangxi and Hainan were found to be affected by adult chronic energy deficiency with more than one fourth of them with a BMI under 18.5 kg/m2. In adults, average BMI values were similar for both males and females (22.0 kg/m2). About 10% of the adult population had a BMI below 18.5 kg/m2 while a significant proportion were overweight or obese (15%). In the last decade, a clear shift to the right is seen in the distribution of BMI values, suggesting an improvement in adults' nutritional status over this period. In the past decade, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Chinese population.

[OldSprocket]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Anonymous', 'T')hey can't! Your average family isn't buying 6 fridges and sticking one in each room. Only the top 5% can buy this shit.

[MonteQuest]

Jakob is an old troll. His posts have been deleted and the thread restored.

MQ

[k_semler]

THREE REFRIGERATORS?? Why are these people so f-ing lazy that they can't make the physical effort to walk the 10m to get a beer? That is rather pathetic. Unless freezers, (I have 2 full of meat), are included in this, what use would having more than one refrigerator have?

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')HREE REFRIGERATORS?? Why are these people so f-ing lazy that they can't make the physical effort to walk the 10m to get a beer?

[k_semler]

I have drove 45 miles, (one way), to buy a 6 pack, so walking a mile for a budwiser would be no problem.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

Good choice in beer dude!

[JoeW]

a refrigerator costs something like $30/yr to run. i only have one, but i know plenty of people that keep an extra refrigerator in their garage or basement just to put alcoholic beverages in.
the energy use of the refrigerator pays for itself if you buy beer in bulk every year, saving more than $30 when you do it.
i know one guy that got the second fridge for free, keeps it in his garage, and goes once or twice a year and picks up a lot of beer at discount prices. then when he has a party, it's right there.
i really don't think it's a big deal. the bigger deal to me is people spending $30,000 to drive a 15 or 20mpg vehicle 50 miles each way to work.

i'm sure that there are people out there lazy enough to have a refrigerator in their bedroom or whatever, but that is a very small minority of americans, i'm sure...

[stu]

Why bother with fridges for cool beer when you can have one of these?

http://www.drinkstuff.com/products/product.asp?ID=657

Not so sure about the price though.

£1200