[TML] [Merchant Shipping] Some ideas I came up with to make merchant shipping more interesing

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 4/18/08 10:20 PM, "shadow at shadowgard.com" <shadow at shadowgard.com> wrote:

> Heck, central heating and central air are also expensive if they
> fail. Yet folks own them outright.

I suspect a fusion plant will remain significantly more expensive than
central A/C.  And if fusion is as reliable as A/C, why are ships' engineers
working so hard?  :)

> And since a fairly hefty battery bank is a good idea with a home
> power plant (at Trav TLs anyway) failure is a nuisance not a
> disaster.
> 
> The home "fuel cells" that run on natural gas and also act as a
> preheat for the water heater look to be competetive now.

Hmm.  There's been a device around for some years that heats your water at
the tap, instead of constantly heating water you don't need.  I understand
the expense isn't the problem, per se.  *Retrofitting* a house that has a
central water heater would be expensive, but not building the house that
way.  The main issue is that it freaks most people out if you tell them
there's electricity running to their taps.  Many things remain as they are
for reasons other than economy.