• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

This government recommendation might blow your mind

Ivan Foley by Ivan Foley
August 21, 2019
in Between the Lines
4
SHARES
105
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Check this out. The federal government never ceases to amaze us, really.Energy Star, the federal program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy has some tips for beating the heat. Allegedly.

Energy Star recommends that in order to reduce costs and energy usage, all of us should be setting our thermostats as high as comfortably possible through the summer.

RelatedNews

The uglier the better, and are you scared?

A change for July 4; the most reasonable commissioner

Wish list at Platte County is growing

Well that part sounds reasonable. The phrase “as comfortably possible” makes perfect sense. But then the train starts to derail. Like, completely off the tracks. Hang on for this:

  • Energy Star recommends when you’re home hanging around the house you should set your thermostat at 78 degrees.
  • Energy Star says if you’re spending the day away from home, turn your thermostat up to 85 degrees.
  • Finally, Energy Star recommends setting your thermostat at 82 degrees.My reaction? Ain’t happenin’.

Here’s a question: How drunk was the guy who wrote these recommendations? I hope his friends see that he gets the help he needs. Or beat his ass till Creed gets popular again.

There’s no way those guidelines are going to allow us to comfortably survive a Missouri summer of heat and humidity. They’re just not. Nan Johnston’s got a better chance of winning Miss Congeniality.

Set the thermostat at 85 degrees while you’re at work? In the middle of a typical summer around these parts? That’s nuts. Your home will never get cooled down in time for you to sleep comfortably, especially if your bedroom is on the upper floor of the home.

Set the thermostat at 78 when you’re hanging around the house? Um, sure, if you don’t mind your shirt sticking to you. Is this a test to see how well your deodorant is working?

But the biggest violation of common sense is the last one: Set your thermostat at 82 degrees when you go to bed? Right. Maybe if you’re gonna sleep naked on a bed of ice.

Who the heck can sleep at 82 degrees? Especially after you’ve had the room temperature at 78 for the day. If you like the room to be warmer when you’re trying to sleep than when you’re just hanging around the house, you’re different than 98 percent of other humans. Just saying.

Come on. These suggestions are too nutty to even experiment with, I’m sorry. The thermostat in my home has not been above 72 degrees all summer. And rarely that high. In fact, let me give you the Foley Comfort Index: thermostat at 69 during the day. Bedtime? I go full blown gangster. Drop that thing down to 66. Get the sleeping area nice and cool. And dark, of course. It works.

Throw that government study in the trash. Or to be environmentally friendly, toss it in the recycling bin.

Either way, if you want to be “as comfortable as possible,” you’ll need to disregard that silliness.


Don’t forget the annual Parkville Days festival is this weekend.


Won’t it be ironic if there is sunshine for Parkville Days?


Don’t pretend you didn’t get it. You got it.


Here’s one of the biggest takeaways from the in-depth story about the local housing market by our Valerie Verkamp on this week’s front page. Renters, if you think you can’t afford to buy, you might be thinking wrong. Meet with a lender or two, maybe a realtor or two, and find out more about the loan possibilities that are out there. It may be much more financially feasible for you than you think. There are loans available that don’t require much of a down payment. In fact, they’re telling us there are some loans nowadays that will finance 100% of the purchase price. It’s a far cry from the days when lenders wanted 20 percent down.


Another thing that hits home from the article is that the lower-priced houses in Platte County don’t stay on the market long. Home prices are up–and continuing to rise–and inventory remains low. This creates a feeding frenzy when lower-priced homes go on the market. If you’re looking to buy and see one you want, you need to jump on it quickly.


Sure, Strouds at Oak Ridge Manor has good fried chicken. But if you haven’t tried their gizzards, you’re missing out. Best thing on the menu.


So KCP&L is slowly taking on its new brand name. In case you haven’t heard, the company is becoming known as Evergy.

Evergy. Congrats to whatever third grade focus group came up with that.Not a big fan of the name. But hey, if calling it Evergy will get us fewer power outages and no rate increases, I’m all in.


More on this at a later time, but here’s your heads up that the greatest comic on the internet is coming back to Platte County. Our man Donnie Baker, who you met through this column space last October, will be performing at the Improv in Zona Rosa later this fall.

In the meantime, follow his Facebook page for those moments you need some laughter in your life.

(Follow Foley on Facebook, on Twitter @ivanfoley, on Instagram, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for videos. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Tags: parkvilleplatte countyzona rosa
Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley, longtime owner/publisher of the Platte County Landmark, is a past winner of the national Gish Award for courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism, presented by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. He lives in Platte County not far from KCI Airport.

Related Posts

45 Years Ago–May 26, 1978

by Ivan Foley
May 29, 2023
0

Construction has begun on a new office building located across the street from the Platte County Courthouse at Fourth and Main Streets next to the Ben Franklin Store. The building is being built for Owens Realty by Callegari Construction Company....

30 Years Ago–May 21, 1993

by Ivan Foley
May 29, 2023
0

David Wallingford of Platte City shows a big morel mushroom that he and his daughter, Tamara Workman, found underneath a dead elm. Wallingford, who has a heart condition, can’t walk too far from the road but he didn’t have far...

15 Years Ago–May 21, 2008

by Ivan Foley
May 29, 2023
0

A proposed unified development ordinance and zoning map is becoming an important topic at the City of Tracy, with potential growth on the way to the small town. There is talk of new homes and a truck stop potentially on...

Judge increases bond for school threat suspect

Judge increases bond for school threat suspect

by Ivan Foley
May 29, 2023
0

ECKOLD RAISES BOND AMOUNT FROM $10,000 TO $100,000 A request for a bond reduction did not go as the defendant hoped in the matter of a school threat in Platte County. Originally being held on a $10,000 cash-only bond, the...

Next Post

All county employees can now carry firearms at work

Popular News

  • Parkville Days

    Downtown Parkville to host carnival

    52 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
  • Development coming near Ambassador Building

    21 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5
  • Feds send messages to judges about incarcerations

    8 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • Memorial Day service set Monday at cemetery

    7 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • Bond for school threat suspect increased to $100,000

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Online
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem
    • Login / Sign-up
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved