Animal or vegetable?
sir – I recently received an invitation to join a bell-ringing course, which includes lunch. The application form kindly asks whether I am “vegetarian, vegan or celeriac”.
Lesley Walford
Upavon, Wiltshire
SIR – Building regulations to make windows smaller (report, January 19) are a ridiculous idea.
I have been sitting in my southfacing lounge basking in the free heat of the sun. My windows are 1970s size, and with the sun low at this time of year it floods in. All the heating can go off by 11am and stay off until 3pm, which is good for the environment and my bills. It stays cool in summer as the sun is high.
Surely the rooms in these new houses will be very dark, meaning they will have to switch their lights on very early, using more electricity. Janet Cross
Warrington, Cheshire
SIR – Low-emission glass has been available for 20 years or more. Shades can be pulled down on hot or cold days to limit heat transmission even more. Heat loss or gain between the main house and the conservatory can be similarly controlled. This is a non issue. Alison Rhodes
Waxhaw, North Carolina, USA
SIR – The proposal to ban big windows or conservatories due to the possibility of warmer summers smacks of Covid-style “modelling”. I lived for two years in Virginia Beach in America, where temperatures were in the 40s. The first summer we used the air conditioning; by the second we were acclimatised.
The hottest house I lived in was in Belgium, with long cold winters but warm brief summers; the house had tiny windows but was built of red brick with terracotta roof tiles. The modellers should think again.
Gary Spalton
Higher Tremarcoombe, Cornwall
SIR – Appending a greenhouse on to a building was never a good idea. Too hot in summer, too cold in winter, the conservatory should be consigned to history. Where is the sense in using energy to keep such buildings cool?
Thatched roofs are a proven and entirely natural insulator. Instead of covering our beautiful land with boring boxes, a few thatched houses could add beauty to the built environment as well as protecting occupants from climate changes. Catherine Lewis
Levens Green, Hertfordshire