............ is there anyone interested in doing hands on projects --- solar thermal, wind, hydro, etc I have many ideas and am in the process of building out a small hydro presently. Could use some help - would like to do a concentrator dish --- mostly out of scrap --- you always need some money but I do most of my stuff on the cheap..... email me or call and leave a message if interested -- nothing like almost free heat---chris --802 463 1408
I would like to help/learn. I will be in Grafton, NH in a few weeks. Where are you at?
I see by the phone you are in Bellows Falls, VT. Too far for me from Concord, NH, but I have a small turbine wheel I could loan to the cause if you'd like to do a micro-hydro setup.
Pam thank you for the offer --- I'd like to know more about your turbine ---- don't think it would fit my immediate needs but maybe in the future........ I'm looking for a turbine to pass approximately 250 to 350 cfs at 15 ft of head----My project is in the southwestern part of the state--- not too far from Keene or Brattleboro.....
chris
I have just the wheel and shaft assembly - impulse type blades. Angled 2 or 4 nozzle setup with about 50psi would be good for this.
Nothing like using all that moving water in NH. :)
Yah! For one week last october, NH could have powered the entire country.
Pam -- without looking at it=== sounds like you have the rotating assembly of a pelton wheel turbine -- this style is used for higher heads usually 100 ft plus..... Hope I meet you someday soon. If you drop me an email with your phone # -- I'll like to chat for a few minutes ---- where did you find the turbine assembly you have???
First, let's correct my name - Pat and male ;D
This is not a Pelton wheel - don't know the technical name for this one. Diameter is about 6-8 inches (don't have it in front of me.) I work at a power plant and this was from a trashed turbine driven pump where pump was trashed. Turbine casing long gone.
GOING OFF-GRID
by S.R. Nunnally
It's 8:10 p.m. Samso Time, Thursday, February 23, when the ferry pulls
into dock at Kolby Kas after a two-hour float from Kaludborg. It's dark...
and dusty. And cold.
There are no streetlights between cities, I notice, as I blindly follow
the car ahead of me to the center of the 20-mile by 6-mile island, to
Tranebjerg and Flinch's Hotel - my home base for the next two days. The
island feels deserted, and it is in a way... February is Denmark's coldest
month, and many of Samso's 4,300 residents are burrowed snuggly in their
warm homes - a stark contrast to when an influx of several tens of
thousands visit the island during the tourist season.
Many come in July for the popular music festival, the beautiful beaches,
and sailing. But of late, Samso has been invaded by a different kind of
tourist... an eco-tourist.
That was my mission... why I traveled over 4,000 miles: to discover
Samso's Eco-Revolution.
In 1997, Denmark held a national competition. The selected winner would be
home to a one-of-a-kind experiment: The winner would be expected to
convert all its energy supply to 100% renewable energy within 10 years.
The small island of Samso was given the nod. Because it is an island that
has no conventional energy resources of its own, Samso was an ideal choice
for such a controlled experiment.
Since 1998, Samso began converting its energy into renewable energy, and
has been so successful that 100% of its electricity comes from wind power
and 75% of its heat comes from solar power and biomass energy.
That's a near total Eco-Revolution...but it gets better.
Here's how they do it...
Think of the amount of time that wind turbines have been around... and
multiply that by 40.
According to the Danish Wind Industry Association, wind turbines and wind
mills have been "a part of the northern European landscape for more than
800 years." Now, wind power makes up approximately 20% of Denmark's power
consumption... and that's with Danish wind manufacturers selling 90% of
their production outside of the country.
Germany is the largest buyer of Danish wind turbines snatching up 24% of
exports, and Spain comes in second with 10.5%. Big numbers for big
markets. In total, Danish manufacturers held 40% of the world market for
wind turbines.
That equates to over DKK21 billion, or nearly $3.4 billion here in the
U.S. - about 1.8% of Denmark's GDP.
With power like that, wind is like Denmark's new currency.
Samso has taken the torch and has really shown the world what wind power
can do.
With the completion of an offshore wind farm comprised of 10 beautiful
turbines, Samso has become carbon neutral. The energy produced by these
wind turbines compensates for the island's transportation emissions,
including the ferries, and all other non-renewable energy sources.
In fact, sometimes Samso's wind turbines produce so much energy that the
island sells it back to the mainland!
But wind power isn't the only thing that's super-charging Samso's
Eco-Revolution...
On Samso, it's much more effective to use solar power for heating. Because
of the expense of solar modules, the island has put them to use in a
"collective" environment. Instead of installing solar arrays on individual
homes for electricity, Samso uses solar power for heat at its district
heating plants.
District heating plants pump hot water to nearby homes for individual
heating purposes. The water is heated using a combination of solar panels
and renewable wood pellet or straw-furnaces.
Studies have shown that it's about 20% cheaper get heat from the local
district heating plants than it is to buy oil for heat.
There are about 250 homes that have installed solar cells for heating
their own water tanks in instances where they reside too far from the
district heating plant. In total, Samso is pushing past the 75% renewable
mark when it comes to heat energy needs.
By combining solar power with local, renewable, biofuel, Samso has
custom-tailored a renewable energy program that is simple and highly
effective. Solar panels are so efficient that on a cloudy winter day, it
can heat the water to 25 degrees above freezing on its own.
With only 25% of heat energy derived from fossil fuels, Samso's well on
its way to achieving 100% renewable status ahead of schedule.
There's only one sector left to tackle, and it might prove to be the most
difficult.
Samso's Eco-Revolution is in danger of stalling... so the many naysayers
say. Every critic of Samso's progress ritualistically cites transportation
as the missing cog in the otherwise praiseworthy renewable energy system.
Well, they'll be eating their foot once Samso's new projects have been put
into place.
The experts on Samso will by applying two radically different concepts to
tackle the transportation problem.
The first project is a biofuel: rapeseed oil.
Rapeseed oil can be used to fuel any vehicle once a simple adaptation is
made to the engine. It is cleaner than ethanol, and does not need to be
refined in a clunky, energy-consuming refinery. That wouldn't be practical
for this small island.
All that you need to make your own biofuel is rapeseed, and a rapeseed
press... and cows to eat the waste. Once pressed, the oil can be put
directly into your fuel tank.
The island can grow approximately 600 hectares of rapeseed a year. That's
not enough to run every car, but it's definitely enough to take car of the
largest diesel guzzlers: farm tractors and ferrys.
To eliminate the rest of transportation's oil consumption, Samso wants to
introduce a hydrogen plant, powered by all that excess wind power. That's
a few years down the road, but in the meantime, the Energy and Environment
Office wants to put a hydrogen-fueled truck on display at its new Energy
Academy upon its completion.
The hydrogen truck, designed by H2 Logic Alps, would be a demonstration
piece to start generating interest in this new, renewable fuel. Samso is
planning on banning traditional combustion engines from the island once
vehicles are converted to hydrogen.
Generating community interest has been a key way of developing projects
and increasing investors. Samso's Energy and Environment Office was so
successful because it offered more than just a great chance at a return on
investments...
In order for renewable energy project to survive, they needed strong
backing from the community. In that way, Samso's success goes way beyond
the "greening" of energy consumption. This Eco-Revolution was not only an
environmental change.
Samso's residents embraced a way to save their economy and improve their
way of life.
Through investing in co-ops that financed wind power and district heating
plants, islanders took personal control over their quality of life. By
introducing these renewable energy projects, Samso has created new,
better-paying jobs, increased tourism, and added to its economy.
"The community is more inclined to support the project because they see it
as something that is done locally by local people. As such, people
participate not because they are forced to by the authorities but because
they want to," says Soren Hermansen, director of the Samso Energy and
Environment Office, in an interview with Chan Cheng Tuan of Sunday Mail.
Community commitment is necessary for the advancement of any project,
which is why Samso uses many local resources like straw and wood pellets
for the district heating plants. Soon rapeseed will be added to that
list.
Residents want to see Samso succeed, and understand that by participating
in the islands renewable energy projects the whole island benefits.
Cheers,
S.R. Nunnally
for The Daily Reckoning
P.S. I'm not the only one visiting Samso to take in all the renewable
energy advances. New eco-tourists have been visiting the island to take
back ideas for their own Eco-Revolutions. Industry experts from Thailand,
Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, to name a few, are all interested in Samso.
So from the last post ------- you all can see great things are possible ....... Chris
I am looking at buying solar panels right now.
With gas going up I think that hybrids are going to have people start thinking of them again.
I'd love to get involved with these types of projects once I get to NH. Currently working on developing plans for a diesel-electric hybrid. Diesel cars already get 40+ mpg and combined with a hybrid fuel train should really blow gas engiens out of the water. On top of that, I hope to make my own biodiesel to run on as often as the weather permits.
A Real 'Green' House: No Heating Bill for 25 Years (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060422/sc_space/arealgreenhousenoheatingbillfor25years)
Sara Goudarzi
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com
Sat Apr 22, 9:00 AM ET
When David Mears and his wife Dorothy put their house up for sale at the end of last year, it wasn't just the four-plus acres of beautiful woodlot land that made the property appealing. Nor were the five bedrooms or extra cabinet space in their roomy kitchen the most significant features.
The main attraction was the fact that the couple hadn't paid their heating bill for more than 25 years.
That's because they hadn't received one since 1980.
Using his knowledge of alternative energy sources for commercial greenhouses in response to the energy crisis of the 1970's, David Mears, a professor of Bioresource Engineering at Rutgers University, virtually eliminated the use of fuel oil for heating his home.
Multiply that ...
According to the Department of Energy, more than 85 percent of all the energy consumed in the United States comes from fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas.
Some 2,700 pounds of carbon per person each year, or 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, come from operating individual homes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates. Most of emissions from a residential home come from operating a typical heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
In 1974, Mears and his colleagues publicly presented a new energy efficient greenhouse concept. The design involved installing a special subfloor that can be filled with water heated by solar collectors or a backup fossil fuel system for use on cloudy days. This creates a massive heat storage system that allows the entire greenhouse floor to act as a primary heat source and heat exchanger.
The design was a success and was soon implemented at the university.
A few years later, while Mears was continuing his greenhouse research, several other institutions were working on a residential attached-greenhouse concept. Their work generated many unanswered questions he was eager to resolve.
"In addition to the desire to answer some of the open questions, we were facing a need for some more space in our home so were planning an addition," Mears said. "Also Dorothy was raising so many houseplants we were running out of space in front of windows for them and they were crowding us out as well, so we really could use the greenhouse."
Government support
Around the same time, the Department of Energy was offering a competitive grants program for solar projects for which Mears wrote a proposal that was supported.
Using the grant funds, he added a flooded subfloor to his 125-year-old New Jersey home and attached a greenhouse on the south side of the house with a similar floor design. Solar collectors heated the water from both floors.
For days with cloudy skies or in cases of possible malfunctions in the solar system, Mears installed a logical backup system given his large woodlot: a woodstove, capable of heating both the greenhouse and the residence. A water-heating coil in the woodstove made this system efficient in extracting heat, which meant minimizing the amount of wood consumed.
Finally, if for some reason both the solar collectors and the woodstove failed, the final back up system?an existing oil-fired setup?would kick in.
It never had to.
"We were essentially free of the cost of oil for space heating and much of the domestic hot water heating was provided by solar in the spring, summer and fall," Mears said. "This has been the case from 1980 until we moved and sold the house in February, 2006."
Cost effective
During the day, the sun warms the house and greenhouse. A fan is sometimes used to circulate the warm air from the greenhouse throughout the house. Most of the time just opening a window to the greenhouse and the sliding door from the family room is sufficient for air circulation.
That coupled with the large amount of heat stored in the floor of the house allowed the overall system to "coast" for a few days without using the woodstove, even on cloudy winter days.
Throughout the entire year, except for winter, the solar collectors were also used to heat the domestic hot water. A concept that Mears explains could have been implemented even in winter had they not needed to heat the greenhouse for maintaining plants.
Mears' energy sustainable residence has since been maintained above 68 degrees Fahrenheit with the heat from the woodstove and passive gain from the greenhouse, demonstrating that "green" living is not an outlandish and inaccessible concept.
It's also cost-effective, even without the help of the grant.
"The system paid for itself very quickly," Mears said. "Those additional costs for the solar and woodstove heating were probably covered by fuel savings in the first several years."
Hey Pat,
How hard would it be to add a windmill or two if you already have a solar system an inverter and batteries?
Quote from: Dreepa on April 25, 2006, 04:28 PM NHFT
Hey Pat,
How hard would it be to add a windmill or two if you already have a solar system an inverter and batteries?
Not difficult at all - technically. Politically you'd probably have an uphill climb.
I am not talking a huge one. Just big enough. (How big would it need to be?).
I am not worried about the political fallout.... it might be fun. >:D
Politically, size doesn't matter, height does. You'd have to have it high enough to catch the wind. That puts it in view of the folks on the hill that bought the view.
=======================================
Wind generators live on tall towers. And for good reason. Their "fuel" is way up there. As we'll see, the quality of your wind resource improves radically with height.
Physics
The power available to the rotor (that is, the spinning blades) of a wind generator is defined by the equation:
P = 1?2d x A x V^3
where P is the power at the rotor, d is the density of the
air, A is the swept area of the rotor, and V is the velocity
of the wind.
We can increase the power available to the rotor of a wind generator three ways — by increasing any variable in the power equation: d, A or V. Each variable in the power equation has its own effect on the power available to the rotor...
=======================================
http://www.homepower.com/magazine/downloads.cfm
http://www.homepower.com/magazine/downloads_wind_power.cfm
http://www.homepower.com/files/windsiteanalysis.pdf
http://www.homepower.com/files/towereconomicsseries.pdf
http://www.homepower.com/files/shuntregulationhp72.pdf
There is a guy here that added a windmill to his solar pannels. It just sits there most of the time not spinning at all. He would have been better off adding more solar pannels. In the winter the length of the day up here is very short though. I was going to ask him next time I saw him if he thought about raising it to catch more wind. The politics might have been why he couldn't though.
I've never heard of a "stress skin panel home", but earth sheltered homes use on average 10% of the energy of a regular stick built home, and the cost of manufacture isn't much more than a standard inefficient home. One of my relatives powered his island home with a solar panel and a windmill.
With an electric bill of a minimum of $100 a month, I've been mulling grid-tied solar, but the cost of inverters and panels seems prohibitive with maintenance and a very long payoff period. Maybe I'm not looking at the right kind of approach, though.
Quote from: mvpel on April 25, 2006, 09:54 PM NHFT
With an electric bill of a minimum of $100 a month, I've been mulling grid-tied solar, but the cost of inverters and panels seems prohibitive with maintenance and a very long payoff period. Maybe I'm not looking at the right kind of approach, though.
Depending on your bill... it might be about a 12 year payoff.
I am trying to get a VT company to send a rep out to my house to check on what it would cost.
If we could get them to visit 3-4 houses in one day they might be more inclined.
Quote from: freedominnh on April 26, 2006, 07:20 AM NHFT
Ted Benson has written a number of books involving SIP construction, eventhough his forte and passion is post and beam homes.
Lots of new post & beam homes use SIP skins. It's a great matchup, since the SIPs can easily span the distance between beams.
Kevin
For those interested in renewable energy, and considering different areas of NH, check out plymouthenergy.org (http://plymouthenergy.org). I live in Plymouth and have been to a number of their meetings. This is a great place to meet people working on all sorts of different energy and alternative building projects. I haven't been involved with their 'energy raisings' (installing solar hot water systems) yet, but I think this is a great concept. They have picked a system with excellent payback and they are getting organized for efficient installation.
Also, I would highly recommend visiting dacres.org (http://dacres.org) as well. They give tours of their farm, and you can also stay there for a reasonable fee.
Brazil?s Energy Initiatives, First Hand
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=5157
Germany and straight veg oil (http://www.rerorsut.de)
Click the British flag for English.
Click on list of filling stations and list of deliverers. These are in German.
This is how they deliver to your house. The truck says "Rapeseed oil."
(http://www.rerorust.de/bilder/0000.jpg)
Cow Power:
http://www.vnews.com/04232006/3034908.htm
Quote from: Dreepa on April 28, 2006, 09:52 AM NHFT
Cow Power:
http://www.vnews.com/04232006/3034908.htm
LTE in CM:
Old news, SALLY BECKER, Webster - Letter (http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=print)
Author(s): / Date: April 27, 2006
Page: B06 / Section: Opinion
Re "Plugging in to 'Cow Power,'"Monitor, April 25): Nice article, but you guys are wa-a-a-a-a-y-y-y behind the times!
About 20 years ago, Ken Hadley, Dodge Hill Road, Henniker (works for North Branch Builders, I believe), was milking cows and selling his gas produced from the manure from the cows to PSNH or whomever. Guess it didn't catch on or blow up, huh?
He would scrape it from the barn right into this big holding tank, where it did its thing. Too bad it didn't catch on back then, as maybe we wouldn't be where we are now. Perhaps we should look into recycling down at the sewage treatment plant.
SALLY BECKER
Webster
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195543,00.html
A New Twist for the Moonshiner: Ethanol
Monday, May 15, 2006
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. ? The still ? standard equipment of any moonshiner ? has a shot at becoming the must-have accessory of penny-pinching motorists.
An upstart Tennessee business is marketing stills that can be set up as private distilleries making ethanol ? 190 proof grain alcohol ? out of fermented starchy crops such as corn, apples or sugar cane. The company claims the still's output can reduce fuel costs by nearly a third from the pump price of gasoline.
Buyers of stills need a federal permit to make ethanol on private property. In what amounts to an honor system, they are to add a poison to their homemade alcohol so it isn't white lightning.
"We make it very clear that it is against the law to drink what comes out of it," said Shelley McClanahan, a spokeswoman for her family's business, Dogwood Energy.
Phones are ringing with orders at the business that mostly sold pellets for wood stoves before pump prices bounced high by Hurricane Katrina focused new attention on a modified still designed by McClanahan's father, inventor-mechanic Bill Sasher.
Since word started getting out in recent weeks about Sasher's still, Dogwood Energy has added 10 employees, McClanahan said.
Sasher's new creekside assembly warehouse in south-central Tennessee ? down a backwoods road, next door to a noisy rooster and less than 5 miles from the distillery that makes Jack Daniel's whiskey ? has orders for about 45 assembled stills.
The company is building four or five stills a day and has sold 45 in recent weeks, more than 125 since September, to meet the demand from customers ranging from small businesses to thrifty individuals.
"You can save a lot of money. That's what this is all about," McClanahan said.
A bushel of the fermented starch crop, mixed with yeast, water and sugar, and allowed to sit for about 2.5 days, then strained and heated to boiling, makes about 2.6 gallons of ethanol, which is then added to gasoline to produce a blended fuel.
Dogwood Energy says it costs about 75 cents per gallon to make ethanol at home. Adding 15 percent ethanol to $3 gasoline reduces the cost of a fill-up to $2.40 per gallon, McClanahan said.
A blend with 85 percent ethanol cuts the cost to $1.09 for a blended gallon, she said.
Sasher's stills, which stand about 6 feet tall and easily fit in an airy garage corner, sell for about $1,400 each. Blueprints each sell for about $45 and buyers who are good salvagers can build a still themselves for less than $1,000, McClanahan said.
Marrcus Mollenarro, a Kenosha, Wis., businessman, has bought one of Sasher's stills to make it cheaper to run his six personal and business vehicles.
"We don't have to use oil from the Middle East. There are options," Mollenarro said
Dubose Porter of Dublin, Ga., a state representative and editor of The Courier Herald, said the newspaper has ordered a still to help offset delivery costs.
"The still idea is intriguing for a small company like ours," he said.
Using ethanol to power cars isn't new. The Model T Ford was originally built to run on alcohol.
Sasher said any modern-day car can run on a mixture of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. Most vehicle engines can use blends of up to 25 percent ethanol.
More than 30 models of new flex-fuel cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles ? including General Motors' Yukon and Ford's Taurus ? can use up to 85 percent ethanol, known as E85 fuel.
McClanahan said most of her customers go to the gas pump "fill up 80 percent full and fill up the rest with alcohol."
Her company advises its customers to check their owner's manual and consult with the manufacturers to see what blend of ethanol their cars can use. The Web site http://www.e85fuel.com provides advice, too.
The Dogwood Energy still is one that Sasher, 57, developed by modifying designs that date to the 1970s gas shortages.
Its great advantage is cooking the mash at just the right temperature, 170 degrees, according to John Franklin, a former engine company design engineer and educator in Evansville, Ind., who has ordered two of the stills.
"If the temperature is too high then you are losing the alcohol. If it is too low you are not able to recover enough of that alcohol that is pure enough, that is fuel grade," Franklin said.
"It really isn't rocket science," Franklin said. "He makes it to where it is much more automated. He does that with that mechanical temperature control valve. That is half the expense of the still. His still is much more automated and much more precise."
Ethanol already is routinely added to gasoline in New York, Connecticut, California and the Midwest, and makes up about a third of the gas sold in the U.S., according to Kristin Brekke, a spokeswoman for the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based American Coalition of Ethanol.
Finding E85 gas is more of a problem. The 30 or so states with public E85 fueling stations are mostly in the corn belt.
Brekke said demand for ethanol is increasing, with about 4 billion gallons produced last year in the United States. With 97 plants producing and 34 under construction, output is expected to increase by about 1 billion gallons in 2006.
The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil industry, is all for putting ethanol into gasoline but questions the wisdom of doing it yourself.
"Normally when people fill up with gasoline with ethanol in it, it is blended by professionals," API spokesman Bill Bush said. "If we are talking about doing something other than that, by people who don't normally blend their own gasoline, that raises safety considerations."
McClanahan said no customers have reported accidents with the stills.
Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association that represents ethanol producers, has heard of Dogwood Energy.
"You've got to appreciate Americans' entrepreneurial spirit," he said.
He hasn't heard of anyone making homemade ethanol, though.
"The only ethanol I know being made at home is still the beverage," Hartwig said.
Brekke also doesn't know anyone using the still but she understands the motivation to buy one.
"People just want to do something to try and make the situation better as far as gas prices," Brekke said.
That sounds like a good idea.
Ford builds and sells flex-fuel vehicles (FFV) here in the US. They can run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85).
Hmm, I wonder if the cow power concept would work with waste treatment systems. Perhaps when they separate out the solids, they could divert them to a tank where they would produce methane. Some of my friends here at UNH are working on trying to develop a way to use waste water to grow a strain of algea that contains a high percentage of oil in it that can be used to make biodiesel. Wouldn't it be great if sewage treatment plants could be self-sufficient and make enough energy to cover all of their costs. A side benefit of growing algea in waste water is that it would extract the nitrates from the waste water, making it less harmful when it is discharged back into the environment.
Quote from: Pat McCotter on May 17, 2006, 08:38 PM NHFT
Ford builds and sells flex-fuel vehicles (FFV) here in the US. They can run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85).
Chevy does too, and they've been advertising the heck out of them lately.
Tunga absolutly will not drive around on genetically engineered ethanol.
Pure Alcohol would be jush fine shank you.
Filler up sunji.
;) ;D
PSNH is planning for a 12.7% rate reduction effective July 1, due to the completion of payoff of stranded costs from the state's electricity regulation restructuring years back.
I like the timing - last August we used 50 kWh per day due to the A/C, our bill was something like $250.
cool
At our house we have so much shade, we don't even have a/c. :) That helps make up for our thin walls in winter.
Quote from: Tunga on May 20, 2006, 01:20 AM NHFT
Tunga absolutly will not drive around on genetically engineered ethanol.
Better not be using corn based ethanol then.
Quote from: lawofattraction on May 20, 2006, 09:11 PM NHFT
Quote from: Tunga on May 20, 2006, 01:20 AM NHFT
Tunga absolutly will not drive around on genetically engineered ethanol.
And all this time I thought your craft was powered by dilithium crystals...
Close.
Solid Hydrogen conducts all wavelengths with no resistance.
It's really cool stuff.
Quote from: mvpel on May 20, 2006, 04:08 PM NHFT
PSNH is planning for a 12.7% rate reduction effective July 1, due to the completion of payoff of stranded costs from the state's electricity regulation restructuring years back.
I like the timing - last August we used 50 kWh per day due to the A/C, our bill was something like $250.
Yeah and Unitil is going up as well.
No AC gonna happen in this house. >:D
Step one.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3333992194168790800&q=water+car+inventor+murdered
Nice video.... damn it what happens?
Most serious scientists will tell you the solid state of Hydrogen can never be reached as it only exists at absolute zero.
This is where Tunga quietly laughs to himself. Um hmm. Sure. Can't be done. Don't bother.
Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Step Two.
http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/120399t.htm
Patent 5,901,556: HIGH-EFFICIENCY HEAT-DRIVEN ACOUSTIC COOLING ENGINE WITH NO MOVING PARTS; filed 26 November 1997; patented 11 May 1999.//
http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/21006/page/2
Maintenance of the steep thermal gradient requires an external source of power, such as an electric heater, concentrated sunlight or a flame?which explains why glassblowers sometimes observe the spontaneous generation of sound when they heat the walls of a glass tube (serving as a stack) in such a way as to create a strong temperature gradient, a phenomenon first documented in a scholarly journal in 1850.
FYI, I'll be moving to Northwood in the near future. I'm a heating installation and maintenance professional, and I tinker a lot with efficiency of existing systems, installation of high-efficiency ?standard? heating plants, as well as solar and multi-fuel systems.
With a typical solar water heater, 50-60% of your domestic hot water can come from solar (more if you?re willing to increase your initial investment). And with the new technology we have available, the panel only has to be within 90 degrees of south (so, anything from southeast to southwest is fine - at the extreme of that range, you lost 3% efficiency), and pitch is much less sensitive. Actually heating a ?standard? home with solar is difficult, but it can be done.
I?m happy to consult with people who are designing new construction, to make sure that the design is optimized to take advantage of newer heating designs... forced hot air and standard hot water baseboard, which most home designs take into account, simply cannot give high efficiency.
I can also make changes to existing heating systems to improve efficiency. Most boilers can be made at least 10% more efficient, with minimal investment, and significantly more efficient with a larger investment.
I?m currently looking into a new line of condensing oil boilers that promises 90%+ combustion efficiency, and high total system efficiency (ie, actual oil usage) if the heating system already is - or can be converted to - a low-temperature forced water system (eg, certain types of radiators, and most radiant heating applications.
Multi-fuel heating systems offer slightly lower combustion efficiency (not much, though) and are not typically suitable for residential applications (unless you use more than 140kbtuh), but commercial applications and some residences can benefit (applications can be pretty much as large as you like). Basically, the list of oils that can be burned is much more varied than ?#1 and #2 heating fuel, only. Waste oil generated from automobile service, food industry, or any of a number of sources (if you have a source for a certain oil, and want to know if it will work, just ask).
Dedicated vegetable-oil boilers are now available in sizes that work for restaurants, other commercial applications, and residences (roughly 80kbtuh and up).
Condensing gas (NG or LP) boilers are also getting pretty darn advanced, with dramatically-modulated firing rates (no need to fire full-blast just to take the chill off on a summer evening, even though the system needs to be capable of firing that high during the dead of winter) and adaptive intelligence that actually monitors your home?s heat usage and learns how best to heat your home, plus a host of other features and combustion efficiencies getting darn close to 100% (96-98 typically). Gas may still be more expensive than oil (the gas itself still costs more, in terms of dollars per btu, even if you use less of it) but it?s close to breaking even, and would be my fuel of choice for extreme applications (say, up in the mountains) due to improved reliability (oil does not react well to cold temperatures, for a variety of reasons).
?Standard? oil heat still makes up the majority of my business, but these more ?alternative? applications are gaining ground, and I?d eventually like to start a company geared towards them as its prime focus. That?s one of the reasons I chose Northwood, as it?s both a growing area, and very centrally located. To get to the point of starting my own company, I?ll likely need investors, so anyone who?s interested in that should contact me to discuss possibilities. And, until then, the company I currently work for is pretty flexible (basically, they are dedicated to one small area in Maine, so they have no objection to me working on my own in NH), so I?m able to offer my services in NH on a case-by-case basis. So feel free to ask questions...
Joe
Hey MaineShark, My twin brother is a HVAC technician. He is developing a conversion to make a conventional HHO burner work with vegetable oil. He is currently running his modified burner on 95% vegetable oil, and 5% HHO/biodiesel blend. I'm heating my water with biodiesel.
This is good. Anyone thought of making a generator fired by wood or vegetable oil?
I've been noodling over how to improve my heating/cooling system, or perhaps more precisely, replace it.
It is fairly new, maybe 5 years old, but I think it was not designed or sized properly. During the 2005 cold snap, it ran continuously for about 4 days straight, which burned out the flame sensor leading to a somewhat costly repair call.
The house started out with a ridiculously low R-19 in the attic, which I've since doubled, and I added a radiant barrier on the rafters under the roof, and replaced all the windows with insulated argon-filled low-E units, so I've cut my heating costs dramatically, and helped compensate for the limits of this furnace, but it still annoys me.
The forced air reaches the second floor of the house by a set of ducts which consume an entire coat closet in the hallway on the first floor, and unless you wet your finger or use tissue paper, you can hardly tell any air is coming out of the vents up there.
The furnace itself is apparently a Janitrol, but it has no branding on the exterior - perhaps a contractor's special or something?
I've been researching various possibilities, but I'd definitely be interested in discussing it with someone who has experience in the subject.
I've been interested in hydronic heating - the NTI Trinity gas boiler is certainly interesting, since it can be direct-vented and we use propane and are hoping to eventually be able to switch to natural gas, though it sounds like from MaineShark's post that oil boilers are vastly improved.
One possibility I've been musing is retrofitting hydronic radiant floor heat - in two rooms I even have the opportunity to add it during a flooring installation since we haven't replaced the carpet there yet, and perhaps also the basement floor.
Another thing I've been looking at is something like my in-laws have - they have an air unit in the second floor attic, with A/C condenser lines and hydronic heat lines running up to it, and a thermostat up there. That would solve the problem of huge ducts taking up my coat closet, and provide better airflow upstairs, plus zoning.
And it seems that with hydronic heating, a solar collector loop could perhaps be added without too much drama.
Anyway, I'm not sure what all my options are, and which of them might be best for my situation.
I design HVAC systems and i can tell you if you are planning improve your system i would go with geothermal. It will cut your heating bill in half and pay for itself in about seven years. But anyways if you are interested you can visit www.econar.com or my site www.southern-dist.com
Quote from: Defender of Liberty on June 20, 2006, 11:44 AM NHFTHey MaineShark, My twin brother is a HVAC technician. He is developing a conversion to make a conventional HHO burner work with vegetable oil. He is currently running his modified burner on 95% vegetable oil, and 5% HHO/biodiesel blend. I'm heating my water with biodiesel.
It?s not hard to make a standard oil burner (Beckett, Carlin, etc.) run on vegetable oil. Doing it reliably and efficiently, is. The variation in composition between various loads of waste vegetable oil varies greatly, and the construction of a conventional flame retention oil burner does not allow for large variations in fuel composition. At least, not without sacrificing efficiency and reliability. I tried tinkering with it for a while, before coming to the conclusion that a purpose-designed burner is the way to go. The flexibility inherent in the design allows them to operate on a wide range of fuels, without killing the efficiency to make them run reliably, or killing the reliability to make them run efficiently. It costs a little more, but it?s worth it.
Quote from: AlanM on June 20, 2006, 09:31 PM NHFTThis is good. Anyone thought of making a generator fired by wood or vegetable oil?
A diesel generator could be converted, much as a diesel automobile can be. There are a variety of sources for conversion equipment to run diesel engines on vegetable oil/grease.
For larger applications, a steam boiler could be used to run a steam turbine, connected to a generator. The boiler could be a wood-fired unit, or a waste oil unit, or a dedicated vegetable oil unit.
Quote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFT
I've been noodling over how to improve my heating/cooling system, or perhaps more precisely, replace it.
...
I've been interested in hydronic heating - the NTI Trinity gas boiler is certainly interesting, since it can be direct-vented and we use propane and are hoping to eventually be able to switch to natural gas, though it sounds like from MaineShark's post that oil boilers are vastly improved.
Before I begin, what?s the btuh output on your existing furnace?
Whether oil or gas is best for you depends on a variety of factors. Cost being one of them, as gas prices (in particular) can vary greatly from supplier to supplier, and even between customers of one supplier. If you get a good deal on gas, and use a modern condensing boiler, it can at least break even with oil, and may sometimes be less expensive.
As far as the NTI Trinity, I would suggest that you check out the Baxi Luna HT condensing boilers. Similar wallhung, direct-vent design, but a significantly better product. The cream of the crop in wallhung gas boilers is the Viessmann Vitodens 200, but it?s an expensive product, which few techs know how to service, and the added features rarely justify the cost.
Baxi?s are pretty much the only wallhung boiler I have any interest in dealing with. Their manuals are poorly translated, which kept me from warming up to them, at first, but I?m fortunate to have some connections with the North American distributor for Baxi, and have been able to get some training from their factory reps, as well as one of their engineers. After learning what these things are actually capable of (which no one can deduce from the manual that comes with the unit), I?ve been very pleased. With the right tools to fully access the system?s computer (which cannot be done from the basic control panel on the boiler), the unit can be optimized for the particular application. And an installer who understands the capabilities can design the application to match them.
Just for a random example, Legionnaire?s Disease is still pretty big in Europe, so there?s a setting which can be activated to periodically sterilize the domestic hot water tank (assuming the domestic hot water is produced by an indicted water heater tied to the boiler; which is the way to go, because the efficiency of a standalone gas water heater cannot compare). So, once a week the domestic tank is taken up to almost 170 degrees and held there for two hours, which is sufficient to kill any legionella (I think that?s spelled correctly) in the tank. Now, we don?t have much issue with that around here, but there are dangerous critters that can grow in your tank, particularly following a well contamination (which you may not even know about). And, more importantly, there are plenty of critters that can grow in your tank, reducing efficiency, restricting water flow, and/or creating bad taste or odor in your hot water.
FYI, in case anyone just said, ?wait, that would burn me!,? the proper way to utilize that feature involves the installation of a thermal safety or thermostatic mixing valve on the outlet of the tank, which shuts off or dilutes the hot water (respectively), and the time at which the system performs the sterilization should be set for a time when no one is likely to be home anyway, as the idea is to cook the tank, not have new water flowing through it, cooling sections of it.
Quote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFTOne possibility I've been musing is retrofitting hydronic radiant floor heat - in two rooms I even have the opportunity to add it during a flooring installation since we haven't replaced the carpet there yet, and perhaps also the basement floor.
Radiant is definitely the way to go on new construction (presuming that the budget allows). However, retrofits are not always worthwhile. For example, radiant under carpeting, while possible, is less than ideal - carpet is insulated, and that goes against the idea of transferring heat. The tubing also has to go somewhere, which either means tearing down the ceiling below to staple the tubes and heat transfer plates to the underside of the subfloor (not as much of a problem if it?s a first-floor room, over an unfinished basement with open ceilings; I?ll be doing exactly that sort of conversion on the first floor of my new house, when time and cashflow permit), or the installation of a mounting system (wooden spacers and a second subfloor, or low-density concrete) on top of the existing subfloor, which can cause issues with lost headroom and having a lip at the doorway for people to trip on.
If none of that turned you off on radiant, great. If it did, there are other options. Cast iron baseboard is pricey, but not really bad compared to a radiant install, and offers similar benefits in efficiency due to its high thermal mass. And, while it?s not invisible like radiant flooring, cast iron baseboards do look a lot better than the typical sheetmetal units, in my opinion. I?ll be going that route in certain rooms on the second floor of my house, as the rooms below those rooms have tin ceilings, and there?s no way I?m tearing those down to do a radiant install in those rooms (and I don?t have the headroom in those rooms to justify losing a couple inches by doing an above-subfloor installation).
There are also other sorts of high-mass convectors, if baseboard isn?t your thing. Traditional radiators are one example.
And, there are also some interesting low-mass convectors that work well, too. Not so much in terms of efficiency, but you can get a heated towel rack for your bathroom that both gives you a nice warm, dry towel, as well as heating the room. And, since it uses similar water temperatures as radiant or cast iron, it can easily be incorporated into those systems.
Quote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFTAnother thing I've been looking at is something like my in-laws have - they have an air unit in the second floor attic, with A/C condenser lines and hydronic heat lines running up to it, and a thermostat up there. That would solve the problem of huge ducts taking up my coat closet, and provide better airflow upstairs, plus zoning.
These systems are typically referred to as ?hydro-air.? They can work either as heat only or, with the addition of the A/C components, as heating and cooling. The efficiency is not as good as with radiant, but the ability to both heat and cool is attractive. Be aware that, if you intend to cool with the unit, all the ductwork connected to it will need to be insulated, or you?ll end up with water condensing inside your walls/floors, causing a lot of damage.
The big advantage of these low-mass systems is that you can change the temperature rapidly. With a high-mass system like radiant, you choose one temperature for each zone, and stay there. Low-mass systems (hydro-air, conventional copper fin-tube baseboard) allow comparatively rapid changes in room temperature, so you can save money by turning your heat down at night, and during the middle of the day if you work away from home. And programmable thermostats allow those changes to take place automatically, so you?re not stuck with turning the thermostat up and down all the time.
Quote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFTAnd it seems that with hydronic heating, a solar collector loop could perhaps be added without too much drama.
It can, but beware that a solar collector large enough to provide significant space heating will be both large and expensive. Not as large or as expensive as it might have been, years ago, but still quite an investment. To provide 50-60% heating for your domestic hot water (ie, the energy you currently use to make DHW would drop by 50-60%) requires a rectangular panel approximately six by seven feet. Which, once it?s up on your roof, ends up looking similar to a large skylight. The investment varies depending on what your current hot water system is composed of (solar water heating requires large tank capacity; that can be accomplished by adding a second tank next to the existing one, or replacing it with a single, large tank), but typically falls in the rough neighborhood of $3000-5000 (actual cost is higher, but the Feds will give you a $2000 tax credit for installing it - getting more of my money back from Uncle Sam come refund time is a welcome thing).
To provide even partial space heating, a typical house might expect to use ten of those same solar collectors, and require the installation of three- to five-hundred gallons worth of storage tanks. So, maybe 30 feet by 14 feet, and a huge tank (or collection of smaller tanks), compared to six feet by seven feet, and around 80 gallons of storage. And that?s for partial (called ?backup?) space heating.
Basically, solar works well in heating materials with high thermal mass. Houses don?t have that. Water does. Using solar to heat a swimming pool would be a lot more reasonable than using it to heat a house. Depending on whether it?s an indoor or outdoor pool, and whether it has a cover or not, and what months it?s being heated, the solar array could be as little as 1/4 the size of the pool?s surface (up to as much as equal the pool?s surface area, in some cases).
Quote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFTAnyway, I'm not sure what all my options are, and which of them might be best for my situation.
Always the best route to take. No heating professional should try to sell you a ?one-size-fits-all? system. Each situation is different, and the system design should be matched to the design of the home and the needs and wants of the owner. The words, ?it can?t be done? should rarely (if ever) be heard. The way to accomplish something the homeowner wants may be less than ideal, and that may convince the homeowner to change his plans, but there is almost always a way to accomplish what the homeowner wants, if the homeowner is willing to pay the expense. Heck, snow melt systems are great fun. Imagine ?plowing? your driveway and walkways by flipping a switch before the snowstorm even starts. But the cost is up there...
Quote from: mmgrant on June 21, 2006, 02:39 PM NHFT
I design HVAC systems and i can tell you if you are planning improve your system i would go with geothermal. It will cut your heating bill in half and pay for itself in about seven years. But anyways if you are interested you can visit www.econar.com or my site www.southern-dist.com
Uh, how familiar are you with this area? It?s rare to see a house that could survive on the size systems that are listed on your site. Which means supplemental heat during the winter. Which kills the efficiency gains of geothermal, especially after considering the prohibitive installation cost. It?s very rare to see a boiler smaller than 85kbtuh output in the southern areas of NH and Maine. And they just go up from there. Output for typical residences (say, around 1500-2000 square feet) is more typically in the 100kbtuh range. Up in the mountains, the required capacity goes up. Outdoor design temperature in the southern areas is typically ten degrees below zero, and can be dropped to twenty-below for houses in particularly exposed, windy areas. Up in the mountains, well, it just goes down as you go up.
Believe me, I like geothermal, and I looked seriously into becoming a geothermal installer, but I can?t make the numbers work in this area. The installations cost a fortune due to the rock in the ground and the equipment cost, the electric rates are pretty high, and the btu requirements are even higher. It?s fine for supplemental heat, but that?s about it, around here.
Joe
Quote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFT
It is fairly new, maybe 5 years old, but I think it was not designed or sized properly. During the 2005 cold snap, it ran continuously for about 4 days straight, which burned out the flame sensor leading to a somewhat costly repair call.
I believe you are suppose to size your heating system to run continuously at design temp (70 degrees) during the coldest 2 weeks of the winter.
when it was running continuously was it keeping a sufficient temp?
Quote from: FrankChodorov on June 21, 2006, 07:49 PM NHFTI believe you are suppose to size your heating system to run continuously at design temp (70 degrees) during the coldest 2 weeks of the winter.
when it was running continuously was it keeping a sufficient temp?
The system should never be sized to run at 100% duty cycle (continuous operation) for an extended period. If it runs continuously, it should be for no more than the single coldest day of the year. Or, more accurately, the theoretical single coldest say of the year, which in southern Maine and NH we assume to be ten degrees below zero in most cases.
Joe
technically isn't continuous operation the most efficient?
I believe my NEFI and heat loss calculation training (20 years ago) said coldest 2 weeks not coldest 1 day.
Quote from: FrankChodorov on June 21, 2006, 08:09 PM NHFTtechnically isn't continuous operation the most efficient?
Possibly. Depending on the system. Reliable? No. Safe? No. Practical? No.
And any sensible installer will leave some elbow room in there - typically around 10% - just to be safe.
Modulation is nice (and is the primary benefit of a quality gas heating system) because it allows the system to be safely sized, and yet still ?follow? the heating demand as it drops. And even a modulating system will not operate at 100% duty cycle.
Quote from: FrankChodorov on June 21, 2006, 08:09 PM NHFTI believe my NEFI and heat loss calculation training (20 years ago) said coldest 2 weeks not coldest 1 day.
I don't know whether it did or it didn't, but that would be an incorrect way to do a heat loss analysis, regardless of who may have suggested it. The average temperature for the "coldest two weeks" is significantly higher than the average temperature of the coldest single day. If a system was designed to just barely be able to manage the average of those two weeks, what do you think happens on the several coldest days? The system can?t keep up, and the house loses heat faster than it can be replaced, and people start to get very cold.
Joe
Quote from: MaineShark on June 21, 2006, 07:43 PM NHFTQuote from: mvpel on June 20, 2006, 11:21 PM NHFT
I've been noodling over how to improve my heating/cooling system, or perhaps more precisely, replace it.
...
I've been interested in hydronic heating - the NTI Trinity gas boiler is certainly interesting, since it can be direct-vented and we use propane and are hoping to eventually be able to switch to natural gas, though it sounds like from MaineShark's post that oil boilers are vastly improved.
Before I begin, what?s the btuh output on your existing furnace?
You know, I'm not entirely sure offhand - it's a 92.5% efficiency model, as I said before a Janitrol, with four burners as I recall. Maybe 80,000 btu? Or that might be my old house in Michigan. I'll have to let you know when I get back from Russia. The house itself is two stories plus a basement, maybe 2,200sf.
QuoteWhether oil or gas is best for you depends on a variety of factors. Cost being one of them, as gas prices (in particular) can vary greatly from supplier to supplier, and even between customers of one supplier. If you get a good deal on gas, and use a modern condensing boiler, it can at least break even with oil, and may sometimes be less expensive.
We also have a gas dryer, and are planning to get a gas stove, and Caren finds the smell of heating oil disgusting, so we'd probably be inclined to stick with gas.
QuoteAs far as the NTI Trinity, I would suggest that you check out the Baxi Luna HT condensing boilers. Similar wallhung, direct-vent design, but a significantly better product. The cream of the crop in wallhung gas boilers is the Viessmann Vitodens 200, but it?s an expensive product, which few techs know how to service, and the added features rarely justify the cost.
Thanks for the references, I appreciate it. It seems that information on boilers is hard to turn up with web searches for some reason, or maybe it's because the results are swamped with oil-burners.
QuoteRadiant is definitely the way to go on new construction (presuming that the budget allows). However, retrofits are not always worthwhile. For example, radiant under carpeting, while possible, is less than ideal - carpet is insulated, and that goes against the idea of transferring heat. The tubing also has to go somewhere, which either means tearing down the ceiling below to staple the tubes and heat transfer plates to the underside of the subfloor (not as much of a problem if it?s a first-floor room, over an unfinished basement with open ceilings; I?ll be doing exactly that sort of conversion on the first floor of my new house, when time and cashflow permit), or the installation of a mounting system (wooden spacers and a second subfloor, or low-density concrete) on top of the existing subfloor, which can cause issues with lost headroom and having a lip at the doorway for people to trip on.
We can definitely do it fairly easily for pretty much the entire first floor - we have an mostly-unfinished basement with open ceilings and don't plan to have any carpet anywhere - but the second floor would be a bit more of a trick to get under the floor. There's an original electric heating system with radiant panels installed in the ceilings of the rooms, so there's no good way to remove the first-floor ceiling. We've done a few thousand dollars worth of work on the flooring up there, too, and while one of the rooms we could adapt, the rest of the upstairs would be a bit of a problem for underfloor tubing.
QuoteIf none of that turned you off on radiant, great. If it did, there are other options. Cast iron baseboard is pricey, but not really bad compared to a radiant install, and offers similar benefits in efficiency due to its high thermal mass. And, while it?s not invisible like radiant flooring, cast iron baseboards do look a lot better than the typical sheetmetal units, in my opinion. I?ll be going that route in certain rooms on the second floor of my house, as the rooms below those rooms have tin ceilings, and there?s no way I?m tearing those down to do a radiant install in those rooms (and I don?t have the headroom in those rooms to justify losing a couple inches by doing an above-subfloor installation).
There's these radiators in wide use here in Nizhniy Tagil that are, I think, called "Jet-2" - they have an interesting design with four layers of flat fins that curve inward towards the room at the top, thus pushing the rising heated air out towards the room:
(http://www.aidoann.com/photos/russiatrip06/radiator.JPG)
QuoteThese systems are typically referred to as ?hydro-air.? They can work either as heat only or, with the addition of the A/C components, as heating and cooling. The efficiency is not as good as with radiant, but the ability to both heat and cool is attractive. Be aware that, if you intend to cool with the unit, all the ductwork connected to it will need to be insulated, or you?ll end up with water condensing inside your walls/floors, causing a lot of damage.
We've already got insulated ductwork everywhere with the current A/C system, including in the attic. We'd definitely like to keep A/C capability, even if we go to a radiant, instead of forced-air heating system.
I see what you mean about the low-mass systems - we definitely have gotten used to the ability to turn the heat down at night, and we both prefer sleeping in cooler air. Does this steer us away, to some extent, from under-floor radiant heating? Or would a combo floor-radiant downstairs and hydro-air upstairs still fit the bill, with the downstairs air handler and ducts only used during the summer? Though I suppose the warmth from downstairs would still rise to the upstairs, of course...
Thanks a bunch for the info, Joe, I'll pass along the furnace specs when I get home sometime the first week of July. I think the problem may have been they sized it for 10 below zero, and it was 30 below zero. The same assumptions resulted in a frozen and popped heat exchanger in my in-laws' hydro-air system...
It just boggles me, though, that the previous owners would have splashed out so much money for a new forced-air heating system complete with new ductwork without adding insulation to the attic.
Sportsmans Guide is now selling wind generators.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=257512 (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=257512)
(http://image.sportsmansguide.com/dimage/101398_ts.JPG?cell=200,200&cvt=jpeg)
I like all the info maineshark. :)
QuoteWe've already got insulated ductwork everywhere with the current A/C system, including in the attic.
the duct work for both heating and cooling should
always be within the heating envelope.
you should consider moving the insulation and air barrier system from the ceiling plane to the roof rafters...
I've at least added another R-19 layer over the top of the ductwork in the attic - unfortunately shifting the vapor barrier would involve quite a bit of heavy-duty renovation work.
I found the output rating of the furnace - 67,000 btuh.
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/greasybenz/bush_Biodiesel.jpg)
Quote from: mvpel on July 05, 2006, 11:08 AM NHFT
I've at least added another R-19 layer over the top of the ductwork in the attic - unfortunately shifting the vapor barrier would involve quite a bit of heavy-duty renovation work.
you don't need a vapor barrier - just a properly installed continuous air barrier and then a vapor difusion retarding paint will do...
Quote from: mvpel on July 05, 2006, 11:08 AM NHFT
I've at least added another R-19 layer over the top of the ductwork in the attic - unfortunately shifting the vapor barrier would involve quite a bit of heavy-duty renovation work.
I found the output rating of the furnace - 67,000 btuh.
Sorry for the delay, but things were crazy with the move...
Depending on your domestic hot water needs, you could install a Baxi HT330, which would supply heat and hot water from one unit, or you could install the HT330 Modulo, which adds a small hot water storage tank for increased hot water availability, or you could pair a Baxi HT 1.450 with a larger storage tank for even greater domestic hot water availability.
The heat could be delivered by air handlers to your existing ductwork, or the system could be replaced with radiant, as also discussed. Just a matter of money, really.
Joe
I'm starting to incline towards the air handler approach... Just seems more straightforward. Perhaps radiant under the family room floor, though. Which reminds me, I need to get under there and clear all the mouse nests out of the insulation.
Kind of rotten to evict the mice with the cold weather coming
Quote from: mvpel on October 03, 2006, 01:26 PM NHFTI'm starting to incline towards the air handler approach... Just seems more straightforward. Perhaps radiant under the family room floor, though. Which reminds me, I need to get under there and clear all the mouse nests out of the insulation.
It generally is.
Once you have the hot-water system in (assuming it was designed correctly), you can add zones of radiant as you see fit, and eventually eliminate the air handlers, over time.
Joe
Quote from: Lloyd Danforth on October 03, 2006, 03:47 PM NHFT
Kind of rotten to evict the mice with the cold weather coming
I guess it'll be TS for them...
(http://www.limmatsharks.com/Kraft/SurgicalTube.jpg)
That's the main thing I'm concerned about - getting it designed correctly. It's more and more evident to me as I improve the insulation and airtightness of our house that the existing system was massively NOT designed correctly. It was incredibly undersized for the state the house was in when we bought it. Just by adding attic insulation and a radiant barrier, adjusting the thermostat setpoints, and installing insulated replacement windows, we've cut both our summer and winter energy consumption nearly in half. We used almost as much propane in the last three months of the heating season our first months here than we did the entire next winter. Last winter was 818 gallons out of the 900-gallon pre-buy.
I would like to think the homeowners talked the contractor into sizing the system for what they intended to do to improve the house's heat loss characteristics - otherwise the contractor really screwed up. Of course, given that they took a Sawz-All to a number of the electric heating system's radiant panels while installing the vents, hiding the pieces under the insulation, maybe the latter is true. The previous owners had installed an inch of foam insulation under the new vinyl siding, but with wind whistling through the 30-year-old windows and only R-19 in the attic, there's only so much you can expect from a furnace.
I know enough to know that heating system design is calculation-intensive, and when looking at the amazing contraption that is my in-laws' hydro-air boiler system, I know it's something I'd likely need professional help on. But finding a trustworthy professional who won't try to buffalo me into hundreds of hours of labor for union steamfitters and 100% markups on two dozen 45-degree bend fittings as the plumber signs his name in copper piping in my basement, is something I'm concerned about.
Quote from: mvpel on October 08, 2006, 09:42 PM NHFTBut finding a trustworthy professional who won't try to buffalo me into hundreds of hours of labor for union steamfitters and 100% markups on two dozen 45-degree bend fittings as the plumber signs his name in copper piping in my basement, is something I'm concerned about.
Don't worry, I'm non-union, and I prefer to staple pex tubing to plywood when I sign my name in your basement... copper is
so 20th century... ;D
Joe
I'll be sure to call you first when we get closer to paying off the adoption.
However, come to think of it, the new next-door neighbors here may be quite interested in speaking with you. They're moving in late November, and the house is all electric heat - the current owners pay $350 per month on the BUDGET plan to PSNH. :o
I would be willing to bet they'd be quite interested in switching to gas heat, and given the design of the house, hydro or hydro-air would probably be their choice. And if they perhaps can be persuaded to help pay for the natural gas line extension, that would benefit our house as well.