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| Science & Technology |
| A Real 'Green' House: No Heating Bill for 25 Years |
| 2006-04-27 |
| 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. ... |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #8 I realize you would have to change the house to make it structurally stronger. In Oz houses bult using steel structures are starting to become popular. Making the area under the water waterproof is not a significant problem. We solved making the tops of buildings waterproof 5,000 years ago. I didn't mention that areas where there is high levels of radiant heat have large diurnal ranges and (radiation works both ways) and consquently cold nights are the problem, i.e. a lot of the problem would be solved by collecting heat during the day and released at night (heat sink effect). Finally, this is just the passive solar hot water systems many Australins have already taken to the next stage. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-04-27 22:51 |
| #7 In past such houses work, but they don't work well. That is, in summer they are warmer than comfortable; and in winter, cooler than comfortable. The reason for this is too much emphasis on a single system. As example of a more complex method, in central Arizona, in summertime, AC is terribly expensive. Swamp cooler is amazing, though, what with 5% or less humidity, all at the cost of running a small motor. However, halfway through summer, the humidity jumps, so you have to go to AC. Well, someone had an idea to redirect their cooler air through their roof crawlspace. With the high humidity, it would only lower the temperature there from 140 to 100 degrees. However, this took so much strain off of the AC for the living area below that his electrical bill took a nosedive. This got him on the idea of "partial" air conditioning. That is, using one system just to reduce the temperature from roaring hot down to just uncomfortably warm. It uses much less energy working on the "low" setting, enough so it might eventually be run by solar panels. Then the regular air conditioner uses utility power to drop the temperature the rest of the way. In a way, it was using his home system like the gears on a car. This meant his house could be toasty in winter and chilly in summer, but on a budget. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-04-27 21:13 |
| #6 It's one of those so obvious things, I wonder why no one has done it. Water's heavy -- about 10lbs per gallon. What kind of structure would it take to hold up enough water to matter? Any leaks will cause structural damage, AND will lose your thermal mass. I'm also not sure the heat exchange would work the way you'd want. Heat rises; the winter exchange would work against you, AFAICT. You might get the desired effect in the summer. Cheaper, safer -- and probably easier -- to simply dig a pond and tie into its thermal mass through a heat pump. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-04-27 21:08 |
| #5 phil_b, cool idea, but once you start implementing it, it is a quackmire. Ask a plumber. Although, maybe Super Mario ... |
| Posted by: zazz 2006-04-27 20:30 |
| #4 SpoD, I had a smilar idea that would both heat and cool your house if you live in a location where most heat is radiant heating from the sun as I do. Build a house with a roof space filled with water. It would act as a huge heat sink as well as a very effective insulator from both the sun's radiant heat and heat lose through the roof. It would keep your house cool on hot summer days and warm on cold winter nights. It's one of those so obvious things, I wonder why no one has done it. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-04-27 20:19 |
| #3 It's New Jersey. The AC usage would be low and they only claimed zero heating (fuel oil) bills. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-04-27 19:39 |
| #2 How do they cool it? I could used this heat banking idea and heat water year round with it. However in the summer when temps are 110 F or higher is whem my bills are high. How do you turn this into cold air? |
| Posted by: SPoD 2006-04-27 19:34 |
| #1 Wow that's pretty good. We have customers on Tallahasses' grid who haven't paid for five years. It's because they run a tab. Now that's efficiency. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-04-27 17:38 |