[Strawbale] Low-Cost Solar Assisted Heat Pump System littlehouses cross post

[Shody Ryon]

> What is the consensous
> with eco minded people about using electricity as
> back-up heat vs natural gas/propane.  Even now in my
> W. Pa home I tend to use an electric space heater
> (that looks like a woodstove) to take the chill off
> the main living space and not have the natural gas
> kick on. Any opinions on which is best both
> economically and environmentally?

Perhaps a solar assisted heat pump:

This portable AC Amcor Nanomax A12000E is supposed to
be efficient and is one that Laren wrote about. I
think it is like those little roll a round elec
radiators, but would need to be used in conjunction
with a glassed in porch with plastic water bottles as
thermal storage.

> I guess it is unrealistic to expect any solar
> design, passive or active to keep a house
> comfortable in that climate during the winter.

A super insulated house (including roof, floor,
penetrations) doesn't need a lot of energy input for
heating. The frigerator and water heater give off some
heat.

It might be a good idea to have a 2 heating system.
Perhaps a wood pellet stove, a woodgas stove or cast
iron jodel wood stove as back up, or an oil burner,
which likely can run on waste veg oil from the local
deep fry restaurant, A biodiesel Lister electrical
generator has a radiator as part of the cooling
system. The radiator could be in the living space
giving off "waste" heat.

It sounds like you are giving up. Were is the fighting
Irish spirit? An electric heater could be a third
system, or a PV and batteries or air compressor system
for energy storage or a wind generator, and the
electric heater could be a primary system.



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better pen pal. 
Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.  http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/