[Strawbale] Free energy

[Derek Roff]

> OK, just to sum this up... So the reason one would turn down a
> wealth of heat during the entire heating season, any day, all day,
> all for FREE- 100% solar energy... is the initial cost of the
> system, or are there other reasons???

This seems like kind of a loaded question.  Let me offer my viewpoint 
via a couple of analogies.  1) We might agree that it would be 
foolish to turn down free money.  But if a stranger on the street (or 
on the Internet) offered me free money, I would expect some hidden 
costs.

2) There's nothing like organic, home-grown tomatoes.  All my friends 
love them.  But if I have a dozen, the next dozen isn't so useful. 
Having a couple of hundred becomes a liability.  There are a few 
weeks every summer, when I can't give away beautiful tomatoes, and 
many rot.

Solar energy has something in common with the tomatoes.  We have most 
of it, when we need it least, and it doesn't store well.  Solar 
gizmos have something in common with the guy offering free money on 
the street.  There is usually a hidden cost, and often you will get 
nothing back on your investment.

There are so many ideas out there, that no one can investigate them 
all with care.  So we have to accept or reject many ideas on a 
somewhat superficial basis.  I may be missing something important by 
not doing some in-depth experiments with seasonal heat storage.  But 
I betting that I am saving time, energy and money.

I await the results of Joshua's experiments with seasonal heat 
storage.  I have faith in his careful approach.  Without some 
temperature and heat flow data and/or theory, which is not available 
on the sites of most seasonal storage advocates, I lack information 
to make an informed judgment.  I am playing the odds, which seem to 
me to run this way:  Seasonal heat storage in earth won't work.  It 
isn't needed in most cases.  The initial costs could be better spent 
(would give more bang for the buck) if spent on other enhancements to 
the house.  I could be wrong, and I would love to see data to prove 
it.  I just haven't seen any yet.

Derelict


Derek Roff
Language Learning Center
Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: derek at unm.edu