[Strawbale] Free energy

[Ilan Ungar]

Opening the windows in winter to allow fresh air to circulate could dispense
of the extra heat (?)
I find it hard to imagine inside temperatures uncomfortably hot when the
outdoor temps are around 10 degrees Celsius.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe opening windows will cause a swing effect of sucking
out all the heat from the heat storage, only to re-charge it within the next
few days with the winter sun.

But, if in fact an AC unit will heat a house at a cost lower than that of
pumping water from the tank to the floor slab, then radiant heating, via
solar panels, would definitely be an awkward choice...!

Thanks.

On Nov 29, 2007 6:16 AM, Derek Roff <derek at unm.edu> wrote:

> > 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
>
>
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-- 
Ilan Ungar, Architect.
Lehavot Habashan 12125
Israel
972 4 6953429
972 52 2431398