[Strawbale] [SB-r-us] re: Passive Heating

[kim thompson]

Hi
You may be intrigued with a solar product being manufactured in  
Newfoundland.
  http://www.cansolair.com/
It hearkens back to the "black bread box system of the '70's".

<snip   Cansolair Inc. has developed a forced convection solar  
heating unit called the Model R.A. 240 SOLAR MAX. This unit is  
mounted on the exterior wall of a dwelling and it captures solar  
energy through an array of tubes, which heat up air forced through  
the unit with an electric fan. The fan removes cool air from the  
dwelling, forces it through the solar panel and returns heated air  
into the dwelling. During sunlight periods in Newfoundland the unit  
returns warm air at the rate of 180 cfm indicating that a room of 200  
square feet (1600 cubic feet) can have a complete air change in nine  
minutes. A dwelling of 1000 square feet can have a complete air  
change in 45 minutes. Working experience indicates that a comfortable  
room temperature can be maintained in a 1000 square foot dwelling  
with 15 minutes of sunlight per hour.   snip>

Kim Thompson
Nova Scotia

On 2-Jan-08, at 6:29 PM, <activism98201 at verizon.net> wrote:

> Solar energy IS and ALWAYS (dare any government to try otherwise)  
> free.  Wood, unless one has his/her own forest is likely to go up  
> in cost as mineral fuels rise in scarcity/cost; demand for wood  
> will go up, which means that if you did have your own forest you  
> might face risking the loss of some self discipline (sell too much  
> of your own wood), or someone else's self discipline might come in  
> to play (theft of your wood).
>
> I followed many of Loren's ideas some time back, but if I recall  
> correctly he never implemented the 2L bottle idea.  I'd personally  
> feel a bit timid about being a guinea pig on such an important issue.
>
> I'll still state that there's more energy required to move air than  
> you might think.  Consider all that ducting; and also think about  
> multiple ducts to distribute that air. How expensive is all this  
> ducting and fans (and necessary electrics- off grid?  better factor  
> in the PV costs) etc.?  I'm sure that there's an HVAC person  
> lurking around here that might be able to shed some more light on  
> this subject.
>
> At one point I had started to sketch out some designs using Loren's  
> idea but I struggled: not like this would be a surprise, I struggle  
> with _everything_! :-)
>
> Gary Rysa has done a lot to passive air and hydronic stuff.  I know  
> that Mother Earth News has published some of his articles.
>
> Hydronics aside, I am still an advocate for passive thermal mass  
> solutions.  Mass heated with true free energy- the sun.  Once in  
> place that's it, no maintenance of any kind (except chasing dust  
> bunnies).  Are slabs THE solution, no; other solutions are likely  
> better for other situations.
>
>
> Mark Nagel
> Everett, WA
>
>
> =====================
> From: Shody Ryon <qi4u at yahoo.com>
>
>
> There are so many variables in slab prep and design. I
> wish it was straight forward and simple. I was on a
> job where a slab was poured on an underground spring,
> what a mess.
>
> The smallest piece of under slab 15 mil plastic I can
> find costs $700, bringing the cost to about $1200 more
> for the slab.
>
> Laren claims the on going cost of heating a house with
> a slab is higher than wood (cost could mean amount of
> solar energy), therefor the on going operational cost
> is included in the lower cost of wood.
>
> The amount of electrical energy used to move the air
> from a thermal attic to a living space in a single
> level house is very low. Multiple levels I do not know
> about, but he commonly designs multilevel houses, so I
> assume it would be energy efficient also.
>
> He has addressed this issue recently stating that if
> even lower electrical requirements are wanted or
> needed, such as for an off-grid project, cycling water
> would use a lot less energy. I do not know if this
> ultra low energy system could circulate water through
> a hydronic system as energy efficiently also, I doubt
> it, but it wouldn't take a lot of engery, generally
> speaking, to circulate it as the circulation of the
> water through the system is not usally an issue accept
> in drain back systems.
>
> Part of the idea is to have the solar collection area
> uninsulated on the collection side and the thermal
> storage and living area insulated. This sounds
> obvious, but a lot of designers might get mixed up
> with this. This requires transferring warm and cool
> from an uninsulated area to an insulated area
> efficiently and distributing it in the living space.
>
> The 2L thermal storage system is designed to be easy
> to use, low maintenance; daily and over time, energy
> efficient, little consequences from neglect, low
> initial cost, not much down side. I haven't seen or
> used one so all this is is recycled internet info.
>
>
>        
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