As a scientist, I think about energy, as in conservation of energy. Energy flows into and out of our houses. Some of it we pay for, and some of it we don't. Some of it does useful work, and some of it is wasted; sometimes we even have to pay to get rid of it. I want to put some numbers on these things, and talk about strategies.
Many people have begun to think about energy efficiency with respect to cars. The hybrid revolution has inspired some fervor and people are getting educated; they're even thinking about the global warming implications of how residential electricity is generated. This topic is handled very well elsewhere, so I won't cover it, except to say that I admire the progress made and I think housing should begin to take similar steps.
I'd like to begin with a few questions to get you thinking.
- How much harder does your air conditioner have to work when you roast a chicken in your oven in the summer?
- When you light a wood fire in your fireplace in the winter, does your furnace work less hard, or harder?
- How much water does your water heater have to heat in order for you to get the first few cups of warmth out of an upstairs faucet?
Funny you should ask:
ReplyDeleteRoss just picked up a bit of firewood the other day, because now that the temps are rising a bit, we can have a fire without worrying about all the heat of the main floor being sucked up the chimney!
I was raised in a slab ranch, so I may never get used to having to wait several minutes for warm water to make its way from the basement to the second floor. My former boss had on-demand water heaters in The Cottage, in Worthing - I think it's a splendid idea, but we have to consider the cost of converting. Same problem as with upgrading the furnace or air conditioner: how long till you can recoup the costs in energy savings? The windows were worth doing immediately, but that was a quality-of-life issue as well (MUCH QUIETER).
There's a water heater add-on that saves water and a little energy when sending hot water to a remotely placed location. It circulates the water from the heater up the hot water pipe and back down the cold water pipe into the water heater inlet until the water temp at the faucet reaches a desired temp. No water comes out of the faucet until it's warm. This avoids dumping water down the drain just to clear the cooled water out of the hot water pipe. The control at the faucet is a passive valve with a temperature sensitive metal element. A control unit at the water heater senses the temp of the water coming back and manages the valves directing the water from the heater. This primarily saves water but a certain amount of energy from 'warmish' water going down the drain.
ReplyDelete