----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen A. Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "vortex-l" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 10:59 AM
Subject: Re: [Vo]: Musings on grid-independence and personal
alternativeenergy
As the wind charger -- we live in a woods, so I'm not sure how well it
would work for us. (Maybe if it were on the roof?) But we have a
south-facing sloped roof with no trees shading that side, which made the
idea of solar panels seem appealing. But if it's going to take 250 years
to recoup the cost difference versus some other approach, maybe solar
cells are not such a hot idea...
Why not build your own passive thermal collectors on the south-facing part
of your roof, make a thermal shed with a few thousand gallons of water +
lowtox antifreeze (in case something gets quite cold) insulated to a very
high R factor, and use the passive collectors to heat water to just under
the boiling point during the summer when there is a lot of Sun around, and
then shunt this heated water through baseboard radiators (or something
similar) to heat your home in the winter? You could use the passives to heat
air, but IMHO heating water during the summer to act as a thermal battery is
more attractive. This will pay for itself almost surely.
If you do the work yourself, and don't chase super-high efficiency, it isn't
that expensive. If I had a clear sky view of the south from my property
(damn evergreens!) I would do this myself. Cut bills drastically, reduce use
of fossil fuels (I don't use much, but still...), and great fun to build.
--Kyle
