solar heating « Quick Reality Check Articles

July 28, 2008

Small, low cost, simple solar systems reduce the need for oil

Filed under: Energy, Solar — Tags: barrel of oil, Solar energy, solar heating, solar initiative, solar water heating — Administrator @ 02:03

Simple solar heating makes good economic sense in uncertain times. It can help save the average homeowner 9.45 barrels of oil per year, more than $1,200 at $130 per barrel – enough to pay back the investment in less then two and a half years – and can help reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

If you install a mid-sized 25-square meter integrated solar hot water and space heating array in New York State for instance, you will collect about 54,812,780 btu per year with a low-cost 80% efficient system costing about $2,900. This will reduce you energy bills for heating and hot water by about 75%.

This may not seem like a lot compared to the energy use of the United States, which was approximately 97 quads, or 100,000,000,000,000,000 British Thermal Units (btu) in 2002 (1 btu is the energy which raises the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit). When someone talks about a number so large we often feel that anything that we do will be insignificant and will not matter. And indeed, the 9.45 barrels of oil that one householder might save in a year amounts to reducing the energy use of the nation by only 0.0000000548%.

But let us suppose that everyone in your town of 10,000 homes does the same. Now you and your neighbors will reduce the energy use of the entire nation by 0.000548% and we will not need to import 94,500 barrels of oil.

And if you and everyone in your state of 1 million homes adopted the same small, simple, low-technology solar initiative, you would reduce the overall energy use of the United States of America by 0.0548% and we would not need to import 94,500,000 barrels of oil.

Taking the idea one step further, if all 100 million homes in the nation adopted this simple solar initiative we would reduce the overall energy use of the nation by 5.48% and we could avoid the import of over 9,450,000,000 barrels of oil.

Barrels of oil saved

This is just the first in many small steps that we can each take as individuals to secure a better future for ourselves and our children. Act now. Make a difference.

Wayne Conrad

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July 2, 2008

Making your swimming pool affordable and helping the environment …

Filed under: Energy, Swimming Pools — Tags: heating pool, Omachron, pool heating, solar collector, solar heating, solar pool heating system, swimming pool — Administrator @ 01:30

If you want to save more than 70% of the cost of heating and maintaining your swimming pool, follow these simple steps:

STEP 1: Install a floating or fixed pool cover to reduce heat loss from the pool;
STEP 2: Install a low cost solar heating system
STEP 3: Enjoy swimming in your own back yard without the hassle and expense of driving to a cottage or to public pools …

A swimming pool in your back yard is a great way for your family and friends to gather without the cost and energy use to travel to public pools, lakes, or cottages. Inexpensive temporary PVC pools can be bought in supermarkets and taken down after summer. Swimming pools range from expensive concrete or fiberglass permanent structures to inexpensive plastic pools which are installed only for us in summer and put away in the winter.

Medical researchers have found that 78oF a healthy and comfortable temperature for swimming yet many people enjoy swimming in water temperatures of 80oF to 90oF (26.7C-32.2C). Excessive pool temperatures waste energy due to increased evaporation rates (which cause cooling of pool) and also cause chemical used to purify the water to evaporate more quickly.

A swimming pool without a cover will loose 70% if its heat energy as evaporation, 20% as radiation to the sky, and 10% as thermal conduction losses to the air and to the ground. A floating or fixed rigid swimming pool cover with a small R value can reduce energy losses by 75% and is the first step to enjoying you pool at an affordable price.

Most swimming pools are heated with natural gas, electricity, or oil which contribute to air and water pollution as well as the heat-trapping gases that cause global warming and which are quickly becoming very expensive.

Solar water heating technology is a simple, reliable, and cost-effective method of harnessing the sun’s energy to provide for your pool heating needs. Modern solar heating products can work winter and summer, even in areas where temperatures fall below freezing.

Many commercial solar hot water heating systems costs between $2,000 to $4,000, depending on variable factors such as ease of installation, state or provincial codes, safety requirements, and access to financing.

Many of the newer technology solar heating systems such as the products developed by Omachron Technologies Inc. have a cost of $600 to $1,200 and pay for themselves in as little as a single year of operation of your pool. Solar pool heating systems are highly reliable and generally maintenance free. In particularly hot climates, passing pool water through the solar collectors during the evening hours can serve as a cooling mechanism if needed.

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