the Otherpower.com Discussion Board || Comments non conductors

Front Page - [Homebrewed Electricity-- (wind) (solar) (hydro) (steam) (controls) (storage) (mechanical)] - Classifieds - Site News
Everything - Newbies - [Remote Living-- (housing) (heat) (light) (water)] - Rants & Opinion - Diaries - Our Products

non conductors | 21 comments (21 topical, editorial)

Re: non conductors (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by electrondady1 on Fri Jun 3rd, 2005 at 08:23:36 AM MST
(User Info)

hello comanda, it must be the depth of winter now down under.must you wear a sweater? when it's winter time here it can get very cold. as much as -40c. for you farenhiet types thats -40f. around here you get something called a wind chill factor posted on the weather reports.might not be a factor in australia, thats when a twenty mph wind @ -25c acts apon a surface and drains it of heat as if it were -60c . i have four 500 sq.ft. rental units i must heat. each contain 3 1000 watt base board heaters.add to that, 4 forty gallon hot water tanks, 4 refrigerators, etc. i supply the power through two 60 amp services. 60 amps x 220 volt=13200 watts. a 200 amp service is the modern standard. thats were the electricity will go.

[ Parent ]

Re: non conductors (3.00 / 0) (#8)
by kitno455 on Fri Jun 3rd, 2005 at 08:33:58 AM MST
(User Info)

you are renting these out? how will your renters feel when the wind stops blowing and they dont have power :) or were you planning to grid-tie? how will they feel about having this monstrosity in the back yard where their kids are playing?

i have an all-electric house myself (heatpump), and it is pretty rough in the winter, especially if the power goes out. my solution? if you want heat, burn something. electric heating stinks. you can build a small woodstove or a grain burner that will cost less to build and run, and will give better heat. you can even build it outside and use an auger to feed it, and use radiant hot water baseboards, and tie that into the hot water system.

best house i ever lived in for that had a huge oil fired boiler that was hot water and radiant baseboard, from one system. never ran out of shower water :)

allan

[ Parent ]

Re: non conductors (3.00 / 0) (#13)
by electrondady1 on Fri Jun 3rd, 2005 at 11:23:56 AM MST
(User Info)

kitno, yes, i rent the three little cottages out and live in one.i am currently tied to the grid and will not sever the connection, just suppliment my consumpion . i like electric heat ,its's clean and safe and takes up very little floor space. if only it were less expensive. i was hoping to charge the local children money to ride the big wind mill.i am on equal billing so huge winter costs are spread out over the course of the year. there are a lot of charges on my electric bill other than just electrical usage. in effect, i am now paying for the storage of every bit of radio active waste generated since 1950. a central hot water heating system for the various buildings is brobably the best bet for me. i will be digging trenches this summer.there is enough wood stacked up in my yard to heat the entire opperation for a year , and more to come as i have a lot of trees that need work. i have an interest in metal casting and want to build a furnace. i am gathering materials and have a design drawn to create a water jacket on this thing.wood for fuel will be ok for now but is not a long term soution.natural gas runs down my street and i will eventualy hook up but that too is only a short term solution. this year my energy costs will be $5600.oo cdn. dollars . even if energy costs stay the same rate over the next ten years thats like 60 thousand . if energy costs escalate the way i think they will perhaps as much as $100,000.oo

[ Parent ]

Re: non conductors (3.00 / 0) (#9)
by TomW on Fri Jun 3rd, 2005 at 09:05:24 AM MST
(User Info)

electrondady1;

Kind of off the main topic but if those units share one building one larger high efficiency water heater will run more efficiently than several individual units.

Cheers.

TomW

"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain
[ Parent ]

non conductors | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 editorial)

Menu

· create account
· How to use the board
· FAQs
· search the board
· Google search the board
· Old Otherpower Board

Login

Make a new account

Username:

Password:

You must be a registered user to post here. It's easy and free, and the link is on the upper right side of your page.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Postings are owned by the poster, but may be deleted or moved at the ADMIN's sole discretion. The Rest © 2003 Forcefield.
You can Email the board ADMIN here. PLEASE include the username you signed up with!