Thanks to the positive noises and helpful clues so far, I'm pursuing this a little further and may do a full write-up. But I really have to try and find an (almost) off-the-shelf low-delta-T generator in the range approximately 50W to 1kW I think, including grid-tie.
I really like the idea of running CFL/LED lighting at night from a big hot-water tank! B^>
Rgds
Damon
http://www.earth.org.uk/towards-a-LZC-business.html
since these might help me offset much of the CO2 from my day-to-day business activities which would be amazing if so.
I'm no longer trying to capture enough solar energy for space heating on my tiny property, but I'm attacking it from the other direction with more insulation, draft-proofing, etc.
Anyhoo, it's going to take me a while to finish this, but with luck it might be in a half-sensible state within 24 hours...
Comments welcome, as always!
Damon[ Parent ]
Once significant sealing of leaks is achieved, including additional insulation of windows, walls, ceiling, you may find the now accumulated breath of occupants will cause low oxygen, high CO2/humidity, and general staleness.
From reading the "German Passive House" standard, this was dealt with by:
Superinsulate and seal. (done)
Draw in fresh air through a buried earth tube to preheat air to ~50F. (not required at first, but obviously useful, can be added/expanded later)
Slowly pass a small volume per hour of incoming dry cool air through a heat exchanger, to absorb some of the heat of the outgoing moist stale air. (inexpensive and very effective)
Heat room air the remaining small temperature difference by any convenient method.[ Parent ]
I hear all you say!
We have double-glazing everywhere, but have to fix bad drafts/leaks in the bathroom window (which has the mitigating virtue of reducing condensation at the moment).
In general we're a still a long way from sealing everything tight, but I am definitely thinking of some heat-exchanged fresh air if we get close...
I am aiming for body heat and solar gain to cover most space heating needs eventually.
Ventilation.
Wind induced ventilation, no motors, in / out vents form a heat exchanger. Humidity is not preserved. To preserve humidity is called entropy ventilation. More costly.
Have fun, Scott.[ Parent ]
