After I was laid off at the beginning of the summer, my wife Ginny and I started going for bike rides on the Erie canal by Syracuse. We started with just a 3 mile ride out and back. after a couple of weeks of several rides a week, we went on a 12 mile bike ride to Canastota, where we had lunch, then biked back. I am now back to work with another company and I ride my bike 3 miles to work each day. I feel much better health wise. And we have a regular 6 mile trip out on the canal on Saturdays. We have seen the seasons turn from late spring, and now into fall. Often we see a great blue heron wading or slowly flying down the canal. Early in the summer, there were geese families along the paths, with the parents hissing at us if we came close. Ginny actually hit one by accident, as they refuesed to give us space on the canal.
We have had bikes in the past, but never did a lot of biking. We both bought new schwinn bikes at WalMart last fall, for about $200 apiece. And now we are in a biking phase. So far only one flat tire.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Universal Design
As I have aged, I have become more interested in handicap accessiblity. We realize that our physical prowess diminishes. We have lever type handles on all of our faucets. When we switched our toilets to low flush 1.28 gallons per flush, we got the Kohler tank type "Comfort Height", meaning handicap height. The higher toilet has been much easier to use. Our contractor for the kitchen is " ", which means
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Kitchen Finished
 |
| Temporary Kitchen |
The room was completely rearranged, and appears to have more usable space.
Some new items: The stove now has an exhaust fan, which also exhausts the new over the stove microwave. The dishwasher. A large sink. Lots of countertop. New counters and countertop. New walls, ceiling, refinished floor, plumbing, electric. Part of the extra room was created by removing the cast iron radiator, which is replaced by a grill in the floor. Ginny had a broom closet added as well, which is significant, since we have no closets on the first floor.
BEFORE PICTURES
 |
| Hoosier, toaster oven in background |
 |
| Sink, radiator under window at left |
 |
| Sink, Refrigerator, Stove at right |
AFTER PICTURES
Stove and microwave/exhaust fan
 |
| Refrigerator where the stove used to be |
 |
| Sink and Dishwasher |
Friday, August 6, 2010
Central Air Conditioning
August 6, 2010 Today the geothermal heat pump was started up, and our central air conditioning is now on. Hopefully we will have a hot August, so that we can compare our July electric bill using a window air conditioner in the living room, and a window air conditioner in our bedroom.
Earlier this week, Channel 3 news stopped by to do a piece on geothermal energy, clink on the link below.
Link for News Story
Earlier this week, Channel 3 news stopped by to do a piece on geothermal energy, clink on the link below.
Link for News Story
 |
| Mike delivering our Heat Pump |
Friday, July 30, 2010
Insulation
A part of our house project is insulation. Payback for Insulation is 3-5 years. New house standards for insulation are attic: R49-R60, Cavity Walls: R13 to R21
There are two factors in insulation, sealing any cracks to eliminate convection loss of heat thru air flow, and the R factor, which slows the conduction loss from a warmer area to a colder area. The fiberglass insulation, unless well sealed, will allow migration of air thru the spaces in the fiberglass. The compact cellulose will tend to seal itself and eliminate the migration of air.
As part of our ongoing renovations, we have an energy company, Energy Savers of Syracuse, adding insulation to our house.
Two of my walls had been previously insulated with 4" fiberglass batts. The new kitchen has fiberglass batts installed in the exterior walls. The remaining walls are being filled with blown in cellulose insulation.The attic had previously had 5" of fiberglass installed in the joist space under the attic floor. The new project has approx. 10" of cellulose under the eaves behind an existing kneewall that was extended the remaining width of the house. Between the cellulose and roof is a baffle to allow air flow from the eave vents up to the ridge vent. The main floor has an additional 1" of P2000 insulation that is a boardtype insulation. According to their literature, one inch P2000 thermal performance meets or exceeds the performance of R-19, 5 1/2" fiberglas. The joints are sealed with tape, all penetrations are foamed in place. This will allow us storage space in the attic. The space under the stairs, and the inside wall of the stair are filled with cellulose. The attic side of the door has 1" styrofoam, and a draft stop.
The R value of the attic floor has been doubled, and it has been sealed against air flow. In addition, all walls of the house have either fiberglass insulation or blown in cellulose insulation.
 |
| Holes in exterior wall ready for cellulose |
 |
| Insulation at edge of attic |
As part of our ongoing renovations, we have an energy company, Energy Savers of Syracuse, adding insulation to our house.
 |
| Attic Stairs ready for blowing in Cellulose Insulation |
Two of my walls had been previously insulated with 4" fiberglass batts. The new kitchen has fiberglass batts installed in the exterior walls. The remaining walls are being filled with blown in cellulose insulation.The attic had previously had 5" of fiberglass installed in the joist space under the attic floor. The new project has approx. 10" of cellulose under the eaves behind an existing kneewall that was extended the remaining width of the house. Between the cellulose and roof is a baffle to allow air flow from the eave vents up to the ridge vent. The main floor has an additional 1" of P2000 insulation that is a boardtype insulation. According to their literature, one inch P2000 thermal performance meets or exceeds the performance of R-19, 5 1/2" fiberglas. The joints are sealed with tape, all penetrations are foamed in place. This will allow us storage space in the attic. The space under the stairs, and the inside wall of the stair are filled with cellulose. The attic side of the door has 1" styrofoam, and a draft stop.
 |
| P2000 Insulation Board being installed, all penetrations are foamed |
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wind Energy at the Mall
 |
| PowAIR Vertical Air Wind Turbine (VAWT) |
I saw a feature on tv channel 9 news about the windmills at the Carousel Mall.
The windmills are approximately 8 ft. X 8 ft, and are mounted 10 to 15 feet above the roof. These units made by PowAIR Sail of Syracuse. All components are manufactured locally, within 20 miles of Syracuse. The vertical axis windmill will turn in a wind as little as 3 miles per hour. Because the main shaft is vertical, the windmill is not affected by the wind direction The design goal is to furnish 10 KW of electricity per unit.
The company is also installing a windmill on top of college campus buildings at nearby SUNY ESF and at SUNY Oswego.
My wife and I drove by the Mall to see the windmills, there are currently 3 on top of the building. The windmills are not noticeable unless you are looking for them.
 |
| Carousel Mall VAWT |
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Design Information
The geothermal heat pump works with both the air conditioning and the heating of the house.
The savings for the air conditioning is fairly straight forward. The window air conditioner is already a heat pump, it takes the warm air of the house, runs it over the evaporator, which absorbs heat to a gas being circulated, and then returns the cooler air to the room. The other portion of the air conditioning cycle, the condenser, is outside the house, exposed to ambient air temperature. The air compressor in the unit compressed the warm refrigerant into a hot liquid. The liquid is then run thru a radiator that transfers heat to the surrounding outside air. At the time of air conditioning, the outside air can be 70 to 100 degree F. As the surrounding air gets warmer, the efficiency of the condenser is reduced.
For the geothermal heat pump, instead of outside air, we are using a fluid circulated thru 55 deg. F ground. At the cooler condenser side temperature, the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle is increased, resulting in less electricity being used to run the refrigeration cycle. The efficiency is measured by the Energy Efficiency Ratio, or EER. It is the BTUH Output/Watts of Electricity Input. A typical window air conditioner has an EER of 8. Our geothermal system is rated at 17.
On the heating side, the heat pump has a COP or Coefficient of Performance. For my house this is 4.4. This means that for every 1 unit of electricity, 4.4 units of heat are produced. For electric resistance heat, such as electric baseboard, the COP is 1. The COP efficiency is related to the source of heat. For an air to air heat pump this temperature could vary from 50 degrees down to zero deg. F and below in Syracuse. The COP is reduced as the temperature for transfer of heat is reduced. Once again, the ground is at a constant temperature of 55 degrees for the transfer of heat to the building from the geothermal system.
In addition I am getting the optional domestic hot water preheater. It will preheat the water to 100 deg. when the heat pump is in either in cooling or heating mode.
What are the savings? According to the Water Saver literature, there could be up to a 70% energy savings. I have also heard a figure of 50% energy savings. How that will affect the utility bills, I will have to find out over the next couple of years.
The savings for the air conditioning is fairly straight forward. The window air conditioner is already a heat pump, it takes the warm air of the house, runs it over the evaporator, which absorbs heat to a gas being circulated, and then returns the cooler air to the room. The other portion of the air conditioning cycle, the condenser, is outside the house, exposed to ambient air temperature. The air compressor in the unit compressed the warm refrigerant into a hot liquid. The liquid is then run thru a radiator that transfers heat to the surrounding outside air. At the time of air conditioning, the outside air can be 70 to 100 degree F. As the surrounding air gets warmer, the efficiency of the condenser is reduced.
For the geothermal heat pump, instead of outside air, we are using a fluid circulated thru 55 deg. F ground. At the cooler condenser side temperature, the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle is increased, resulting in less electricity being used to run the refrigeration cycle. The efficiency is measured by the Energy Efficiency Ratio, or EER. It is the BTUH Output/Watts of Electricity Input. A typical window air conditioner has an EER of 8. Our geothermal system is rated at 17.
On the heating side, the heat pump has a COP or Coefficient of Performance. For my house this is 4.4. This means that for every 1 unit of electricity, 4.4 units of heat are produced. For electric resistance heat, such as electric baseboard, the COP is 1. The COP efficiency is related to the source of heat. For an air to air heat pump this temperature could vary from 50 degrees down to zero deg. F and below in Syracuse. The COP is reduced as the temperature for transfer of heat is reduced. Once again, the ground is at a constant temperature of 55 degrees for the transfer of heat to the building from the geothermal system.
In addition I am getting the optional domestic hot water preheater. It will preheat the water to 100 deg. when the heat pump is in either in cooling or heating mode.
What are the savings? According to the Water Saver literature, there could be up to a 70% energy savings. I have also heard a figure of 50% energy savings. How that will affect the utility bills, I will have to find out over the next couple of years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)