Category Archives: Energy Tough Love Blog

Energy Tough Love Blog – A weblog from Community Energy Systems

Residential Solar Heating Systems – They work and you can install them now

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Yes this post includes a company from Vermont which is a long way from Illinois. I tried to find someone who does this work in Illinois without much success. I am sure that they are out there and if you call these people they maybe able to send you in the right direction.

http://www.illinoissolar.org/readyforsolar

You can go here for a directory.

http://www.getsolar.com/illinois-solar-power-panel-installation-professionals.php

These guys have a pretty good rap though and a lot of experience.

http://www.radiantsolar.com/why_solar.php

This is why Solar Heating should be a part of your building project

An underfloor heating system from Radiantec Company is the most comfortable and efficient choice you can make, no matter what fuel you choose… but when you select solar as the energy source, you can really feel good about your energy decision.

Here are the benefits of Solar Heating:

  • Solar heat is environmentally friendly. Solar heat does not pollute or produce greenhouse gases. It helps conserve the earth’s energy resources for our children and grandchildren.
  • Solar is as pure, clean and safe as you can get. It is the best choice for people with allergy problems and chemical sensitivities. There will be no tanks of highly flammable materials in your house. It will be free of fuel odors and there will be lower electromagnetic fields.
  • Solar heating is stable in price. Once you have bought it, you are protected from inflation and the political surprises that come with other fuels.
  • Solar heating is a wise investment. The yield is comparable to a good stock. One nice thing is that the yield from your solar investment is tax free and that the yield goes up in value at the rate of inflation. Imagine what that could be in 20 years!
  • Solar heat makes your home something special. People with solar heated homes are intelligent, self-confident, socially aware and environmentally responsible.

 

We invite you to explore this website and to click on “Next Step” if you would like more information.

Our solar technicians are always ready to answer questions.

Call 1-800-451-7593

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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God Bless Martin Luther King – I hope he is with you now

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Normally I just post a speech by Martin or put up a tribute of some type. I saw this article in the Bangkok Post and I thought Martin would approve so:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/275315/saving-energy-means-saving-money-as-well-as-saving-the-mekong

Saving energy means saving money as well as saving the mekong

In this very fast-changing region, few countries are changing faster than Laos. With economic growth of around 8%, the country is awakening and Vientiane is bustling with new developments, new trucks, and an even brighter outlook. Laos is finally catching up with its neighbours, and though this will take time, the pace and direction is undeniably clear and strong.

However, beneath this strong economic growth is a challenging story. Numerous rivers are being dammed for power production as Laos pursues its vision to become the “Battery of Asia”, and about 90% of this power is for export to Thailand and Vietnam.

Obviously Laos is not the only country growing in this region, and the demand for electricity is understandably strong. But the “Land of a Million Elephants” is becoming the “Land of 50 Dams” and that affects us all. This is because the dams are on the tributaries and water catchments of the great Mekong River. Indeed, according to the Mekong River Commission, nearly one-third of Thailand is actually in the Mekong River basin. The current dams in the Mekong basin produce around 1,600 megawatts yet the potential is estimated at 30,000 MW. And with around 60 million people depending on the Mekong for food, water, and transport the number of people directly linked to the river is huge _ approximately the same as the population of Thailand itself. And these dams will have an uncertain impact on this important inland fishery.

Electricity is vital for economic growth and it is vitally important for countries to have very reliable sources of high-quality power to drive their economies forward. But not all electricity has to be used in an inefficient way, and by getting serious about energy efficiency, the demand growth can be reduced. And this will mean that fewer dams are needed on the precious Mekong and its basin. Countries such as Thailand and Vietnam getting more strict about energy efficiency will better preserve the region’s key river.

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Edward Allen is a technical programme coordinator at the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy and the technical adviser to Sunlabob Renewal Energy. He holds a BA in Geography from Oxford University, and an MSc and Diploma of Agriculture from Imperial College London (Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development). For more on renewable energy issues, see www.sunlabob.com

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Ameren’s Plan For A Smart Grid – What a joke

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You wonder why I go on about all the things you can do in your house to save power. Well the following article tells the whole story. As I said this a joke and the joke is on you. They will never get to the “smart” meters and once they do, so what. Then all you become is a part of the utilities load flattening program. Big whoop. Who wants to do laundry at 2 o’clock in the morning. Nice piece of writing though.

http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-9550-ameren-illinois-launches-10-year-modernization-plan.html

Thursday, January 12,2012

Ameren Illinois launches 10-year modernization plan

Proposed new rates could mean a decrease for some customers

By Neil Schneider

Ameren Illinois, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, took its first step in implementing its Modernization Action Plan (MAP) on Tuesday, Jan.3. The plan will provide customers with a more reliable and modernized electric distribution system.

In a press release, Ameren said that over the next decade an additional $625 million will be invested in updating the Ameren Illinois electric delivery system, while also creating 450 new jobs during the program’s peak year. Ameren Illinois serves 20,767 customers in Sangamon County.

“Today’s filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission marks the beginning of an initiative that will enable Ameren Illinois to modernize its electric distribution system over the next 10 years in order to meet the service expectations of our customers in the 21st century,” said Craig Nelson, senior vice president of Ameren Illinois.

The filing includes the deployment of about 750,000 automated “smart” meters, greater use of advanced distribution system automation, the modernization and expansion of electric substations and the installation of new transformers.

Smart meters allow consumers and utility companies to monitor electricity more closely during the day through the usage of wireless transmitters, while also allowing a utility company to “talk” to the meters and adjust power usage and distribution throughout the day.

Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said that a major advantage of the “smart” meters is Ameren customers will be able to take advantage of a “time-of-use service.”

Morris said that there is the potential, for people who choose to use the “time-of-use service” to save money.

“Customers can choose to buy electricity at a certain time of the day, at the certain price it is offered at during that time,” Morris said. “You can imagine that electricity is typically going to cost more at three in the afternoon than at seven in the morning. Like anything else, it is about supply and demand.”

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Geothermal Heat Pumps – They just keep getting better and better

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Many times I use a particular company’s website and text to highlight advances in the industry, or as an example of new technology or even just because I have never been to their site before. However, UNLESS I say I have used their services OR if I specifically recommend them then do not think that they a good to go. Every company needs to be thoroughly checked out. Check with the better business bureau, check their references, get second opinions and prices, and most importantly get it in writing. So having said that and liking the marketing savy of calling something a water furnace here is:

http://www.waterfurnace.com/residential.aspx

Choosing a Residential WaterFurnace Comfort System Is Simply Smarter

WaterFurnace manufactures and sells more geothermal systems for homes than anyone else in the business. Why? Because we offer a wide variety of residential geothermal products. Our dealers and installers are the most highly trained in the industry. And we are wholeheartedly committed to customer support. All that makes us the first—and smartest—choice for a residential WaterFurnace system: the system that’s “Smarter from the Ground Up.”

Geothermal vs. Ground Water vs. Water Furnace
Geothermal energy has been used to heat and air condition buildings for several decades, and, during that time, these geothermal systems have been called many different things. Some of the more popular variations include geo-thermal, geoexchange, ground-water, ground-water assisted, ground-water-source, water-to-water, and even our company name, water furnace heating and cooling.

All of these terms, though, convey the same thought: use of geothermal heat pump technology to tap the energy in the earth’s surface and drive a heating and air conditioning system for both residential and commercial uses. The result is a green or natural heat pump that saves energy and benefits the environment.

For more information on geothermal technology, go to How it works.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Dual Air Conditioning – What an energy saver

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Not much to say about this. Just a pretty nifty idea. I am going to put up a couple of the central paragraphs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100621071943.htm

New Air Conditioning System Has Potential to Slash Energy Usage by Up to 90 Percent

ScienceDaily (June 21, 2010) — Ah, the cool, refreshing feel of air conditioning on a sweltering summer day.

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DEVap: Liquid Desiccants, Permeable Membranes

The DEVap solves that problem. It relies on the desiccants’ capacity to create dry air using heat and evaporative coolers’ capacity to take dry air and make cold air.

“By no means is the concept novel, the idea of combining the two,” Kozubal said. “But no one has been able to come up with a practical and cost-effective way to do it.”

HVAC engineers have known for decades the value of desiccants to air conditioning. In fact, one of the pioneers of early A/C, Willis Haviland Carrier, knew of its potential, but opted to go the refrigeration route.

Most people know of desiccants as the pebble-sized handfuls that come with new shoes to keep them dry.

The kind NREL uses are syrupy liquids — highly concentrated aqueous salt solutions of lithium chloride or calcium chloride. They have a high affinity for water vapor, and can thus create very dry air.

Because of the complexity of desiccant cooling systems, they have traditionally only been used in industrial drying processes. Inventing a device simple enough for easy installation and maintenance is what has impaired desiccant cooling from entering into commercial and residential cooling markets.

To solve that problem, the NREL device uses thin membranes that simplify the process of integrating air flow, desiccants, and evaporative cooling. These result in an air conditioning system that provides superior comfort and humidity control.

The membranes in the DEVap A/C are hydrophobic, which means water tends to bead up rather than soak through the membranes. Imagine rain falling on a freshly waxed car. That property allows the membranes to control the liquid flows within the cooling core. “It’s that property that keeps the water and the desiccant separated from the air stream,” Kozubal said.

“We bring the water and liquid desiccant into DEVap’s heat-mass exchanger core,” Kozubal said. “The desiccant and evaporative cooling effect work together to create cold-dry air.”

The air is cooled and dried from a hot-humid condition to a cold and dry condition all in one step. This all happens in a fraction of a second as air flows through the DEVap air conditioner. The result is an air conditioner that controls both thermal and humidity loads.

DEVap helps the environment in many ways. DEVap uses 50 percent to 90 percent less energy than top-of-the-line refrigeration-based air conditioning.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Improve The Heating In Your Home – Condensing gas furnaces

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We have been meditating on improving your residences energy efficiency, inlcuding new windows and new roofs. If you live in a colder environment one of the most important things to do is improve your heat source. We will talk about solar, electric, and geothermal heat sources in the coming days. First up is natural gas. I wish there was a date on this particular piece. Maybe if the writer of this sees the linkage he could supply the date. I am not sure this is the latest in natural gas technology, but considering the ages of much of the heating systems out there this would be a huge step up.

http://www.handyamerican.com/articles.asp?id=45-New-Condensing-Gas-Furnaces

New Condensing Gas Furnaces

The invention of the condensing gas furnace couldn’t have come at a better time for American homeowners, gas users who have been watching the natural gas prices rise to heights that were once thought impossible. And any relief in the prices will only be short-lived because of the volatility of the fossil-fuel market.

In the colder areas of the country gas and oil are staples to provide heat for the home. In an effort to get relief from the fossil fuel crunch many homeowners are looking to various alternative methods like off-peak electric and solar hot water heat. However, these systems have very expensive start-up costs and, even with state and federal rebates, the costs can be double that of a gas-run furnace. The idea of a condensing gas furnace is to wring every last BTU of heat out of a unit of burnt gas.

Natural Gas Prices Are Sinking Gas Furnaces

Older gas furnaces waste a lot of energy. They are basically a metal box with a burner and blower apparatus The thermostat tells the furnace control that the house is cooling off and the burner is ignited. When the temperature inside the furnace header pipe, or plenum, reaches a certain point, the blower fan starts up and hot air is blown through the air ducts and into the rooms of the home.

The system works seems to work very efficiently but in actuality the reverse is true. Studies have shown that most of the gas furnaces over a ten years-old can only convert 55% of the natural gas burned into heat comfort for the home. The standard for measuring this efficiency is the AFUE, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.

Condensing Gas Furnaces Are Breaking the Ice

As the natural gas prices go up it doesn’t mean that gas cannot be an economical way to heat the home. New technologies in all parts of the gas furnace have upped the efficiency of the units to an AFUE mark of 97 as compared to 55 for the old furnaces. These modern inventions include dual heat exchanging systems, more efficient gas valves, redesigned fan blowers and electronic motor technology. The new condensing gas furnaces combine all these new innovations into one energy-efficient package.

The Parts of the Condensing Gas Furnace

A traditional gas furnace heats a home by the combustion of the gas under a heat exchanging plate. The more heat that can be transferred to the heat exchanger is less heat that is allowed to go up the chimney. The ability to squeeze 25% to 45% more heat from a unit of gas than the old-style furnaces makes the condensing gas furnace a more energy-efficient source of heat production.

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Good there and read. More Wednesday.

(Tomorrow I take my computer in for work)

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New Roofs Are Getting Greener Too – Here is a place you can learn about that

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I know, this is my alma mater. I also know that it may be a teensy weensy bit expensive. But this looks like a real good educational opportunity and today I had to write about roofs anyway so:

http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/Courses/Course.lasso?myCourseChoice=M987

Course Summary:

Latest Roofing Technologies and Their Applications

Course #M987
April 30-May 1, 2012
Pyle Center*,  702 Langdon Street, Madison, Wisconsin
Course Fee: $995		 Enroll Now

Benefits

Attend and benefit as you:

  • Learn how “green” roof systems work
  • Find out how much they cost
  • Understand the intricacies associated with their design, installation, and maintenance
  • Evaluate the benefits, but also the potential for failure
  • Determine when these systems are right for your facilities

This course has been approved by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) for 13 GBCI CE hours for LEED® AP maintenance. See additional EPD courses approved for GBCI CE hours.

Topics

  • Advantages and disadvantages of “green” roofing technologies
  • Special design requirements—new construction and existing buildings
  • Codes governing design and installation
  • Special installation requirements
  • How to resolve potential conflict between different trades involved in the project
  • Dealing with warranty issues
  • Maintenance you will need to provide to ensure continuous, effective operations
  • Steps you should take to estimate your project’s first and life-cycle costs
  • LEED, Green Globe, other recognition programs

Audience

  • Owners
  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Designers
  • Contractors

Earn PDH, LU, CEU

By participating in this course, you will earn 13 Professional Development Hours (PDH), 13 AIA Learning Units (LU) and 1.3 Continuing Education Units (CEU). Learn more about PDH, LU, CEU and state licensing boards.

General Information

Fee Covers Notebook and other course materials, break refreshments, and certificate.

Cancellation Policy If you cannot attend, please notify us by April 23, and we will refund your fee. Cancellations received after this date and no-shows are subject to a $150 administrative fee. You may enroll a substitute at any time before the course starts.

Accommodations We have reserved a block of guest rooms (rates starting at $89, including continental breakfast, parking and private airport taxi (a $30 value)) at Campus Inn, 601 Langdon Street, Madison, WI. Reserve a room online at Campus Inn or call 800-589-6285 or 608-257-4391. Room requests after April 9 will be subject to availability. Other fees and restrictions may apply.

Course Location This course will be held at Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, Madison, WI. 608-262-1122

More Lodging in Madison

Parking Transportation Weather

Visitors’ Bureau*

Course information is subject to change.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Smart Windows Are Coming But They Are Not Cheap – But they are effective

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So my medical situation came home today. So now I can post. I started the year talking about residential energy conservation. So why stop now.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/green/smart-window.htm

How Smart Windows Work

by

Green Living Pictures
Green Living Pictures

These SwitchLite Privacy Glass™ windows go from clear to translucent in an instant. See more pictures of green living.

Photo courtesy SwitchLite Privacy Glass™

If you live in the United States, you’ve probably heard recently about the impending energy crunch that is facing Americans. In the next 20 years, U.S. energy consumption will increase 45 percent for electricity, 62 percent for natural gas and 33 percent for oil, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE also says that energy supplies will be unable to meet demand for the next two decades. For consumers, this means paying higher prices for electricity, natural gas and oil.

While much of the country is concentrating on ways to increase its energy supply, some researchers have been working on new low-power-consuming technologies. Among these new technologies are smart windows, and we aren’t talking about Microsoft’s operating system. This exciting, cutting-edge window technology allows consumers to block either all light or just some by simply turning a knob or pressing a button. This type of light control could potentially save billions of dollars on heating, cooling and lighting costs (research indicates that approximately 2 percent of all the energy used in the United States is “consumed” by residential windows).

In this article, you will learn how smart windows work and how they could save you money.

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I never thought I would be happy to say this but; Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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