![]() |
| | |||||||
| CA - San Francisco Bay Area This is a discussion on Off Subject. Solar for my house. within the CA - San Francisco Bay Area forums, part of the Local Prius Club Main Forum category; our area may not be fast enough for wind. i was just up there.. there is a breeze.. but at ... |
| | LinkBack | Thread Tools |
| | #21 |
| some guy... Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 2,527
My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 4 | our area may not be fast enough for wind. i was just up there.. there is a breeze.. but at that speed a 3,000 dollar wind turbine isn't going to put off much electricity. |
| | |
| Sponsored Links |
| | #24 |
| some guy... Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 2,527
My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 4 | ah... yeah.. i looked into these a while back. it's silly that i forgot about them.. low wind models and such. So.. i think i've figured out how to build and test this whole thing without putting up a huge bank of systems that will never be properly used. when the house get closer to completion, my good friend and i will move in. we'll test various situations to simulate other people using electricity in the house. this should allow us to figure out how much of a drain this house could be. I'm trying to keep in mind, this new house is a lot smaller than our current house. We are doing a lot to make sure it's properly isulated and sealed from the outside to keep energy loss down. I've seen tankless systems provide both heat for the floors and bathwater heat.. any opinion? I think i'll start out with a 10,000kw sytem. the only thing we'll be changing is the addition of other charging sytems for various products, batteries, and inverters.. i'll be sure to leave plenty of room for these extras to be installed. I'll have to overdesign the AC system. 100amp box should be more than sufficient for this small house.
__________________ Silver 9 as of June 12th '04 (over 101k Miles now) Decals, Mud Flaps, BT Tech Rear Brace, coastaletech 2" receiver hitch, and 215/45/17 tires. |
| | |
| | #25 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sunnyvale, California
Posts: 296
My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #8 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0 | OMG! That's only 4 times the size of my system that covers my south roof. You really should include solar hot water, as it is much more efficient than anything else for heat. I couldn't find it just now, but there is a resort up in the Yukon (Northern Canada) that has an array of evacuated tubes that they use to heat an outdoor spa. Here's a link to a company that sells the Thermomax tubes: Thermo Technologies - Solar Water Heaters 410-997-0778 The most cost effective sizing would probably be something designed to provide adequate heating 11 months of the year, with propane backup to a tankless water heater. Solar thermal is excellent for both hot water and space heating. |
| | |
| | #26 | |
| some guy... Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 2,527
My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 4 | Quote:
I think i'll have to add on to the house... make an equipment room... | |
| | |
| | #27 |
| Resident Witch Join Date: May 2007 Location: Grays Harbor, WA, USA
Posts: 2,629
My Car: 2007 Prius Package: Base Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 51 | Solar hot water is more efficient for heating water than using solar to create electricity that you then use to heat water. Plus, you can use the solar-heated hot water as part of your heating system, if you use radiant heating. Consider using LED lights extensively. High upfront cost, but nearly "free" after that... very low power usage, plus they can last for up to 10 years, so you have a long time to factor the initial cost over. Use CLFs for places that the LEDs just don't do the job. Super insulation, low-E windows, and ceiling fans throughout the house to assist any heating/cooling, and there's a chance your power bills will be greatly reduced. |
| | |
| | #28 | |
| AmeriKan Citizen Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 9,945
My Car: 2005 Prius Package: #1 Nominated 3 Times in 2 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 6 | Quote:
I'd definately get two different tanks; one for radiant floor and one for domestic use. If you can tie the solar hot water into the system so the water is pre-heated....even better. Can you avoid the propane entirely? Any way to just have a lot of PV and wind to supply electric and then work everything off of what you generate? That way no reliance on propane deliveries either. | |
| | |
| | #29 |
| some guy... Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 2,527
My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 4 | cooking with electricity isn't the same as a good flame. we have an old wolf stove. we are going to convert it to propane use. I don't like the propane. If i had all the money in the world and all the help i could possibly get.. then. well.. I would want pv panels for electricity. all lighting will be dc LEDs. Propane would be for the the tank-less water-heater and cooking (i would rather use propane. wood is an option too). When the water comes in from the well (almost pure water) it fills the holding tank. the holding tank would have a pump attached so water could run through the solar warmers. If i used something other than water, i wonder if i would get more heat. that would require it to be a closed system though.. i wanted an open system. less maintenance. anyways.. the solar warmers would deposit back into the holding tank... the water from the holding tank would be for hot water use and floor heating.. but wait.. do i really want to drink the water that runs through my floor? have you tasted water after it's ran through that much plastic? maybe i should stick to the wood burning stove. it's really not that large of a house yet. 2bed. I'm hungry.. I'll write more later. |
| | |
| | #30 |
| some guy... Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 2,527
My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 4 | i agree.. i kinda addressed this.. it's either wood (bbq, bonfire, or wood stove) or propane. I.. personally.. wouldn't really mind going all electric.. i would probably dissapear into the woods if i never came down to get propane. hehe Another quick dream... an electric car that i could power of the pv panels... or a plug in prius. i wonder if i can get my parents to use cloth bags.. that would be awesome.... incase it's unclear, my parents are extremely wasteful. |
| | |
| Bookmarks |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
| | ||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| passive solar apartment with solar hot water | galaxee | Environmental Discussion | 32 | 08-30-2007 10:30 PM |
| Thin Film Solar Panel (Rollable Solar Powered Battery Chargers) | JeffElectric | Prius Technical Discussion | 5 | 03-09-2007 05:15 PM |
| On the subject of Iran... | eagle33199 | Fred's House of Pancakes | 20 | 02-28-2007 08:04 AM |
| Subject-only search works again | bookrats | PriusChat Website Questions | 0 | 06-26-2005 01:57 PM |
| Any mortgage folks in the house? I'm buying my first house! | Danny | Fred's House of Pancakes | 7 | 06-24-2004 09:21 PM |