The Midwest Renewable Energy Association is once again conducting tours of solar powered homes and businesses throughout Wisconsin.
The tours will take place on Saturday, October 2, 2010, and include both solar open houses and guided bus tours.
For more information, see the MREA’s solar tour page or contact them at 715-592-6595.
Looking forward to taking additional training in installing Econoburn wood gasification boilers tomorrow. I’ll be doing hands on training with wood boiler installer Terry Burns in Sheboygan Falls, WI.
-Dan Michelsen
Solar domestic water heating is one of the fastest payback renewable energy applications available, for two reasons:
If there is a problem with solar water heating, it is that most households only have a limited need for hot water. Once that need is met, and they want to continue to build their solar profile, they need to move on to less-efficient means of harnessing solar energy, such as solar thermal space heating or photovoltaics. (Not that these measures aren’t worthy and effective, but they don’t come close to providing the bang for the buck that a solar water heater will.)
Enter the commercial solar water heating application. In many ways commercial water heating is the area where solar hot water can most brightly shine. Businesses that use a lot of hot water, such as hotels, motels, restaurants, breweries, laundromats and some manufacturers often use substantial amounts of hot water on a year-round basis. In addition, many of these enterprises use most or all of their hot water during the day and early evening, when solar heat is most readily available.
Businesses such as these often see substantial savings from solar thermal water heating. Although it is a big upfront investment, current incentives allow eligible businesses to acquire solar water heating for as little as 20 cents on the dollar. Payback on these systems can happen in just a few short years, and after that, the investment just keeps paying back in free hot water year after year.
Since we’ve become the Econoburn wood boiler dealer in Central Wisconsin, I’ve learned that many people believe that energy consumption directly correlates to the size of a home. This is a myth that really needs to be put to rest.
The amount of energy a building requires for heating and cooling is related far less to its size than to its construction. A highly energy efficient home may only need a fraction of the BTU’s per square foot than one that is leaky and poorly insulated.
As a real world example, I talked to a man today with a 1500 sq. ft. home on which he spends $500 per month to heat with propane. Now, natural gas is a lot cheaper, but even assuming that propane is twice as expensive, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to imagine heating a new, well-insulated 5,000 sq. ft house on $125/mo of natural gas – only half the BTU’s of this man’s modestly sized home.
As an extreme example, a home built according to Passive House construction may not even need a heating system at all – even in Wisconsin!
When sizing a home for a wood boiler or any other heating system, the size of the home in square footage is nearly irrelevant. Instead, it’s very important to assess the home’s heating history and (especially in the case of a new home being built) its construction.
Although certainly helpful, a full home performance test isn’t absolutely necessary. However, if your home is truly inefficient, you might consider upgrading your home performance through measures like air sealing and insulation before or in conjunction with investing in new heating equipment. You might just knock your heating needs down enough to reduce the size of the boiler you need – or at least spend less time chopping wood!
The size of a home matters less than its efficiency, whether you're choosing an indoor or outdoor wood boiler.
Here’s a question we sometimes get about solar panel placement:
“I have great open exposure on my roof – no trees or anything to cast a shadow. But it doesn’t face south. Can I have solar on an east/west facing roof?”
The answer is, Yes, you can have solar on an east or west facing roof. However, it’s not ideal. East or west facing solar panels absorb about 80% of the solar energy as south facing panels. You can expect your system to cost somewhat more in this situation. Here are some options for solar panel placement when your roof faces east or west:
As you can see, having an east or west facing home is no reason to give up your dream of a solar home. There are plenty of options to work around the situation. The first step is to have a qualified solar consultant take a look and make recommendations based on your unique needs. If you’re located within 200 miles of Wausau, WI, give us a call and we’ll get started!
Just passing this on from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association:
MREA is looking for interested home or business owners to join this year’s Solar Tour. If you’re willing to share your success and open your door to others curious about renewable energy, please contact the MREA at 715-592-6595. The event will take place Saturday, October 2, 2010. More details available on the MREA’s website.
It's not too early to prepare for winter's cold!
Like it or not, winter is just around the corner. Concerned about the energy savings? Check out Focus on Energy’s self-assessment test for energy efficiency.
This quick and easy online assessment will give you a rough idea of how your home rates for energy efficiency. While it’s no substitute for a home performance test, it’s a great place to start. You can even email us a copy of your home assessment results to give us a heads-up about the energy efficient status of your home!
I just posted this idea to BP’s idea submission web site.
Brief Description of Technology (200 words or less)
Cut the pipe to a short undamaged section as you are doing now. Weld an open ball valve onto the pipe. Welding an open valve will be relatively easy because there will be no pressure or material flow at the weld. The valve could have a significant riser pre-installed on it to keep the flow a good distance from the welding area. The riser should not be long enough to cause problems forcing the valve onto the pipe. Once the weld is complete slowly close the valve.
Materials Required
One giant ball valve with riser.
Equipment Required
Cutting tools. Robotic arm capable of forcing the valve onto the pipe through the flow of oil and gas. Underwater welding equipment.
Expertise Required – including description and numbers
Underwater cutting and welding should be routine for you guys.
I can’t think of any reason this could not be made to work.
Dan Michelsen
Wisconsin is fifth in the nation for dependence on coal for electricity, sending $853 million out of state for the fuel in 2008. Why not keep more of those dollars working in our own economy by switching to clean energy sources like solar and wind?
We’ve been pointing out for ages that when it comes to fossil fuel, Wisconsin is dead in the water. Every lump of coal, drop of oil, and therm of natural gas we burn has to be imported from out of state – thus exporting dollars that could be used to bolster our state’s economy.
Well, it finally made front page news.
Today’s Wausau Daily Herald featured an article penned by Gannett News Service staff writer Larry Bivens, entitled Coal costs Wis. $853 million each year.
The article covers a recent report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) entitled “Burning Coal, Burning Cash: Ranking the States that Import the Most Coal.”
Coal is one of the dirtiest ways to get electricity. Burning it brings consequences not only for global climate change but for Wisconsin’s air quality and thus the health of its citizens.
In addition, switching to renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind will keep more dollars circulating in our state’s economy.
“Wisconsin has the technical potential to generate 4.2 times its electricity needs from renewable power,” Biven quotes Barbara Freese, a senior analyst with UCS and a co-author of the report, as saying during a recent teleconference.
Want to be part of the solution? Call us to find out how we can help you generate your own clean, local electricity from the sun! 715-218-8654
The Econoburn is available with the H stamp, or ASME certification.
Just got this in from our Econoburn rep:
“I just got off the phone with Rick Merkle, Boiler Chief for the State of Wisconsin. He did verify that any pressurized boiler, regardless of installation location (indoor or outdoor), needs to have the {H}-Stamp and a National Board number.”
In case you’re not familiar with it, the H stamp he’s referring to is the mark indicating ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) certification. ASME certification is the gold standard for safety in pressurized boilers.
Econoburn is one of only two (as far as we know) gasification boilers available that are ASME certified. If you are currently running one that’s not, be warned: boilers not bearing the H stamp (presently including all foreign-built wood gasification boilers) can and will be shut down by the State of Wisconsin.
If you’d like to see an Econoburn boiler in person, please call us at 715-218-1373 and we’ll be happy to set up a viewing.