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Berkeley Satellite Imagery-Earth NASA Earth Observatory NASA / JPL Photography of Earth NASA GeoCover Landsat |
analysis of 2005 national crime statistics NIJ's MAPS Program- Crime Mapping & Analysis Research Population, Housing, Economic and Geographic Data Demographic and Economic State and County Profiles Census Bureau State Data Centers
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The cost to heat a home
increases with each passing year. As traditional fossil fuels dry up,
cost-per-therm continues to skyrocket. At House & Cottage, we feel it is
time for government and industry to work together in creating mass market
heating systems powered by sustainable fuel. Putting off development of
alternative methods of powering heating and cooling systems to stifle its
development should be considered criminal the closer we get to crisis. We
cannot continue to shove our inefficiencies onto future generations.
However, we'll look at what's available in the here and now... Gas Furnaces have been around for over a century, replacing coal-powered gravity furnaces. Heat is developed by heating the air and a blower distributes it via ductwork throughout a home. Its efficiency is rated by its AFUE (Annual Fuel-Utilization Efficiency) which is measured as a percentage. Gas furnaces have gone thru a metamorphosis by becoming more efficient. Federal law mandates that furnaces sold must now have an AFUE of 78%. Most furnaces are in the 90% range with the best achieving 97%. Heat Pumps became popular in the 1980's, but interest has cooled over the years due to the system's shortcomings. The idea is a heat pump draws heat from outside, pumping it into your home via a blower. In winter, it brings in heated air from the outside, in summer, it removes the heated air outside, acting as a form of air-conditioning. The problem is during a cold snap, built-in electric heating elements (they are very inefficient and costly to run) need to kick-in to do the job, removing any advantages of the heat pump itself. The systems are rated by an (Heating Seasonal Performance) HSPF rating. New heat pumps must have a rating of at least 6.8 or greater, some reach a factor of 10. Units that extract geothermal energy are more efficient but are expensive to install. Oil Furnaces & Boilers as counterparts to gas furnaces draw oil from a tank located in the basement or underground to produce heat. It's safest to install a tank in the basement, in-ground tanks will eventually leak, posing a risk of environmental damage. Oil dealers sell insurance to pay for the cost of replacing a damaged tank and its recommended if the tank is aging. It should also be noted that oil furnaces and boilers are not available everywhere. Like gas, heating oil continues to rise in cost. In-Floor Radiant Heating Systems are generally efficient, but it takes a while to heat up a slab. Heated water from a boiler, a solar water heater on a roof, or other source is routed through special plastic tubing installed on the sub floor covered with concrete, gypsum-based concrete or built-up finished flooring making the surface act as a radiator. They provide well distributed even heat without noise or drafts. Options include running the system on gas, oil or hot water systems along with solar. One thing to keep in mind, with the tubing, its a good idea to run a filter going into the hose to prevent a buildup of sentiment from clogging the lines - replacement can be very expensive! However, House and Cottage can cheerfully recommend this system over other conventional heating sources. Convective Baseboard Systems are used in a lot of modern apartments and are fairly reliable. Heat comes from a boiler where the hot water is circulated through pipes which heat small thin metal disks which act as radiators disbursing the heat quietly in the air. In a modern hot water system, it is known as a "Hydronic" system - water is heated via a natural gas, electric, oil, wood or coal-based boiler and distributed through piping by baseboard convectors. With a whole-house system, each room temperature can be controlled by separate thermostats. Solar Space Heaters come in two flavors - Direct Gain and Indirect Gain. In direct systems, southern-based walls must be made up by at least 15% of the area to be heated, and must not be obstructed. While it has the potential to provide most of your heating needs, there are two drawbacks - the heating source (sun) disappears at night, and on overcast days, heat is lost through windows. The Indirect system uses a southern-faced glass panel with a rear panel of masonry, water tubes and other thermal mass. An Indirect system solves the problems associated with a direct system by using stored heat from the masonry panel, by blocking off heat loss utilizing a moveable panel of insulation put in place between glass and masonry at night, thus the glass does not rob the heat panel made of masonry. Black is the most effective color for water tubes and masonry. It is important that the water in tubes or other storage unit be treated to prevent algae growth. ...the books below are a good source for further information on alternative sustainable heating systems... |
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