Great solution to moving air through your attic during all times of the year. This is the best one that we found on the market so far and it was very easy to install on the roof. With the template provided and having the recommended tools, this should take your 2 to 4 hours to install. The solar powered fan provides cooling of attic spaces in the summer, which prolongs the life of your roof and reduces heat transfer to the rest of the house keeping it cooler. In the winter, the unit moves air through the attic to keep it free of moisture and also prolongs the life of insulation and prevents water from condensing in the attic causing damage. A great way to get active air movement without paying an electric bill over the lifetime of the unit. Check out their products.
Archive for the ‘Heating/Cooling’ Category
Sunrise solar powered attic vent
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010Phoenix Evolution – Heating, DHW and Solar in one unit
Monday, June 7th, 2010
The Phoenix Evolution from Heat Transfer Products looks to be a great all in one device for you home heating, domestic hot water, and solar preheating. Everything is preplumbed for you so all you have to do is hook it up to your hot water heat system, your domestic hot water system and you can even have one with an internal coil to preheat your tank water with an outdoor solar panel. Looks to be a great system that will work well in cramped utility rooms and take the guess work out of plumbing a solar hot water system effectively. Check out their other heating products as well.
Solar Powered Furnaces
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Just got back from a workshop in rural Minnesota on a product offered by the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL). They demonstrated their solar hot air system to me this past week and it seems to be a great system that is a very simple way to provide heat to a home from the sun. With some simple duct work and a fan to drive the system, you can harvest energy to help heat your home. Check out their products and think about how this system could shave 20% of your energy use.
What went wrong with weatherization?
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Great interview about the benefits of weatherization programs funded by the stimulus package. Why aren’t we taking advantage of these programs to save not only money for people with inefficient homes, but also the energy savings that could be attained by just doing some basic sealing of leaks and installing more insulation. Check out the article in Popular Mechanics.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4347294.html
Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Rinnai also makes a line of tankless water heaters that are a very efficient way to heat your domestic hot water. Boasting efficiencies ranging from 93 to 95%, these can save you over 40% on your water heating bill by switching from your old tank style water heater to a tankless model. These can also be used for radiant floor heating systems and they modulate to provide the right amount of heat output to the demand. Check out their models and also their air handling systems that use hot water to heat air in forced hot air systems.
Takagi Tankless Water Heaters
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Tankless water heaters are the way to go if you currently use a tank type water heater. Takagi uses propane or natural gas for its units and these are some of the best made water heaters on the market. They are around 98% efficient and are built to last. They can be used for DHW or radiant floor heating applications. check out their product line and find the right size water heater for your application.
Freewatt microCHP
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
MicroCHPs such as Freewatt’s increases energy production efficiency from 55 to 60% over traditional power plant sources of electricity by utilizing over 90% of the fuel energy. This is a great way to lower your energy bills while also dramatically lowering your carbon footprint. This microCHP from Freewatt is designed for homes and can produce heat and up to 5 kilowatts per hour to your house, which either offsets your energy use or goes to the home directly while also producing heat for your home. Really great product, so check out their website.
Ecopower microCHP
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Ever imagined heating your house and also producing electricity at the same time. Well many devices are coming onto the U.S. market today that are called micro combined heat and power units or microCHP for short. These units take natural gas and convert it into heat and once the internal temperature of the fuel cell reaches 400 F, then it begins to turn some of the fuel into electricity combining the two processes together produces over 90% efficiency and reduces source energy losses dramatically. Check out their products and there will be more to come.
Laing EPR – Electric Boilers
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Laing has produced a great electric boiler designed to heat spaces up to 2500 square feet. I own the EPR12 which is a 12 kilowatt boiler that produces about 41000 btus/hr of heating capacity. This works well for my well insulated home and keeps us nice and toasty even in -20 F temperatures. The unit is very compact and requires 60 amps of capacity from your electric panel. The three 4kw elements fire incrementally depending on how much hot water is needed and it is very quiet. No need for venting and the energy used by this boiler can be directly offset by solar electricity. They have many sizes of boilers and they are perfect for small spaces or additions to your home. And it boasts close to 99% efficiency in converting electricity to heat.
Coolerado Energy Efficient Cooling Systems
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Found this great company that makes super efficient air conditioners that use up to 80% less energy than standard airconditioners today. They use a system that precools the air using evaporative cooling and by returning air from the building that is cooler than the ambient air. Then some of the air goes into the building where it is cooled further by condensing coils and the fresh cool air enters the building. The other air that is cooled by the evaporative process then goes on to cool the hot side of the condensing coils. All of these systems work together to produce a very efficient cooling system in dry climates. Check out their website to get more information.