Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake
...LT heating seems to be very limited documented or explored to its limits. At least in how we would like to apply it in our modern homes/lifestyle...
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Most people think that when they do a Google search, they are by default searching over all available on-line information in the world. It is not obvious that Google localized information.
So if you search for something like "Low Exergy" and you don't find much, it is because there's not much information in the localized range of on-line information that Google has pre-selected for you.
If you really want to know what is going on in the Sweden, for instance, do a Google search for "Google Sweden". The
top search result will localize you in Google Sweden's search range (you can get Google to translate for you). There you will have a chance to see different results. Try it for other countries, you will be amazed!
There was a "Low Exergy" International initiative and study (AKA: LowEx), done about 10 to 15 years ago. The US was invited to participate, but declined to do so... pressure from the fossil fuel industry, I would guess. All of Europe joined in, and also Japan.
The information from that initiative was pushed out in an organized way and made public. It has been integrated into European practices. They probably don't call it Low Exergy (the most accurate description) any more. They probably call it Low Temperature Heating and High Temperature Cooling. In fact they probably call it "the best way to do things", that's how integrated it is.
The reason commercial installations are using the ideas, is that the savings from a big installation are big, thus the incentive to do things differently and better, are more persuasive.
People in Europe are implementing these ideas on a smaller scale, for homes, etc. because it is the best way to do things... and their energy costs (=> 2X of US) are not subsidized by use of the military to the extent that they are in the US.
People in the US, and Canada are implementing these ideas on a vastly smaller scale, because there was no involvement in LowEx, and there was no organized 'push' to get the ideas out and into general practice. So it is the fringe, radical, wacko DIY people who are carrying things to the limit (and saving money in the long run).
There is a gathering effort in this direction, even in the US. There is finally the dawning recognition that the lifetime of a built structure is rather long, and its inefficiencies run up a rather huge national energy bill.
A built structure that is created with the primary decision factor being
financial, will limit investment to considerations of, "is it worth it", "will it pay off in two years", "will it pay off in my lifetime", "what do I care, I won't live that long".
But if the primary deciding factor is
efficiency, then completely different decisions will be made.
If you stop to consider how the price of fuel has increased in your lifetime, you will understand that there is a fast-moving target when you frame the issue in financial considerations.
If you frame the issue in efficiency considerations, the target hardly moves at all.
Europe has codified many of the principles of very high efficiency in their building codes.
There is a very interesting story about the OPEC oil crisis and how it was handled by the US and how it was handled by Sweden.
The US made a heroic push to go solar... prez Carter wore a sweater, and put collectors on the roof of the White House. Solar businesses were subsidized, people going solar were rewarded.
Sweden made an in-depth, 2-year study of housing thermal efficiency, and integrated it into their building codes.
So... in the US, when Ronald Reagan became president, he ripped the solar collectors off of the White House, he ended the subsidies. The whole solar industry crashed.
Sweden, on the other hand, made it the law that all housing had to conform to the new higher standards. If a person wanted to build a home and couldn't afford the higher standards, the government was there to assist and make it happen. So today, all housing built in Sweden since 1975 is build to superior standards, and the practice persists to this day.
That's how things should be done.
So, taking the long look, I think that the fringe, radical, wacko, DIY people who are carrying things to the limit of efficiency, no matter what... they are the real heroes, and they deserve our respect.
-AC