EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Introductions
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-12-14, 12:07 AM   #1
mburke6
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 7
Thanks: 2
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default Hello From Cincinnati

Hello all. I've been lurking here for a few days, and there seems to be a lot of interesting information here that I'm looking forward to reading and adopting. I have a 1800 square foot split level house that I bought in 2003. The house is all electric, no natural gas or propane, and this is perfect for what I want to do over the next 10 year. My dream is to one day disconnect my home from the power grid.

Every year a do a project or two designed to reduce the energy consumption of my home. Over the past 6 years, I've been able to reduced my energy consumption by over 1/3. I'm struggling to get to 1/2 energy savings while I wait for Solar to get cheaper.

I've replaced my windows, improved the insulation, switched my lighting to LED (5 years ago), installed a variable speed pool pump, installed a heat pump hot water heater, and various other projects to reduce my energy consumption. I perform all the work myself, often with help from my dad and cousin.

My most recent project was to install a drain heat recovery system and I could not be happier with the results. I replaced my old 80 gallon hot water heater in 2010 with a 50 gallon heat pump. The drawback to the heat pump is the long recovery time. Going from 80 gallons of hot water to 50 gallons was also a drawback. The obvious advantage is the huge reduction in energy.

In an attempt to reduce the severity of the drawbacks, I recently installed a drain heat recovery system to preheat my cold water inlet to the water heater and to the cold valve on the two showers. The results were a raise in cold water temperature from 60 degrees to 90 degrees, much shorter recovery time for the hot water in heat pump mode, and an almost doubling of shower time. I am amazed at the results, which are far better than I had anticipated.

I had hoped to attach images, but I don't have enough posts to do so. The images showe the hot water heater and the heat exchanger. I installed water temperature probes on the cold water inlet, and the preheated outlet that show a nearly 30 degree rise in water temperature at a shower temperature of around 105 degrees.

mburke6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-14, 04:04 AM   #2
jeff5may
Supreme EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA
Posts: 2,428
Thanks: 431
Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts
Send a message via Yahoo to jeff5may
Default

Welcome to the site! It sounds like you've accomplished a lot already. I look forward to reading about your projects.
jeff5may is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to jeff5may For This Useful Post:
mburke6 (12-12-14)
Old 12-12-14, 05:42 AM   #3
stevehull
Steve Hull
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: hilly, tree covered Arcadia, OK USA
Posts: 826
Thanks: 241
Thanked 165 Times in 123 Posts
Default

mburke6

You are one of the very few that is doing it right. You have decreased energy consumption FIRST! In your cold climate, you may want tho think of a few more things.

Without seeing the house, I bet you have a basement. The ideal is to put closed cell insulation on the outside of the basement walls and if you can trench, that is the best way.

Next reduce air infiltration (test with blower door) and minimize loss of air from inside. The biggest culprit is the clothes dryer. Every minute it runs, you loose about 400-600 cubic feet of conditioned air. In about 1/2 hour, you evacuate the entire house. One cure is to put the washer/dryer in a room with no HVAC ducts and only a "make up air" inlet.

You suffer from both cold winters and hot humid summers (Ohio River Valley). The only area worse for this extreme is the Minnesota area.

Next perhaps a high efficiency minisplit or a GS heat pump!

Again, welcome and keep up the excellent work!

Steve
__________________
consulting on geothermal heating/cooling & rational energy use since 1990
stevehull is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to stevehull For This Useful Post:
mburke6 (12-12-14)
Old 12-12-14, 08:04 AM   #4
mburke6
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 7
Thanks: 2
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Thanks Steve! I do have a basement and half of it is gutted right now. I've added a moisture barrier and pink insulation on the inside. I have a split level house, where the front door is between the floors. The front of the house overhangs the foundation by 18" and I've used a DIY foam spray kit to entirely fill the cavity on one side of the house. Why is this stuff so expensive? If it were cheaper, I would foam everything. I also went around the perimeter of the foundation on that side of the house and sealed where the foundation meets the sill plate. I redid the landscaping around the house two years ago, so I'm not keen on digging that up to install outside insulation.

I've been thinking about all that heat my cloths dryer generates and exhausts to the outside in the winter. The electric cloths dryer is in the same room as my heat pump hot water heater, so the obvious thing to do is to let it exhaust into the room, maybe directing the flow towards the water heater a bit. I would need a lint filter, and maybe a diverter valve to allow me to vent it outside in the summer. I was also thinking of making an air-to-air heat exchanger, but worried about it getting clogged up.

If I can swing it, before the tax credit expires in 2017, I would like to put a GS heat pump in. I'm looking into doing this myself too, although I would need help from my buddy for the refrigerant. I have a conventional heat pump now with AUX heaters. This works well, and is relatively new with a SEER of 14. It's in good shape, so it would be difficult for me to replace it. I have a buddy in the HVAC business who helped me acquire it and we installed the unit around 2005. Unfortunately he won't touch GS, being brainwashed into thinking they're nothing but trouble.

Solar and lithium batteries are getting cheaper every year. I would rather claim the tax credit on a GS Heat Pump than on Solar with batteries. I'm holding off on the solar for now.
mburke6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-14, 09:23 AM   #5
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Welcome to the site mburke6.

I agree with the others. It sounds like you're on the right track.

What is your typical kWh per month usage if you don't mind me asking?

Also, I increased your post count so you can post pictures. We'd love to hear about and see your projects.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-14, 11:15 PM   #6
mburke6
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 7
Thanks: 2
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

My average for the past 12 months was 1590 KWH/month. My usage fluctuates pretty dramatically, I have a pool with a heat pump and I usually take a good hit in the fall keeping my pool warm for an extra month. Lowest usage month was 633 Kwh in May, highest was 2804 Kwh in February, when we had -12 degree weather.
mburke6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-14, 01:52 AM   #7
ecomodded
Supreme EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Vancouver Island,Canada.
Posts: 1,037
Thanks: 116
Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts
Default

I am curious if you could run your heat pump in reverse to draw warmth from your pool ?

& Welcome to the site .. !

ecomodded is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:38 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design