Massive energy/water renovation of 30 year old house

osolemio · 05-20-10, 10:40 AM

Welcome to me here on EcoRenovator

I am in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the process of renovating a house for making it as independent of external energy and water as possible. I am here to seek information, as well as share what I learn about my installation here in these forums.

There is a lot of ideology in my project. Don't ask me about payback time, OK? There is more than just saving money to this, as I will also make the house more comfortable and luxurious, as well as expanding it with one extra room. Besides, it is great fun to do this - I might as well have been playing with model trains, instead I "play" with this system.

Here are a few keywords to say what my system is all about:

Solar water heating (18 kW peak water/space heating)
- Hot water buffer (275 USG) with instant hot water instead of traditional hot water tank
- 185F hot water station for cooking, coffee and so on, bypass limiter (130F)
Solar space heating
- including annual geo heating via tubes "shot" under the house, for long term heat storage
- 850 USG external hot water storage with 8 inch insulation
Solar voltaics (3.6 kW peak)
- grid connected, meter runs backwards when my production is higher than use
- 1 kWh here is around 40 us cent, and I get 1:1 price up to what I use
Drain water recovery from first floor (bathroom)
Rain water recovery (850 USG) for toilet flushing, washing machine, irrigation/garden

I am using an Austrian box to control all the heating side of it ( ta.co-at/en ), Danfoss inverter, solarus-com hybrid heating/PV panel ... and lots of other smaller and larger contraptions

I hope to find answers here to specific questions I have, as well as sharing my own experiences in this project

Daox · 05-20-10, 10:44 AM

Welcome to ER osolemio!

That is quite the project you have there. I'm very eager to hear about how it goes!

osolemio · 05-20-10, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox

Welcome to ER osolemio!

That is quite the project you have there. I'm very eager to hear about how it goes!

Thanks, Daox, that was quick, I am not even done correcting my own typos

Right now I am designing the major heating circuit for the solar grid and external tanks. It is not final yet, but I could upload a .PNG here, and possibly get suggestions ...

osolemio · 05-20-10, 11:04 AM

The part of my project which deals with distributing heat within the system is still under development, the current simplified schematic can be seen in this attachment

EDIT: I guess it was reduced in size, I hope it is possible to see what it depicts ...

Have a look here to see the details:

05-20-10, 10:40 AM	#1
osolemio Hong Kong Join Date: May 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 108 Thanks: 20 Thanked 17 Times in 13 Posts	Massive energy/water renovation of 30 year old house Welcome to me here on EcoRenovator I am in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the process of renovating a house for making it as independent of external energy and water as possible. I am here to seek information, as well as share what I learn about my installation here in these forums. There is a lot of ideology in my project. Don't ask me about payback time, OK? There is more than just saving money to this, as I will also make the house more comfortable and luxurious, as well as expanding it with one extra room. Besides, it is great fun to do this - I might as well have been playing with model trains, instead I "play" with this system. Here are a few keywords to say what my system is all about: Solar water heating (18 kW peak water/space heating) - Hot water buffer (275 USG) with instant hot water instead of traditional hot water tank - 185F hot water station for cooking, coffee and so on, bypass limiter (130F) Solar space heating - including annual geo heating via tubes "shot" under the house, for long term heat storage - 850 USG external hot water storage with 8 inch insulation Solar voltaics (3.6 kW peak) - grid connected, meter runs backwards when my production is higher than use - 1 kWh here is around 40 us cent, and I get 1:1 price up to what I use Drain water recovery from first floor (bathroom) Rain water recovery (850 USG) for toilet flushing, washing machine, irrigation/garden I am using an Austrian box to control all the heating side of it ( ta.co-at/en ), Danfoss inverter, solarus-com hybrid heating/PV panel ... and lots of other smaller and larger contraptions I hope to find answers here to specific questions I have, as well as sharing my own experiences in this project __________________ Space heating/cooling and water heating by solar, Annual Geo Solar, drainwater heat recovery, Solar PV (to grid), rainwater recovery and more ... Installing all this in a house from 1980, Copenhagen, Denmark. Living in Hong Kong. Main goal: Developing "Diffuse Light Concentration" technology for solar thermal. Last edited by osolemio; 05-20-10 at 10:42 AM.. Reason: Typos

05-20-10, 10:44 AM	#2
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Welcome to ER osolemio! That is quite the project you have there. I'm very eager to hear about how it goes! __________________ 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.

05-20-10, 11:04 AM	#4
osolemio Hong Kong Join Date: May 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 108 Thanks: 20 Thanked 17 Times in 13 Posts	Schematic The part of my project which deals with distributing heat within the system is still under development, the current simplified schematic can be seen in this attachment EDIT: I guess it was reduced in size, I hope it is possible to see what it depicts ... Have a look here to see the details: Attached Thumbnails __________________ Space heating/cooling and water heating by solar, Annual Geo Solar, drainwater heat recovery, Solar PV (to grid), rainwater recovery and more ... Installing all this in a house from 1980, Copenhagen, Denmark. Living in Hong Kong. Main goal: Developing "Diffuse Light Concentration" technology for solar thermal. Last edited by Piwoslaw; 04-14-11 at 02:48 AM.. Reason: Resizing

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode