Comments on: The power station in your basement http://www.starchamber.com/2010/01/the-power-station-in-your-basement.html Ned Gulley's Blog. Resident buzzwords: wise crowds, accelerated design, swarm robotics, synthetic biology. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:08:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ned http://www.starchamber.com/2010/01/the-power-station-in-your-basement.html/comment-page-1#comment-152232 Ned Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:08:18 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=3736#comment-152232 Thanks for the note (and the link) Ben! It's sad to hear that your neighbor's unit might not be worth it, although he seems to think that it is. The time horizons to payback I've heard discussed are on the order of 8 years. That seems reasonable. But if it's 15 years or more, that might be asking too much for a typical homeowner. Regarding ice for summer cooling, maybe (global warming permitting) we can return to the days of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Tudor" rel="nofollow">Ice King Frederick Tudor</a>. I used to live next to Fresh Pond, but sadly we'd have to cut through a chain link fence these days to retrieve a block of ice. Thanks for the note (and the link) Ben! It’s sad to hear that your neighbor’s unit might not be worth it, although he seems to think that it is. The time horizons to payback I’ve heard discussed are on the order of 8 years. That seems reasonable. But if it’s 15 years or more, that might be asking too much for a typical homeowner. Regarding ice for summer cooling, maybe (global warming permitting) we can return to the days of Ice King Frederick Tudor. I used to live next to Fresh Pond, but sadly we’d have to cut through a chain link fence these days to retrieve a block of ice.

]]> By: Ben Hyde http://www.starchamber.com/2010/01/the-power-station-in-your-basement.html/comment-page-1#comment-152201 Ben Hyde Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:28:06 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=3736#comment-152201 My next door neighbor has one :). http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/a-winters-tale-my-first-season-with-micro-combined-heat-and-power/ My impression, though I've not seen the numbers, is that it's still not cost effective. Which is telling since electric power is very expensive around here. Adam - You can get an air to air heat exchanger. You see them in industrial applications, and in very very tightly sealed buildings. They are simple pieces of kit; but even they appear to be hard to cost justify. I've always fantasized about freezing a big block of ice in the winter to cool the house in the summer. My next door neighbor has one :).

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/a-winters-tale-my-first-season-with-micro-combined-heat-and-power/

My impression, though I’ve not seen the numbers, is that it’s still not cost effective. Which is telling since electric power is very expensive around here.

Adam – You can get an air to air heat exchanger. You see them in industrial applications, and in very very tightly sealed buildings. They are simple pieces of kit; but even they appear to be hard to cost justify.

I’ve always fantasized about freezing a big block of ice in the winter to cool the house in the summer.

]]> By: Adam Gaffin http://www.starchamber.com/2010/01/the-power-station-in-your-basement.html/comment-page-1#comment-152185 Adam Gaffin Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:26:23 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=3736#comment-152185 Maybe a tangent, but has anybody ever come up with something to recapture some of the heat lost to the outside from gas dryers? Obviously, you have to vent the exhaust gases, but surely there's some way to keep some of the warmth a dryer generates inside the house in the winter. Maybe a tangent, but has anybody ever come up with something to recapture some of the heat lost to the outside from gas dryers? Obviously, you have to vent the exhaust gases, but surely there’s some way to keep some of the warmth a dryer generates inside the house in the winter.

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