[RE-wrenches] Summer cooling

[Dana]

I have always wanted to do a super insulated house design that had a large central masonry mass or floor slab with heat tubing that you could cool in the summer during the nighttime and solar heat in the winter with solar. Or an earth tube air duct system that you could pull cool night air through that would cool the slab. I built a Passive Annual Heat Storage home 16 years ago that kept the house at 68 F during the summer in western Washington. I was very comfortable. Any thoughts ?

 

Thanks -

 

Dana Orzel

 

Great Solar Works, Inc

www.solarwork.com

E - dana at solarwork.com

V - 970.626.5253

F - 970.626.4140

C - 970.209.4076

 

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Tom Elliot
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 3:57 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] offgrid system question

 

Thank you Jeff, for asking the obvious.  I've been agog that no one seemed to think this was a nutty situation for an off-grid home.

 

T.

 

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Jeff Yago <mailto:jryago at netscape.com>  

To: RE-wrenches <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>  

Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 10:57 AM

Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] offgrid system question

 

I may be out of line here, but most of these comments have been related to making the right program settings and startup surge current issues.  I did not read any comments that this client is nuts to try and run a 3.5 ton air conditioner from a solar off-grid system, let alone a system with such a very small capacity.  

 

I would be surprised if this small existing solar array and batteries can keep up with the regular loads like lights, kitchen appliances, refrigerators, and entertainment equipment, let alone also running a central air conditioner.  .   

 

I would not  just debate the problems of surge current, I would like to know how this little solar system is going to keep up with the constant load of approx. 4,000 watts for the AC unit plus another 500 watts for the air handling unit which he did not mention.  With a constant drain of 4,500 watts, just how long do you think this battery bank will last?   For most locations, during peak summer days a typical AC unit needs to run constantly 12 to 16 hours per day.   

 

I would be interested in hearing from others on this, but here in the humid and hot east it is not possible to provide air conditioning for an off-grid home unless we are just cooling one or two rooms with a low energy Sanyo type split system in the 1/2 to 3/4 ton range.  Of course if you have enough solar modules and batteries you could run anything, but can you afford it?

 

We do lots of off-grid systems and the first thing we tell clients is to not even think about having air conditioning, electric hot water heaters, or electric clothes dryers unless they have a really big bag of money.

 

Jeff Yago


 


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