In selecting home heating, a common choice is a ducted system. Generally I think ducted heating is a bad idea for homes. Here’s my take on the problems with ducted systems.
By Richard Keech
2018-10-20 based on earlier work from 2013
Last updated 2023-02-01
by Richard Keech
2018-10-10
Downlight fittings that you commonly see in Australian homes are often an energy and comfort nightmare. They can be associated with up to five different problems. Before you go replacing a halogen bulb with an LED replacement, read this.
This outlines a possibly novel approach to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of heat pumps used for home heating, cooling and hot water. This involves placing the units in the sub-floor space to exploit the thermal mass of the ground in both summer and winter.
By Richard Keech
2018-10-02
There’s been lots of talk of late about a hydrogen economy. I’ve looked into this. In a nutshell I can’t see Hydrogen being widely adopted for energy storage within our electricity system. Likewise, I can’t see it being widely used for transport except in some very limited cases. Its use within the gas network seems like greenwash. However there does seem to be some potential in using hydrogen as an intermediate product in creating transportable liquids like ammonia, methanol and methane for use as export feedstocks or as fuels.
by Richard Keech
Published 2018-09-23, based on investigation done in early 2017
By Richard Keech
2018-08-14
Do solar air heaters or coolers live up to their promise?
At face value the idea of having a device which uses sunlight directly to heat air in winter seems like a good one. It’s the idea behind a number of products on the market that promise really high-efficiency heating for low cost. We can lump these together in the category ‘solar air heating’. Solar air heaters sometimes claim thermal efficiencies greatly in excess of that possible with a solar PV panel.
Solar Air heaters (Pic: courtesy of Jane Keme, Melbourne)
By Richard Keech
2018-08-12
Some systems used for heating and cooling depend on air displacement. Understanding what this means is valuable, because systems like this are usually inefficient.
So , what do 1) evaporative air conditioners, 2) fireplaces; and 3) solar air heating systems have in common? Answer – their normal operation usually requires air displacement.
If you know a little about insulation then you’ll already know about R values. However, to really understand insulation you also need to know about U values and K values.
2018-07-29
By Richard Keech
by Richard Keech
2018-07-12
I thought this picture neatly shows the limitations of passive panel-based heating such as hydronic or column heaters. The thermograph shows most of the heat convecting to the ceiling, allowing much of it to be lost before it can reach the occupants of the room. This is one of the main reasons I never recommend hydronic-panel heating. In-slab hydronic doesn’t have this problem, but it does have other problems.
On Wednesday June 27 2018 I spoke to Lighter Footprints, a community group in eastern Melbourne, on home batteries. Here are the presentation slides. Here is a video recording of the presentation.
The presentation references a spreadsheet model for efficient homes with batteries. You can find it here.
Yesterday I was enroute to a country client for ecoMaster. I found myself at sunrise driving past the Waubra windfarm at sunrise. Too beautiful not to stop and take a picture or three.
By Richard Keech 2018-06-23
