Posts Tagged ‘energy savings’
programmable thermostats
[caption id="attachment_31" align="alignright" width="112" caption="Guy Van Meulebrouck"][/caption] I just found a 2010 survey from Lawrence Berkely National Laboratories regarding how programmable thermostats actually wind up being used by occupants. The study reported a survey of 81 residential thermostats and found the following: • 45% were in hold • 30% were programmed • 10% were manual thermostats (not programmable) • 5% were off • 10% operational status was not visible in the picture. The complications involved in each particular thermostat's programming are evident here. I envision a thermostat in the future that uses user friendly computer software and then transfers information to the thermostat via a USB memory stick. The same innovation would be welcome for sprinkler timers too! I used to specify Honeywell T7350's as a general practice. These which are challenging to program correctly due to the immense features. It took me two tries to get my own T7350 programmed right. The local Honeywell representative assured me that he pre-programmed the thermostats himself before he delivered them to jobsites. Great idea. He welcomed me adding information on my drawings as to specific settings that were needed for the building. Guy Van Meulebrouck PEconsulting engineerguy@guyvanmconsulting.com10947 ...
Tax Credit
The US Department of Energy and EPA have been promoting a 30% tax rebate for geothermal heat pump systems-until the year 2016. I believe this is money that comes off of your tax liability (as opposed to adjusting your gross income). http://www.energy.gov/taxbreaks.htm Since geothermal usually costs more in first cost, this clearly improves the economic payback of geothermal heat pumps. Combined with the energy savings and increased system life, it looks like Florida will see more geothermal heat pump systems with each passing year.
geothermal conversions
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="simple explanation of geothermal"][/caption]
What is Geo-thermal?
What is Geo-thermal? Geo-thermal is a process of using the stable temperatures within the earth to benefit heating and/or cooling processes. In some parts of the world, where there is volcanic activity (relatively near the surface), geo-thermal means boring deep down into the earth and pumping very hot water to drive power generation. This is not the same thing as geo-thermal in Florida. In similar parts of the country, geo-thermal can mean boring 1000 feet deep to pump out reasonably warm water to use in selected heating processes. This is not the same thing as geo-thermal in Florida. In many parts of the country, geo-thermal means burying large quantities of piping just below the surface of the earth or below the surface of a lake. Water is pumped through these pipes and used by heat pumps. This is not the same thing as geo-thermal in Florida. Geo-thermal is Florida is taking reasonably cool water in the state wide aquifer system and pumping it through heat pumps, which heat and cool buildings and pools. The water is returned back into the aquifer. It is easy to read or hear of geo-thermal being used successfully in one part of the world and assuming that is what people are ...
geothermal hybrid systems in florida
While geothermal has distinct advantages over cooling towers (no makeup water, less scaling in chiller and tower, better efficiency during hot months), there is one time in Florida where cooling towers outperform geothermal. During cooler weather, cooling towers can produce water below 74F, which adds even more energy savings. For cooling plants considering replacement of it's cooling towers, it is worth a study to determine the feasibility of refurbishing the best tower to serve the chiller which normally handles the winter cooling loads. The remaining chillers can operate from geothermal. For cooling plants that operate extended hours (like 24/7 for example), this could be even more attractive to a straight geothermally cooled chiller plant. Guy Van Meulebrouck PEconsulting engineerguy@guyvanmconsulting.com10947 US 98 NorthLakeland, Florida 33809-1087 Want permission to reprint this article? Please email with your: name, title, company, the publication you are reprinting, the parts of the article you are reprinting, and your contact info.
new possibilities for geothermal
Last year, Obama has sent over $168,000,000 to Florida governments to be used for energy reduction. This program is called EECBG . Each city and county was allocated a percentage of this based on population and was instructed to find a way to spend this money on reducing energy. Each government has to prove that whatever the money got spent on actually reduced energy bills, and was instructed to buy American in the process. Throughout this year, the fruits of this endeavor should be coming to light as construction projects and/or incentive programs. One easy way a local government can gauge the potential for energy savings is to require Energy Star products and systems, of which geothermal is one. This builds upon a program already established by the Department of Energy. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index There are architectural improvements that are listed for federal Energy Star tax credits too. It is worth a visit to this website since there is still time to get federal tax credits for any residential or commercial improvements made in 2009.
