Hi Tom, Thank you so much for your post. We've been "way back" for 5 years and the decision tree is quite different from that of the plug in culture.
Regarding refrigeration: it is a significant energy user and when watts are precious we take notice. My solution is quite simple in our cold climate of Northern New Hampshire USA where it is colder more than warmer than refrigeration temperatures. I put the refrigerator in an insulated cavity on an outside wall with vents (manually operated) to allow more and/or less access to outside air. The primary purpose of regulation was to keep the refrigerator from freezing. Since the refrigerator itself is also insulated, it averages temperatures over time and freezing has not been a problem, so vent operation is very minimal. In summer the (normal electric) refrigerator blows its waste heat (and noise) outside. Spring and Fall, the compressor sometimes comes on and works efficiently against cool outdoor temperatures. I'm installing a small chest freezer using same principles. I had ruled out a freezer due to excessive power consumption before the "north wall" concept. Small, personal innovation can produce satisfaction beyond savings. How nice that is. Tom Thiel On 10 Jan, 2008, at 9:47 AM, Thomas Kelly wrote: > Hi Chip, > You wrote: >> And yes, for the record, I am not a big fan of 'payback costs' >> when it comes to passive vs utility consumption. >> >> When the power goes out, passive systems continue to work. > > Some aspects of "payback" can be difficult to quantify or even > anticipate. > > Gardening: > Shovel $37 (US) > Rake ($26) > Pitchfork ($32) > Hoe ($30) > Small Hand Tools ($76) > Seeds/Plants $__, etc. > The experience of gardening; growing your own food: Priceless. > > While one could argue that vegetable gardening is "profitable", > what > about flower gardens? What about people who grow fruits and vegetables > and > give most of them away w/o concern for "payback period"? > Some things that are simply joyful ... as in full of joy. We take > joy > in doing them.. Some take joy in the little dollops of independence > that we > feel by producing our own food or by getting off the grid. I wouldn't > know > how to put a price on joy or independence. > It certainly is an "interesting refrigerator". When I see a > creative > idea/design implemented by human hands it takes on the qualities of > art. > Pouring a cold glass of milk from the "interesting refrigerator" > ..... > priceless. > > Not so much to jump on the question re; payback period for the > refrigerator; it is a valid question. They did mention in the section > "Solar > Electricity" that they would have had to pay $30,000 to run wiring to > their > home. It might be that given their situation, the "interesting > refrigerator" > made perfect economical sense as well; another example of appropriate > technology. > > Thanks for the original post Kirk. I've been playing around with > some > ideas for at least pre-heating water going to my boiler (heat & hot > water)using a solar collector and maybe even my woodstove, to lower the > amount of fuel I use. > Tom > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Chip Mefford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org> > Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:01 AM > Subject: Re: [Biofuel] interesting refrigerator > > >> John Mullan wrote: >>> I've seen that before. Excellent idea. I wonder how much all that >>> copper, insulation, etc. would cost (for purpose of payback period)? >> >> When calculating the 'payback period' be sure to deduct (or add) >> the cost of a couple of medium term power outages, as folks all >> across the mid-west have seen over the last few winters. >> >> And yes, for the record, I am not a big fan of 'payback costs' >> when it comes to passive vs utility consumption. >> >> When the power goes out, passive systems continue to work. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Biofuel mailing list >> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel >> >> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 >> messages): >> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
