Re: New paradigm for home heating automation and control

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:25:27 -0500, Pat Farrell <pfarrell@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message  <BXJpf.66337$sg5.21260@dukeread12>:

>Marc F Hult wrote:
>> For example, leaving lights turned on 24x7 and the fridge door open both
>> have the potential of _reducing_ my total bill from my utility during the
>> heating season.
>
>Leaving the fridge door open does what? Causes the compressor to
>run constantly and food to spoil? You are using the compressor to
>generate heat, colder on the shelf side of the fridge, hotter
>on the back and top.  A big toaster does it better
>and doesn't have expensive parts to wear out.


Yup ;-)  There be second-order effects.

And then thar's thet fassinatin third-order concern of how long fridge
appliance bulbs will last under a new National "Open Fridge Policy" ...;-)

>Leaving the lights on is exactly the same as running a
>resistance heater or as the heat pump folks call it
>"emergency heat". Except that the light bulbs burn out
>and all the lights help keep you up at night and fade
>colors.

Well, if there is an "except that" clause , it isn't "exactly the same" , is
it? ;-)

>
>Use a well to provide heat to your heat pump year round.
>Well established technology.

Well, it _was_ hot stuff when I started as a practicing as a ground-water
hydrologist 35 years ago ;-)

>Assuming you can tolerate the luke warm air that a heat
>pump puts out.

Ah ...  but you don't _have_ to tolerate that if you design and implement
additional heating sources in the same air handler and do a better job of
controlling/automating them than is standard HVAC industry practice. That's
part of where we are getting to in this thread.
>
>On topic, zoning is probably a useful area for home automation.

The other parts of your post are also on topic IMO.

But yes, 'zoning' is part and parcel of home Heating Ventilation Air
Conditioning (HVAC) automation.

Note that controlling electrical heating sources is, in several respects,
easier to accomplish than controlling the mechanical equipment required by
conventional heating by managed convection of hot water and(or) hot air.
'Zoning' with electrical sources of heat energy becomes a challenge not
primarily of the mechanics of physically running ducts and dampers and so forth
but also of information management -- including energy costs --  and design and
implementation of real-time decision algorithms in (really) smart
'thermostats'.

... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org