"An aside on solar-thermal, consider that solar-thermal to pay back needs to supply more heating needs and to do that systems likely need to use thermal-fluids, these stay fluid from -30F to 550F so allow the system to store ~550F in the…"
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Tom Mallard
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Applied Passive-solar Structural Design
48 Replies
Passive-solar has been known to work well but certain things about our architecture fail the thermodynamic efficiency test and there are reasons why.First is heat-transfer through conduction, the…Continue
Tags: comfort-zone, heat-transfer, passive-solar
Started this discussion. Last reply by Bill Bradbury Apr 2, 2012.
Tom Mallard's Page
Latest Activity
Tom Mallard replied to James White's discussion Russian Wood Stoves (Masonry Stoves)"So, adding, the air circulations within the home then become an interest. I have a lot of ideas of how to move the excess heat at the ceiling to the floor as the temp-delta is highest.
For wood framing it can be taken off in vents down a wall and…"
Tom Mallard replied to James White's discussion Russian Wood Stoves (Masonry Stoves)"These remind me of adobe home designs as well, very nice indeed."
Tom Mallard replied to James White's discussion Russian Wood Stoves (Masonry Stoves)"I'm taking, "From what I know it's main feature is a ton of thermal mass, not miracles." as the point needing attention, what thermal-mass is being heated.
My schemes to do this always involve moving the hot air at the ceiling to…"
Tom Mallard replied to Laura Reedy Stukel's discussion How would you makeover Downton Abbey?"This building is a great example of something so lossy it really should get some solar-gain into the equation, some alternative to collect solar-thermal stored to use for the daily cycle and get off the need to burn anything for heat most of the…"
Tom Mallard replied to Laura Reedy Stukel's discussion How would you makeover Downton Abbey?"Personally I don't think costs are a good way to evaluate overall efficiency.
For a building like this it will never be 'efficient', too many windows so a solution is to supply its heat w/o using the grid and that's fairly easy…"
Tom Mallard replied to Laura Reedy Stukel's discussion How would you makeover Downton Abbey?"To me this is an important upgrade to show how these types of buildings can be improved, one thing always missing is a source of heat, why isn't a solar-thermal collector on the roof to supply the heating??
It's because we still do not…"
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"never mind ... later if you don't get what I posted, have a nice day."
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Really Robert? ... do you think the atmosphere is the same in physical characteristics at altitude as at sea-level?
This isn't theory, my experience says a building will NOT work at altitude as at sea-level, so are you implying otherwise?"
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"I was reacting to the formula and while it's easy to assume the NPP would be in the same place, density must matter, at lower density the height gives a differential total pressure, with less pressure the opening sizes will alter values from…"
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Don't you also need to know elevation to know D-P since height within a structure is used? ... once it's opened to the outside the elevation matters to density over that height at any D-T."
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Robert, if you live at 10,000-ft, do you think the effect on the NPP from opening an upstairs window will be the same as a home at sea-level?"
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Changed my mind, what I'm doing deserves a variance due to the pvc pipes full of water used in these walls or floors as thermal-mass.
With the water there it's a basic fire-suppression system, as the pipes melt the water is released…"
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Just found this, thanks o' ton for the info Randy, for sure it's for fire reg's, will just add the ductwork into the budget, have always had a hunch it'd need them since there's no fire-blocking."
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Allison, I'm working on a framing technique using the space between joists or studs as duct-work for circulation and insulate on the outside [pvc pipes of water as thermal-mass]. So this needs to use pressure & flows to get it to work…"
Tom Mallard replied to John Brooks's discussion Fun with Neutral Pressure Planes (NPP)"Comparing the standard flow diagrams for a home to one of using a windproof layer of insulation board on the outside and having the space between studs & joists part of the airflow path.
A use for the idea was with a solar gain…"
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- Mallard Design Company
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- Residential scale wastewater purification using biomass to extract excess nutrients, autonomous architecture leveraging thermal-mass + insulation in wall systems, solar-thermal collection & storage of thermal needs hot&cold.
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Tom Mallard's Blog
Applied Passive-solar Structural Design
Passive-solar has been known to work well but certain things about our architecture fail the thermodynamic efficiency test and there are reasons why.
First is heat-transfer through conduction, the wood, drywall, sheathing all having rather high heat-transfer coefficients. Next is convection from a heat-riser which takes the warmth of the floor and moves it to the ceiling.
Until these are dealt with they cost a lot of energy, if one is trying to not require external heating for…
ContinuePosted on December 21, 2011 at 1:00pm
Comment Wall (1 comment)
- At 8:28pm on March 2, 2011,
Diane Chojnowski said… Hi Tom,
Welcome to Home Energy Pros! Great start...thanks for adding all the great photos and comments. If you're blogging about home performance, this is the place for you!
Thanks!
Diane, HEP Moderator
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