Too Hot to Handle, Too Cold to Hold
How to save up to 40% on your energy bill
Your Appliance IQ
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Where do you use your other 27%?
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What rooms of the house?
What activities?
http://www.a1arefrigeration.com/appliances_main.jpg
How Much Does it Use?
Power Consumption (Watts)
TV
215
Laptop
120
Coffee Maker
1200
Microwave
1500
Dryer
2800
Dishwasher
1200
Freezer
400
Hair Dryer
1000
Toaster
1000
Fridge
700
Well Pump
2250
How Much Are You Paying?
Monthly Cost (Estimated)
TV
$4.00
Laptop
$2.05
Coffee Maker
$1.30
Microwave
$1.05
Clothes Dryer
$12.11
Dishwasher
$5.21
Freezer
$1.74
Hair Dryer
$0.84
Refrigerator
$21.27
Well Pump
$3.50
Total
$53.07
WI Avg (from
EIA)
US Avg (from EIA)
$81.71
$103.67
Heating: The Big One

40% of personal
energy use (more in
WI)

Single biggest source
of personal energy use
http://slices-of-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/house_heating.jpg
Some Like it Hot: How We Get Heat
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Gas Heating
Electric Heating
Wood Stove
Geothermal
http://fela2fela.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/calcifer.jpg
Gas vs Electric
What's Hot What's Not?

Gas

Burn fuel to produce
heat

Electric

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http://www.cheyennelight.com/images/gas2.jpg
Burn fuel to produce
heat
Heat water to make
steam
Use steam to run turbine
Use turbine to power
generator
Make electricity
Use resistor to make
heat

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Electric heat uses 2-3 times as much gas from plant to
house.
How much more does it cost to use an electric heater?
Which is better, gas or electric?
http://thomaspmbarnett.com/storage/natural_gas_flame_money_z.jpg?__SQU
ARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1331816254251
Ways to Make Electricity

Heat Engines
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Coal plants
Gas plants
Nuclear plants
Solar thermal
Biomass
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/Heat_engine.png/300px-Heat_engine.png
Other
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Hydro
Wind
Tide
Solar PV
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mtCwxRRYyt4/TUBT187mkSI/AAAAAAAAAAU/
p3-MLQDfmIY/s1600/renewable+energy+overview.gif
Heat Engines vs Other Electric Revisited
•
Heat Engines
•
Maximum efficiency limited
by thermodynamics
(physics)
•
•
•
Other Electric
•
•
Power plants are 30-50%
efficient
What happens to the other
half?
•
•
Waste heat!
Can we use the waste heat
to produce more work?
•
No fuel burned to create
electricity, free resources
Electricity can be
converted to heat at 100%
efficiency
Take up a lot of space
(square feet per megawatt)
Waste Heat
100 GJ/yr = 3.17 kW…like every person in WI had 3 hair dryers running
24/7 the whole year.
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~salexa/Research-WasteHeat.htm
Heat Pumps and Geothermal Heat
•
What is a heat pump?
•
•
Heat engine in reverse (same idea as a refrigerator)
Put work in to get heat flow
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBitbxhT9R3EbwtjHmCfnO7HJ1_xL3X0cM8ACX3q8inJxIM9BVTw
So How Do They Work?
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You need a “working fluid” to transport the energy where
you want it to go. This must be pumped around.
The work needed is proportional to the difference
between the outside and inside temperatures.
http://www.envirowarm.co.uk/img/heatpump.png
The Nitty Gritty on Heat Pumps
As
the temperatures get nearer,
you need less and less work to
get heating/cooling.
Geothermal
cooling is 75%
more efficient than the
refrigerator in your kitchen.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jv2Hk3xoLX4/TdOiOZsDRgI/AAAAAAAABko/UetT6_RmBf8/s400/im-inyour-fridge-cat.cats.kitten.kitty.pic.picture.funny.lolcat.cute.fun.lovely.photo.images.jpg
What Does This Mean?
Three Ways to Eliminate Paying For Space and Water Heating
Option
1
•Harnessing waste heat from
power plants would more
than meet the space/water
heating needs of all the US
(residential).
•Can
we do it?
Option
2
•Integrated renewables
(solar/wind) provide “free”
energy resources that can
be converted completely to
heat.
Option 3
•Geothermal heat pumps
achieve the desired heat
transfer with minimal work
input.
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRY6ldjvFdbNv1yzHxQODUdh2Bl-FXF_Qo2nA4r9X3Ix27PEeqd
A Caveat: Quality of Energy
If
we can convert energy into
work, it’s more useful (ie higher
quality).
The quality of thermal energy
(heat) is proportional to how
much higher its temperature is
than the surroundings.
Mechanical energy and electricity
are the highest quality (convert
into any form 100%).
Are electricity and high energy
density fuels the best way to heat
our houses and water?
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~salexa/Research/WasteHeat/WasteHeatMatrix.png
A Re-envisioned Power Grid
“Figure 4 - Results from this study highlight the benefits of a
alternate energy consumption paradigm where power is generated in
a distributed fashion, maximizing waste heat recovery opportunities
and reducing primary energy consumption”
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~salexa/Research-WasteHeat.htm
A Final Thought

Use the right quality energy for the job!
http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/quality-control.jpg
In Summary
When it comes to conserving energy and saving money,
there are a few key ideas.
1) For “high” temperature applications, gas saves 67% on
energy and cost. (Hotter than you want to touch).
2) For space/water heating, we have an excess of waste
heat from power plants and an abundance of geothermal
heat.
3) To fill in gaps and further reduce costs, integrated
renewables (wind/solar) are a cure-all.
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