It was mostly cold and dismal up there today, but it was toasty warm in the house — 74°F/23°C — when Andy got there. The first version of his automated heating system takes heat from the solar heating panels on the roof and pumps it into the floor whenever the sun comes out. He’s designing a more sophisticated system, but he’s very pleased at how well it is already working.
January 22, 2019
the heating engineer at work – super that’s working well – after slogging up to the “mansion in the woods” – it would feel really good to be warm and dry inside.
Yes, he loves it. And he’s having a good time designing and building the electronics. — it’s good mental exercise to go with all the physical exercise up there.
That’s awesome. Nice to be able to take energy from the sun
It’s a great project. It has had its problems — leaky connections because heating and cooling causes expansions and contractions — but he may have solved that problem now. He says ask him again in July after it has been thoroughly tested.
Fingers crossed. It is fantastic when it works.
I’m so impressed! You are in the forefront of the fight against global warming. Good for you and Andy!
Thanks. The biggest thing is the house is small and very well insulated.
That’s very cool.
I have my own heating system too.
Totally different though.
I cover myself in small dogs and cats.
xo
I knew what your system was as soon as you said, “I have my own heating system too.” 😀
What a great system! It must be so nice to arrive to an already heated place.
We would arrive late Friday evening to our cabin, light the propane furnace, and go to bed. (Sleeping bags on the floor.) By morning the cabin would be warm enough to make getting out of bed not miserable. 🙂
Andy’s folks had a cabin and the only heating was the fireplace and a wood stove, so in winter it was always cold when we got there and every morning. Andy’s sister has it now and has installed a propane heater!
We have our propane heater set to 55° as a backup to keep the pipes from freezing. It does take a long time to heat the room if we just use propane. (Of course, ours is small because it’s just for backup.)
The floor is concrete so has good thermal mass. It can keep things warm for at least a day if the sun doesn’t come out.