100% Renewable Electricity is Viable

[TLej]

Impressive.

 

[SageBrush]

Two Words; Heat. Pump.

Yes, along with passivhaus level building standards and demand management.

 

[mspohr]

Two Words; Heat. Pump.

I've replaced most of my space heating and all of my water heating with heat pumps. Live at 6500 ft in the Sierras. Works well. I have enough solar that I'm net zero on electricity (including the Tesla).

 

[SageBrush]

I live at 6300 feet in Colorado. The home has radiant heating via a crappy plumbing system in an un-insulated floor fueled by NGas. The inefficiency must be something awful. Although temps are ~ 10F - 20F at night already we have not turned on the system since the days have been sunny. We are going to try out battery heated clothes this season for comfort and cloudy days.

 

[Brando]

I know of very few buildings that are designed to actually use sunlight for heating AND storage for when the sun doesn't shine.
suggest google search: passive solar heating

one example
RMI Innovation Center : Passive House Institute - United States

house next door - A frame - south side glass - small fan pushes air from top to crawl space which has round river rocks.
He did this 30-40 years ago. He had to pay someone to calculate how much rock he would need.

 

[mspohr]

I know of very few buildings that are designed to actually use sunlight for heating AND storage for when the sun doesn't shine.
suggest google search: passive solar heating

one example
RMI Innovation Center : Passive House Institute - United States

house next door - A frame - south side glass - small fan pushes air from top to crawl space which has round river rocks.
He did this 30-40 years ago. He had to pay someone to calculate how much rock he would need.

I have a large two story stone fireplace chimney which is half inside and half outside. Faces southeast. It's a massive heat sink. I've considered putting glass on the outside to capture sun heat and insulate it. I'll have to spend some time this winter looking into this project. I don't think I'll need to move air. Just heating it up during the day should keep the inside warm at night.

 

[Brando]

I have a large two story stone fireplace chimney which is half inside and half outside. Faces southeast. It's a massive heat sink. I've considered putting glass on the outside to capture sun heat and insulate it. I'll have to spend some time this winter looking into this project. I don't think I'll need to move air. Just heating it up during the day should keep the inside warm at night.

An idea for an experiment - use some heavy plastic (green house type). See if you can tell any difference.
Fold, don't cut plastic so you can easily re-use for green house.
After this experiment, use the plastic and make a small green house for your gardening.
Suggest simple A-frame for simplicity. 8' a little short 10' or 12' better. Depends on the room you have.

Some do simple like a tent, use stakes to keep plastic off plants and just throw plastic over the top of the garden 1 month early in the spring and early fall to extend.

IF you have constant wind, then it might help. Otherwise, sun heats up rocks just fine. You may only need the"extra heat" in the evening anyway. Blankets are cheaper than heating, and so are sweaters during the day.

All of course depends on your cash flow - how much you care to spend, how much you worry about the looks vs experimenting and seeing what works. Keep it simple. Many ideas you can find with internet searches.

good luck, have fun, keep it simple. hint: most greenhouse collect too much heat, so surprisingly good ventilation is sometimes needed to expel the extra heat. You certainly don't want to spend money on heating/cooling your green house.

Ours in shade of trees about 1/3 of the day and plenty warm enough.
and the ends are open - plastic just hangs down to frighten off the deer.
Too tall hoop design slightly over 12' tall 30' wide - put holes in the roof plastic to drain water which also waters the plants when it rains. but the A-Frame simpler. No more hoop style for me.

 

[SageBrush]

one example
RMI Innovation Center : Passive House Institute - United States

This is much more than a passive house, it is a passivhaus.

Some of the tenets overlap but passivhaus goes much further and tends to rely on insulation, air leak control and heat exchangers rather than sun and mass.

 

[mspohr]

An idea for an experiment - use some heavy plastic (green house type). See if you can tell any difference.
Fold, don't cut plastic so you can easily re-use for green house.
After this experiment, use the plastic and make a small green house for your gardening.
Suggest simple A-frame for simplicity. 8' a little short 10' or 12' better. Depends on the room you have.

Some do simple like a tent, use stakes to keep plastic off plants and just throw plastic over the top of the garden 1 month early in the spring and early fall to extend.

IF you have constant wind, then it might help. Otherwise, sun heats up rocks just fine. You may only need the"extra heat" in the evening anyway. Blankets are cheaper than heating, and so are sweaters during the day.

All of course depends on your cash flow - how much you care to spend, how much you worry about the looks vs experimenting and seeing what works. Keep it simple. Many ideas you can find with internet searches.

good luck, have fun, keep it simple. hint: most greenhouse collect too much heat, so surprisingly good ventilation is sometimes needed to expel the extra heat. You certainly don't want to spend money on heating/cooling your green house.

Ours in shade of trees about 1/3 of the day and plenty warm enough.
and the ends are open - plastic just hangs down to frighten off the deer.
Too tall hoop design slightly over 12' tall 30' wide - put holes in the roof plastic to drain water which also waters the plants when it rains. but the A-Frame simpler. No more hoop style for me.

Thanks for the ideas. I like the idea of using plastic as proof of concept. And, I've been thinking of building a greenhouse. Growing season is too short here and that would give me extra days.