This is a guest post by Rosalind Dall.
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Purdue college researchers demonstrate us one great route to lower 50% of winter heating bills
Frederick Welck, at left, an intern from Institut für Technische Chemie in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, and mechanical engineering doctoral student Christian Bach work with an experimental setup for testing valves as part of research led by Purdue University to develop more efficient heat pumps.
Researchers at Purdue University are working on a new research project that promises the opportunity to reduce heating bill by 50 percent for those who live in very cold climates. The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, builds on previous work that began about 5 years ago at Purdue’s Ray W. Herrick Laboratories.
Heat pumps provide heating in winter and cooling in summer but are not efficient in extreme cold climates. The analysis involves changes to the way heat pumps operate to make them more effective in extreme cold temperatures.
The revolutionary technology works by modifying the standard vapor-compression cycle behind standard air-con and refrigeration.
The typical vapor-compression cycle has four stages:
1° Refrigerant is compressed as a vapor
2° Condenses into a liquid
3° Expands to a mixture of liquid and vapor
4° Then evaporates
The project will investigate two cooling approaches during the compression process.
In one approach, relatively considerable amounts of oil are injected into the compressor to absorb heat generated through the compression stage.
In the second approach, a mixture of liquid and vapor refrigerant from the expansion stage is injected at various points during compression to provide cooling.
A new type of heat pump being developed at Purdue University could allow residents in cold climates to cut their heating bills in half.
The new heat pumps can be half as expensive to perform as heating technologies now used in cold regions where gas is unavailable and residents count on electric heaters and liquid propane.
In the meanwhile here some ways to improve you home air quality and save energy:
- Ensure your thermostat is located in a spot that’s not too cold or hot.
- Install an automatic timer to keep the thermostat at 68 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees during the night.
- Use storm or thermal windows in colder areas. The layer of air between the windows acts as insulation helping to keep the heat inside the spot where you are interested.
- If you haven’t already, insulate your attic and all outside walls.
- Insulate floors over unheated spaces like your basement, any crawl spaces as well as your garage.
- Close off the attic, garage, basement, spare bedrooms and storage areas. Heat just those rooms that you use.
- Seal gaps around any pipes, wires, vents or other openings that could transfer your heat to areas that aren’t heated.
- Dust is a wonderful insulator and tends to build up on radiators and baseboard heat vents.
A lot of people do not know that common indoor air quality practices reduce home air heating costs too:
- Rain and high humidity may bring moisture indoors, creating dampness, mold spores — big problems for healthy indoor air. Check your roof, foundation and basement or crawlspace one per year to catch leaks or moisture problems and route water away from your home’s foundation.
- Help keep asthma triggers away from your house by fixing leaks and drips when they start. Standing water and high humidity encourage the development of dust mites, mold and mildew — probably the most common triggers that can worsen asthma. Use a dehumidifier or air conditioner when needed, and clean both regularly.
- High levels of moisture in your home increase dampness and the growth of mold, which not only damage your property but threaten health. Install and run exhaust fans in bathrooms to get rid of unhealthy moisture and odors out of your home.
- Ventilate your kitchen stove directly outside or open a kitchen window when you cook. Keeping exhaust — including cooking odors and particles — outside of your home prevents dangerous fumes and particles from harming you or your family.
About the author :
Rosalind Dall writes for the ductless split air conditioner blog, her personal hobby blog dedicated to suggestions to help people consume less energy and purify indoor air.
