We know that the nitrates and phosphates found in fertilizers cause tremendous pollution. We know that heavy rains wash these substances into streams, lakes, rivers and bays. We know the devastating environmental damage they cause. We also know we are not doing enough to prevent it. Here are four tips to help you reduce your contribution to this problem.
1. Avoid using commercial phosphate/nitrate laden fertilizers on your lawn. Duh. Use organic fertilizers, manure or compost. If you lessen the pollutants in your lawn and garden, there will be less to wash off, and the problem is lessened.
2. Practice erosion control by covering bare soil with mulch or by planting grass or cover crops. Less exposed soil equates to less erosion, and subsequent pollution, by the actions of wind and rain runoff.
3. Use rain barrels on your gutter downspouts to contain water that would normally be allowed to run off and use it for outdoor watering. You will ease the burden on the streams and also conserve water in the process.
4. Install a rain garden. This rainwater containment area holds a vast amount of storm runoff and any pollutants it would be carrying. The natural actions of plants and soil work to offset the pollution. In some areas, it is required by code to install rain gardens to contain the runoff from large commercial parking lots. Installing one for your home would be an inexpensive and beautiful way to go the extra mile in your conservation efforts.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Geothermal Systems
A geothermal system is basically a heat pump, a type of heating/AC unit common in southern states and hotels. The system transfers heat from where you don't want it to where you do. In the summer, it is an air conditioner. It takes the heat from your house and transfers it outside. In the winter, it is a heater. It takes heat from outdoors and transfers it into your house. Yes, you read that right. Even in the dead of winter, there is plenty of heat to transfer into your house. This is accomplished by increasing and decreasing the pressure of a refrigerant gas in the system by means of a compressor.
The Ideal Gas Law states that if you increase the pressure of a gas, it's temperature will also increase. Consequentially, if you decrease the pressure of a gas, it's temperature will also decrease. Also, if you put a gas under enough pressure, it will turn into a liquid and when you release the pressure, the liquid will turn back into a gas. In the summer, the compressor increases the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant, turns it into a liquid, and sends it to a coil in your duct work. There, the pressure is decreased and the liquid returns to a gas, and the temperature decreases. The coil gets cold and a fan blows the cool air into your house while the refrigerant , which has absorbed heat from your house, returns to the compressor where it dissipates the heat from your house to the air outside via another coil. In the winter, the compressor turns the gas into a liquid, but now it sends it to the outside coil where it turns back into a gas and the temperature decreases. The refrigerant, which is now hot from absorbing heat from outdoors (yes, it really did!,) moves to the coil in your duct work and makes it hot. Your fan blows the warm air into your house.
A geothermal system removes the outside heat transfer coil and replaces it with a coil that is buried deep underground. The ground temperature below 4-5 feet remains relatively constant year round at around 55 degrees. This provides much more efficient heat transfer compared to an above ground coil exposed to constantly changing temperatures. There are some geothermal systems in which the outdoor coils are buried at shallower depths, but use a larger coil to compensate for the warmer ground temperatures. There are other systems that submerge the coil in a pond or an aquifer. Though more difficult to install, they are more efficient as water is such a good conductor of heat. A geothermal system can cut your heating bill 50%-60%, possibly more.
Geothermal misconceptions:
1. You must have duct work in your house for AC. Geothermal AC will not work with any other type of heating system. If you run cold water through baseboard heaters, radiators or radiant heat pipes, you will have condensation on your floors. This would cause wet, slippery floors and water damage to rooms. If you don't have duct work, you can use geothermal for heating only.
2. The heat that goes into your house comes from the compressor, not from the Earth's core. You would have to go down a great depth to reach that heat and if you did, it would be to hot to transfer heat to when you are using AC in the summer. I would also suspect that if you went too deep magma would actually melt the piping!
3. A geothermal system will drastically reduce your fuel cost for the winter, but prepare yourself for a whopper of an electric bill. The spike in your electric bill in the summer when you run your AC will pale in comparison to your winter electric bill. The compressor uses a lot of power and you will be running it all winter long. Do your homework as some compressors are more efficient than others.
The Ideal Gas Law states that if you increase the pressure of a gas, it's temperature will also increase. Consequentially, if you decrease the pressure of a gas, it's temperature will also decrease. Also, if you put a gas under enough pressure, it will turn into a liquid and when you release the pressure, the liquid will turn back into a gas. In the summer, the compressor increases the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant, turns it into a liquid, and sends it to a coil in your duct work. There, the pressure is decreased and the liquid returns to a gas, and the temperature decreases. The coil gets cold and a fan blows the cool air into your house while the refrigerant , which has absorbed heat from your house, returns to the compressor where it dissipates the heat from your house to the air outside via another coil. In the winter, the compressor turns the gas into a liquid, but now it sends it to the outside coil where it turns back into a gas and the temperature decreases. The refrigerant, which is now hot from absorbing heat from outdoors (yes, it really did!,) moves to the coil in your duct work and makes it hot. Your fan blows the warm air into your house.
A geothermal system removes the outside heat transfer coil and replaces it with a coil that is buried deep underground. The ground temperature below 4-5 feet remains relatively constant year round at around 55 degrees. This provides much more efficient heat transfer compared to an above ground coil exposed to constantly changing temperatures. There are some geothermal systems in which the outdoor coils are buried at shallower depths, but use a larger coil to compensate for the warmer ground temperatures. There are other systems that submerge the coil in a pond or an aquifer. Though more difficult to install, they are more efficient as water is such a good conductor of heat. A geothermal system can cut your heating bill 50%-60%, possibly more.
Geothermal misconceptions:
1. You must have duct work in your house for AC. Geothermal AC will not work with any other type of heating system. If you run cold water through baseboard heaters, radiators or radiant heat pipes, you will have condensation on your floors. This would cause wet, slippery floors and water damage to rooms. If you don't have duct work, you can use geothermal for heating only.
2. The heat that goes into your house comes from the compressor, not from the Earth's core. You would have to go down a great depth to reach that heat and if you did, it would be to hot to transfer heat to when you are using AC in the summer. I would also suspect that if you went too deep magma would actually melt the piping!
3. A geothermal system will drastically reduce your fuel cost for the winter, but prepare yourself for a whopper of an electric bill. The spike in your electric bill in the summer when you run your AC will pale in comparison to your winter electric bill. The compressor uses a lot of power and you will be running it all winter long. Do your homework as some compressors are more efficient than others.
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