Just thinking out loud about new tech and what the future might look like

[ttystikk]

yeah, i think it was partially over thinkin, but also probably a combination of other things. too much caffeine can't have helped.

ah good points bro, not thinkin too clearly right now. keep up the brain stormin, ya have some great ideas in this thread.

neverbreak

Believe it or not, there is a way to use heat to create cooling in HVAC. I've seen it done- and if you have no more use for the heat, then using it to generate cooling makes logical sense.

 

[larebowm]

thats because theyve never ran it on marijuana oil. lol

 

[larebowm]

yes you could use the heat for adsorption chilling.

 

[ttystikk]

yes you could use the heat for adsorption chilling.

Yes, that's what it's called when they use heat to cool something.

 

[ttystikk]

I have a great place to put this absorption cooler, or at least the cooling tower for it; right over my fish tank outside.

The rest of this looks a bit involved for a home application, however;

 

[slumdog80]

Great thread so far. I love the enthusiasm, especially coming from a guy who is only paying 10c per kwh!

 

[ttystikk]

Great thread so far. I love the enthusiasm, especially coming from a guy who is only paying 10c per kwh!

Commercial growers pay business rates, which start at just THREE CENTS per kWh! And the single biggest bill they ever see is STILL the one from their electrical provider.

If I can get a payback on my ideas in 5 years or less at only 10¢/kWh, imagine how fast you'll be seeing your investment pay itself off at the rates y'all are paying!

 

[SuperSilverHaze]

peltier cooler

Yes, that's what it's called when they use heat to cool something.

its not as feasible as you would think but if you are producing your own power then its no worries.


Abengoa Solar has some solar plants using focused sunlight to generate heat that will be used to create steam to generate power.


building w/2.5 - 3' thick walls and use all led lighting in the home is where I would start then have a redundant system.......pv / wind / generator as well as have a bank of batteries.

 

[ttystikk]

peltier cooler



its not as feasible as you would think but if you are producing your own power then its no worries.


Abengoa Solar has some solar plants using focused sunlight to generate heat that will be used to create steam to generate power.


building w/2.5 - 3' thick walls and use all led lighting in the home is where I would start then have a redundant system.......pv / wind / generator as well as have a bank of batteries.

You're describing a 'passive home' type of design, where it's so well insulated that heat from people, pets and home electronics is often enough to keep it warm.

The real secret to these designs is something I thought of years ago on my own; an air to air heat exchanger, passing the interior air leaving the house across air coming in for ventilation, thereby preserving the interior temperature of the house and saving gobs of juice in the bargain. Any home can take advantage of this technology; passive homes are just better at it.

Having looked into renewables in my local area, I found that sunlight is a long payback at local utility rates- and wind power doesn't really ever quite do it.

Battery backup is great if you're off the grid- but my goal is energy independence, not self sufficiency- the difference being that while I want to generate my own power, I don't feel the need to uncouple from the grid. This has lots of advantages and few additional costs; using the utility as my battery not only saves me the cost of buying and maintaining my own bank of storage capacity, but it's also much more efficient; the utility will credit me for every kWh I send to them, whereas you will only get about 60% of the power back out of the batteries- the rest is lost as heat and chemical degradation.

Since I'll remain hooked up, I won't need to deal with powering my stuff when renewables aren't available. This also works the other way; they're always there when I have excess watts, too. The monthly connection fee is a small price to pay for that kind of unlimited perfectly efficient energy storage!

I'll definitely have at least token solar, for the purpose of conning the utility into thinking they're buying my renewable energy- otherwise, they might not want to pay me for any excess I've built up over time.

 

[Toker Ace]

Awesome thread Ty. An area of technology that hasn't been mentioned is the use of Variable Frequency Drives on the compressor motors. I am a building engineer and we have been installing VFDs on all HVAC motors. They provide for a soft start, use way less power. and can accept a variety of control inputs. Say you had one on your water chiller. You could control the motor so that it would slowly ramp up based on the delta T of the incoming and outgoing water, outside vs air temp... there are infinite ways to use one. The idea is to only demand of the motor what is really required at the time, instead of 100% on until an analog switch is tripped and we're back to 100%off. We've been doing it this way for a long time and it is wasteful and very hard on equipment. Thanx for sharing your insomnia with great ideas. Also google vortex cooling with compressed air

 

[ttystikk]

Awesome thread Ty. An area of technology that hasn't been mentioned is the use of Variable Frequency Drives on the compressor motors. I am a building engineer and we have been installing VFDs on all HVAC motors. They provide for a soft start, use way less power. and can accept a variety of control inputs. Say you had one on your water chiller. You could control the motor so that it would slowly ramp up based on the delta T of the incoming and outgoing water, outside vs air temp... there are infinite ways to use one. The idea is to only demand of the motor what is really required at the time, instead of 100% on until an analog switch is tripped and we're back to 100%off. We've been doing it this way for a long time and it is wasteful and very hard on equipment. Thanx for sharing your insomnia with great ideas. Also google vortex cooling with compressed air

A VFD sounds like a great upgrade to my chiller. Currently, my chiller uses the reservoir to match load vs demand, so it can get away with an on/off operating cycle and still be efficient. I'm curious about how such a VFD could do away with the need for a large reservoir, which would increase efficiency by the same means shaving the flywheel on a car engine increases performance; it would respond to load inputs much more quickly.

 

[Toker Ace]

The beauty of the VFD is even on the simplest of equipment by running at 25% amp load continuously you will require less amperage to do the same job as running 100% power 1/4 of the time. Hard starts fuck up motors and pull a lot of power to get going. A VFD would save you power with your system even if you use a res. As far as shitcanning the res system you could use a VFD to make your compressor motor run continuously and the VFD maintains the water temp by slowing down and speeding up the motor. there is still an on off effect due to the lower limit on the VFD but you get the idea. You could also put them on circ pumps to really fine tune loops that go to lights vs air vs nute water.

 

[Toker Ace]

cut and paste this in your sticky if apropos

 

[ttystikk]

The beauty of the VFD is even on the simplest of equipment by running at 25% amp load continuously you will require less amperage to do the same job as running 100% power 1/4 of the time. Hard starts fuck up motors and pull a lot of power to get going. A VFD would save you power with your system even if you use a res. As far as shitcanning the res system you could use a VFD to make your compressor motor run continuously and the VFD maintains the water temp by slowing down and speeding up the motor. there is still an on off effect due to the lower limit on the VFD but you get the idea. You could also put them on circ pumps to really fine tune loops that go to lights vs air vs nute water.

Is this the same thing as a 'variac' controller, where it varies line voltage?

 

[Toker Ace]

No. A variable frequency drive varies the frequency of the current and frequency is measured in Hertz not volts.

 

[Toker Ace]

say you have rowers. you could bash them inthe head and scream "full speed ahead" (60Hz) Or you could say "hey guys let's get warmed up a bit"(15Hz) then we will sprint only if necessary.

 

[Toker Ace]

Beautiful day in the neighborhood today aint it

 

[altitudefarmer]

Great thread, Ty. I think more of us farmers should use our ingenuity to help lighten the human carbon footprint.

 

[ttystikk]

The beauty of the VFD is even on the simplest of equipment by running at 25% amp load continuously you will require less amperage to do the same job as running 100% power 1/4 of the time. Hard starts fuck up motors and pull a lot of power to get going. A VFD would save you power with your system even if you use a res. As far as shitcanning the res system you could use a VFD to make your compressor motor run continuously and the VFD maintains the water temp by slowing down and speeding up the motor. there is still an on off effect due to the lower limit on the VFD but you get the idea. You could also put them on circ pumps to really fine tune loops that go to lights vs air vs nute water.

Ha! I've had two chillers for months now- and you're the first to mention that I could run them on separate loops at different temperatures!

Come to think about it however, I've spent some effort fine tuning the setup so everything works well with the chiller water at one temp for everything, this way either chiller can be taken offline without the whole system needing to shut down. Also, one set of circuits is easier to manage. Indeed, every circuit that supplies water for climate control or for RDWC cooling can be individually shut off at inlet and outlet for service or refit anytime, all while the system operates normally.

I'm a decent farmer. I feel my real talents, while certainly related, lie elsewhere... do you ever have a feeling like that?

 

[ttystikk]

Great thread, Ty. I think more of us farmers should use our ingenuity to help lighten the human carbon footprint.

Agreed and I'll go you one further and say that I think we damn well better learn if we want to be able to keep doing what we love, and that's grow plants inside. Beyond the fun and profit of pot, there is a more serious consideration of the immediate availability and nutrition of fresh produce without a trip to the grocery store.

Grabbing something fresh off the vine for a snack instead of a bag of chips sounds pretty good both To me- and For me.

Getting even more serious, environmental pollution is already a concern for crops in many parts of the world, but people who live near coal fired power plants (heavy metals) and industry (all sorts of nasty stuff) still want to eat fresh, wholesome food.

Finally, earlier in this thread I mentioned the potential ultimate stakes of the game; feeding the Diaspora of humankind into space once we've outgrown/used up/wrecked Mother Earth. Space is a very large, very empty and very hungry place, and we'll need everything we can in order to feed ourselves as we travel across its deserts.

Maybe, if we all become the very best kind of people, we could someday designate the Earth as the ultimate national park. My knowledge of human nature suggests this is a real long shot- but I'm with one Gene Roddenberry on this one; if you're going to dream about the future, try to make it a happy place. We're all going there anyway, at least, those of us who make it...