Re[2]: [at-l] Those nasty dryers . . .

[Bob Cummings <ellen@clinic.net> (Bob Cummings)]

"...the old law of unintended consequences once again!"

The first experimenters with energy efficient homes certainly had some
unintended consequences, largely because the builders failed to consider  some
pretty obvious things.

 The sad thing is that the early mistakes are being repeated again and again.

 But the solutions to the problem are easy and inexpensive -- providing you
 don't make the mistake of adding extra moisture to an already over moisturized
 house.

 Unfortunately, there are also expensive and complicated solutions and those are
 the ones that most builders recommend and most buyers of energy-efficient homes
 demand.

 For the house I built a quarter century ago, I just open the windows a crack on
 sunny, winter days when I have a surplus of solar energy and let the place air
 out. This is also the most pleasurable solution. There's a certain joy to
 knowing that when temperatures are in the single numbers, you are the only one
 in town with your windows open.

 For a house I built for one of my kids five years ago, I chose a less enjoyable
 option. I ran small plastic pipes from the outside to each bedroom closet and
 the the kitchen pantry. Then I installed in one of the bathrooms a tiny,
 silent, 60 watt fan that runs constantly in winter, venting interior air
 outside. Cool outside air is constantly drawn inside. Why the closet locations.
 I wanted the cold air to  mingle with inside air before reaching the
 inhabitants, thus causing drafts that would cause them to turn the fan off.
 This was the $100 solution.

 The $5 thousand solution, which most use, is to install an air-to-air heat
 exchanger. I considered that, but with the tiny amount of energy saved, I
 calculated it would take a thousand years to earn back the money invested.

 A properly built new solar house uses so little energy for heating, even in
 Maine, that $5,000 energy recycling investments never are worthwhile. Nor for
 that matter are solar storage devices, water tanks, concrete floors, rocks, and
 such.

 All wise new home builders minimize their use of fossil-fuel derived materials
 in order to minimize interior pollution levels. Neither of my houses have had
 interior pollution problems.

 One reason I was able to buy 8,000 copies of my home energy book for a dime
 each as an election gimmick is that the conventional alternative energy outlets
 refused to sell it because it talked $100 solutions, rather than $5,000
 solutions. No one believed then that what I said could possibly be true.

 BTW, though the book talks quite a bit about new construction, it's main theme
 is how to make "old, creaky and drafty buildings" energy efficient while
 remaining healthy to live in.

 Weary