[Greenbuilding] Old Nuclear Power Plants? RE: Give Me Your Old, Your Tired, Your Stinky and Energy Inefficient....

[Eli Talking]

I recently went through this evaluation of water heaters with replacement of
mine.  I considered on demand water heaters.  The size of the wire required
for the temperature rise was much bigger than the existing 10 gage wire.
The lower temperature rise was going to limit my comfort.  I ended up
installing a 20 gallon water heater (the size of one luxury bath) between 
the
bathtub and the vanity and enclosed it in a box that I filled up with
additional insulation (R30+-). This delivers immediate hot water improving
my comfort and does not leave a long pipe of heated water that cools for no
benefit.  We heat it to 140F, which is high.  However because of high R
value, the standby heat losses are negligible.  We draw off this water in a
gallon bowl to carry 20 feet to kitchen sink to mix with cooler water to 
achieve a larger volume of 120F for dishes and rinse with cold water.  That 
part does not achieve the middle class expectation of comfort. However, for 
us, it is such a small inconvenience to help us in our aspiration of net 
zero lifestyle.

By the way, Nuclear Power is the worst of all the choices.  Yes, relative to
the global warming issue, it looks like a reasonable choice.  However, the
risk and waste left in its wake dumps huge liabilities on the future for a
temporary benefit of freedom to be inefficient and inconsiderate.  The
Fukoshima disaster highlighted a vulnerability that I was not aware of, of
requiring active cooling in the spent fuel rods that contain greater
radiation than the active reactor.   Loose your active cooling and a fire
occurs, releasing huge amounts of radiation causing chronic illnesses on the
region.  This is what Japan is dealing with. We have the same situation at
North Anna, in Louisa, Virginia and only a few miles from the epicenter of
our biggest earthquake last year.  OMG!

Eli

-----Original Message----- 
From: Nick Pyner
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 9:46 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Old Nuclear Power Plants? RE: Give Me Your
Old,Your Tired, Your Stinky and Energy Inefficient....



-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org]On Behalf Of
Richard Garbary
S
I would like to see the hourly charts from a tankless household.

The costs associated with coping with demand loads from tankless water
heaters is greater than the costs associated with thermal losses from
tank type water heaters.
----------------------------

I guess it's not hard to work out what the chart would look like - another
15kW, or more, step every time somebody takes a shower. The only way anybody
can use a tankless electric heater with a clear conscience is by rigorously
promising to use it only with off-peak power, and even then it might be a
bit shakey.

The current controversy raging around here about power costs, is mostly to
do with the infrastructure investment required to meet demand spikes, which
has boiled down to poles, wires, and substations.  As part of that, electric
tankless has been banned in new construction for some years.


Nick Pyner

Dee Why   NSW


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