Off-grid Home in Jolicure- BE, SE, WIND
At the moment the home is powered by a small photovoltaic solar system which is sufficient for his home, however he has had to make some lifestyle changes. The owner monitors the amount of power being used, and can only use a laptop computer for a certain amount of time as to not drain its batteries. He uses a refrigerator in the summer when there is lots of solar energy, and uses a naturally cooled room in the winter. The system includes three 123 W Sharp PV solar panels mounted on an outbuilding. He has a small 400 W Air X Wind turbine …
Off-Grid Yurt in Cocagne- SE
The owner uses this place as a summer get-away on a large, wooded property. He built himself a yurt and uses the solar panel to run one light, a computer, a DVD player and a radio. When he uses the vacuum cleaner, it is often too much of a load for the system to handle. When he connected the cable to the battery, he only realized later that the positive and negative symbols were inverted. Unfortunately, he had to buy a new battery because the battery was ruined. He highly recommends buying a voltage meter which can be used to check up …
400 W Wind Turbine in Fredericton- WIND
An Air X 400 W wind turbine sits high above the roof and could generate as much as 400 W of power, when the wind blows — which it does from late fall to early spring, but not once summer arrives. Essentially, there is no energy to be had from wind at this location during the warmer part of the year. The high trees surrounding the house don’t make things easier, but the owners prefer not to cut them down. …
120 W Photovoltaic system in Fredericton- SE
Four 30 W solar panels, pointing south (1 pm) and south-west (3 pm), catch the noon and afternoon sun and work surprisingly well during sunny summer days. A daily charge of up to 7 A for 6–8 hours keeps 3 deep-cycle spiral-type 12 V batteries (a total of 165 Ah) well-charged and ready for supplying enough energy to a 12 V DC/115 V AC inverter of 1750 W capacity for all the floor lamps in the house, and occasionally the TV in the evening. …
Solar Hot Water & Space Heating in Debec- SE
This solar thermal system provides both hot water and in-floor heating to this house and garage for a family of four, and has a 40 gallon tank for thermal storage along with a 15kW electric heater as a back-up. In the summer, 2 of the 4 banks of evacuated tubes are covered, and the heat is used for hot water. During the winter, all 4 banks of evacuated tubes are used, producing the main source of heat for the garage and house, which are both one story and have an area of roughly 186 m2 (2000 sq. ft.). The heat comes from passing …
Solar Hot Air in Cocagne- SE
This house is located in the rural community of Cocagne. The Cansolair panel was installed by Southside Air Inc., and is made from recycled aluminum pop cans. You can actually see the cans inside. A fan run by a motor is used to bring the heat into the house.The owners installed this panel because of a personal interest in energy conservation, in combination with a government rebate. Their system is installed on the exterior wall of a bedroom closest to the south side. Unfortunately, that side of the house has a big maple tree in the neighbour’s yard. As a result, …
Geothermal in Bristol- GT
This is a net-metered house. It is a new construction, begun in 2008. The owner is also considering solar energy addition in the future. The house was rated 85 during the energy efficiency test. Propane is used to heat water. The owners also use energy star appliances and put insulated concrete form (ICF) for all exterior walls (10 inches, 2 inches of Styrofoam on both sides of 8 inches of concrete). A ground source heat pump provides space heating for the home and meets most of his heating needs. However, the initial costs were surprising to the owners, and the lawn …
2.4 kW Turbine in Bristol- WIND
This net-metered house takes advantage of a good wind site, high above the river valley. It is newly-constructed, begun in 2008. Its 2.4-kW Skystream wind turbine was installed by Grun-Sol Technologies Ltd. …
Passive Solar in Keswick- PS
This passive solar house is situated in a north/south direction on a 125 hectare (309 acre) farm, woodlot, and sugarbush operation in the Keswick Ridge area. The systems in the house allow it to be rated as zero-carbon, energy-neutral, with zero waste and as an environmentally-compatible dwelling. Three 1.2 × 1.5 m (4 × 5′) south-facing windows allow for passive solar heat to enter the interior of house. Much of the passive solar heat is absorbed by the brick mass of a masonry heater that sits directly behind the window area. …
Brick Masonry Stove in Keswick- BE
The system is a 2 ½-storey brick masonry heater of Finnish design. The heater includes a cook stove, oven, bread oven, and 2 fireboxes; one in cook stove and another on opposite side of brick mass. Heat from both fireboxes is circulated through and absorbed by mass. A copper water coil is installed in the heat mass which provides all domestic hot water winter and summer. Hot water is stored in an external tank. The masonry heater sits in front of large south facing windows allowing the mass to absorb passive solar heat. …
