Heating, Cooling and HVAC

There must be a national effort to bring about a “green revolution”, But what simple things can we all do to save the Earth?
Everyone could help save the planet by making just a few changes in our household energy use.

Intelligent use of heat :

A number of different ideas converge here, but the main inspiration comes from Rob Thompson of Ottawa, Canada.
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For many countries in the Northern Hemisphere, we have freezing temperatures for a good part of the year. It would be a relatively simple thing to adapt fridges so they are connected to the outside and use a simple fan to suck in cold air to keep food cold, and even frozen. Instead fridges are constantly running in winter trying to keep food cold in our heated homes.

It’s an idea that might have more application in Canada than in the UK, but the principle seems interesting. Instead of spending lots of power heating air up or cooling it down, why not use existing sources of hot or cold air?

Another suggestion was to make better use of the heat coming out of the back of fridges - if the heat could be transferred to cold water, this now lukewarm water would need less energy to be heated fully for central heating, baths or showers.Ian Turner of Potton, UK, says he has connected the outlet of his tumble dryer into a pipe that goes into his greenhouse.

Ian Turner of Potton, UK, says he has connected the outlet of his tumble dryer into a pipe that goes into his greenhouse. “The warm air heats the greenhouse, reducing the amount the heater comes on,” he says. Before anyone jumps on him for using a tumble dryer in the first place, it’s the principle we’re interested in.

And there’s an even more radical solution proposed by reader Jeremy Mason of Atlanta, Georgia: “Stop using ice in soft drinks. Even in winter people use ice and in fast food places the cups are typically filled before they pour the drink. The marketers would also have to adjust the portion sizes but I’m sure they can figure that all out. ”

Expert verdict

Martin Wright, the editor in chief of Green Futures magazine, says cool-air-from-outside is not only a good idea, it has past form.

“It’s called a larder and everyone used to have one. Everyone had a room that was well-insulated and insect-proof which worked extremely well to keep food cool. It’s a wonderful innovation that we should return to.

“As for ice in drinks, its only purpose is decorative - and to help bar owners make more money, as they don’t have to put as much drink in if a glass is filled with ice. Ice in drinks came about because people in the days of the Raj wanted to sit on the veranda with a cold gin and tonic. Today we don’t need ice because the tonic would be kept in the fridge.”

It’s all part of the current obsession with keeping things cooler - or warmer - than need be, whether it’s under-insulating and over-heating our homes or freezing ice for drinks that are already cool. And it’s a pattern we need to break, he says.

Sources: BBC NEWS/UK/Magazine