Making Savings in the Home Budget

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On Being Thrifty

As a first post in this series, I simply want to outline some of the areas where saving can be made. I will not go into any detail in this post. These ideas were aired today on Radio Kerry and received quite a large response. Hope you find the pointers useful.



So where can the savings to be made in the average home?

1. Economical home cooking. Avoid using the oven it costs a fortune to run, get a wok, a George Foreman Grill and a slow-cooker. Cook from scratch using cheap local ingredients. Get your meat in a butchers, much cheaper than the supermarkets. Let your menus be dictated by what is on offer in the shops. Stop spending a fortune on drinks, soft drinks, and bottled water, use filtered water, tea etc. Savings €1000 to €3000 pa
2. The shopping bill. Buying the right stuff in the right places. Avoiding brand names, buy own brands or generic packaged in both food and household goods – with brand names you are just paying 30 to 60% more for the name and their massive advertising outlay.
3. Internet & Phone savings. Mobile costs are very high make calls lasting seconds on a mobile and have a chat on a land-line. Get package deals for phone and Internet and save money. Saving €200 to €500pa
4. Heating. Insulation, fuel economy etc. Easily save €200 to €400pa
5. Electricity. Saving by fitting CFL bulbs, by using Airtricity or the Gas Board saving 13% on Electricity Board prices. Take showers not baths. Try to avoid using your oven for cooking, get a wok!! Maybe consider using a Monitor to check electricity usage. Saving up to €300pa
6. Car. Careful price watching on petrol and diesel can save 7 to 8% on fuel. Using small local mechanics for service usually saves 30 to 50% but get recommendations to avoid the cowboys.
7. TV. Sky TV charges a whacking great amount for their channel deals. Go Freesat and save money.




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Sustainable Home Economics in the Recession

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Sustainable Home Economics

I am preparing a post specifically dealing with making savings in the home budget. What sparked this idea was a letter to a radio programme I am associated with on Radio Kerry. The letter expressed worry about making ends meet ofter the prime earner in a household was made redundant.

I will be looking at easy to implement ways of making immediate savings of up to €5000 per year in an average home. I will look at energy of course, such as how to save on electrical power, on heating and insulation, but I will also look at home cooking as a way of saving energy and saving a lot of money.

These will be my own views and suggestions, as always I am not claiming any authority or specialist knowledge.

I grew up in the post WW2 recession and was imbued with thrift from an early age. I will pass on some of my ideas for what they are worth.



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Sex XXX and Sustainable Energy!!

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The hit counter on this blog turned 200,000 today. Any self respecting porn site would register that many hits in a day!! But, I guess, for a boring old specialist blog ranting on about sustainable energy stuff, I guess it is a little milestone worth noting.

So just a little celebration:

hip hip hooray!!!




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Stirling Old Stirling New

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Stirling Old
Stirling New
Stirling Powered
Stirling True

To wrap up my series of Stirling posts, I have gathered together a bit of a mishmash of interesting bits and pieces that I hope you will enjoy reading about.



Stirling Old


As a link to the past I have included this picture of a lovely old Stirling Rider engine made in the USA. These old heavy iron engines have become real collectors items these days and are lovingly restored to pristine levels by some very dedicated enthusiasts.


A Stirling Ireland Connection

Tom Bruton recently wrote and told me that Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority in Ireland, are putting a Stirling based bio-mass generator in their Oakpark research headquarters in Carlow, Ireland. He also suggested going to www.stirling.dk for more info about the machine they have bought.

I contacted StirlingDK, who have kindly have given me permission to use their materials and sent some interesting photos.


Stirling DK what they say about themselves

Based on more than 15 years of solid research led by the leading authority within applied Stirling engine technology, professor Henrik Carlsen, Stirling DK has today materialized as the worlds' leading provider of biomass fuelled Stirling engine systems.

Our technology enables us to convert biomass of low value, such as wood chips and straw, into high value, clean, CO2-neutral electricity and heat. And we can do this in small-scale applications with an electrical output between 10 and 500 kWe. The heat is typically used for district heating but can also be used for other purposes such as freshwater generation, cooling, or process heating.


November 15th 2008 First Irish Contract

The 35 Kilo Watt electrical output Stirling Engine by Stirling DK

A contract has been signed for the delivery of a 35 kWe /1480 kWth updraft gasifier plant to be delivered to National Research Institute (NRI) of Ireland.

A Handy sized Engine don't you think?

The plant will be fuelled by wood chips and the heat will be used for heating of buildings of the NRI . The power, which will be generated by one (1) 35 kWe SD3-E engine, will be sold to the electrical grid.

The updraft gasifier will have a capacity of 800 kW and the installation is therefore prepared for the possible later expansion by addition three 35 kWe engines. The total electrical output of the plant can thus reach 140 kWe.

This will become Stirling DK's first installation in Ireland. This market is considered to be very attractive due to Ireland's large biomass resources and strong focus on CO2-neutral energy productions.

The plant will go into operation in May 2009.



Meccano and The Fab Lab

I am not sure where this picture originates,
I just love the practical hands-on test rig!!

Don't you just love this bit of experimental engineering!! When I was a kid 50 years ago!!! I had a great love of Meccano sets and hoped I would get one each birthday and Christmas. The guys at this lab have evidently held on to their Meccano sets, along with their mother's cake mixing bowl, and used them to rig the above test rig. Just the way I love science.


Stirling on the Moon and Mars

Moon photo by Biorn McGinley

NASA has marked Stirling power conversion using the heat from fissionable material as a viable option for generation of power on the moon. They have been playing around with using a Stirling converter coupled to a relatively low-temperature < 900K, uranium dioxide fuelled, liquid-metal-cooled reactor. A similar configuration is being worked on for application on Mars.

Stirling and the Nuke

The project is being developed at the Foster Miller and Auburn University; the aim is to design and fabricate a 5kW Free-Piston Stirling converter.


Long live Stirling!

I hope you have enjoyed reading the series of Stirling posts half as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing them.

With much thanks to the Rev. Robert Stirling, who's memory will live long into the future!

Tapadh leibh Robert Stirling agus Alba!!

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On the subject of LED bulbs

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On the Subject
of
LED Bulbs

As I am back briefly on the subject of LEDs, I am copying, with thanks to the correspondents, a couple of connected and cogent comments that came in on earlier posts. The first is from Miguel Sánchez who is an associate professor in Valencia. He keeps several blogs one of them is liked here: http://fightpc.blogspot.com/


Miguel Sánchez has left a comment on your post "The Good the LED and the Ugly part 2":

Exactly the same experience here with the same multi-led MR16 from the same eBay seller.
We both have been fooled. But I'm still trying other alternatives (Cree-based) and DIY.


The second comment comes from Colm Garvey who is in the LED business himself in Ireland:

Colm has left a new comment on your post "Led Light Comparison":

Well done Sir, we've done a couple of trade show now with our hi-power LEDs (similar technology to the Vario) and the amount of stick we took for Ecopal bulbs was unbelievable. Keep up the good work and feel free to contact us to review our lights.

Regards,
Colm Garvey



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LED astray by CFLs

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LED astray by CFLs

Just a very short post on energy saving bulbs. If you have been reading this blog, you will know that I have taken a great interest in the development of LED (light emitting diode) lamps. I have however reached a point where I have, for the time being, tired of LEDs as a viable alternative.

The reasons are:

1. LED bulbs are way too expensive, with prices between 2 and 6 times that of equivalent output CFL (compact florescent lamps) energy saving bulbs.

2. Only the top of the line LED bulbs, costing $20 to $50 a piece, can hope to match the colour and output of a similarly rated CFL bulb.

3. The cheaper LED bulbs are just plain rubbish. The multi-led types (those with lots of little LED lamps stuffed into the front) are the worst offenders. The light output is miserable, the colour is generally poor, and they last no time at all. I have 4 such bulbs that the light has turned almost purple in and faded to a quarter of the original poor light. I have several more that have LEDs that died in the middle of the bunch.

4. I have just bought a bunch of GU10 CFL bulbs some rated at 7 watts and some at 9 watts. The colour is spot on, the light output is VERY good, they cost me under $5 a piece, they fit perfectly into every fitting I have tried them in. The size 58mm means they don't stick out like bean tins the way some of the earlier GU10 CFL bulbs did. The only negative thing I can say is that they take 20 to 30 seconds to brighten fully.

Regular GU10 bulb on the left - The CFL on the right almost exactly the same size!

For me, for the time being, it is CFL bulbs all the way in my house. When LED bulbs get to half or one third of their current high price, and when they can outlast a CFL for consistency of colour and output, I will consider the game is on again.



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Stirling and Sun

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Stirling and Sun

In this post I am outlining what, IMHO, is one of the most exciting developments of the Stirling engine; a solar concentrator and Stirling converter which can directly generate grid quality usable electricity.

The technology involved, with perhaps the exception of the control and automation systems, is very old indeed, how old is the mirror?, then the Reverend Robert Stirling's 1818 heat engine, and Ányos Jedlik's 1861 generator idea (yes he was the first to conceive the idea but like too many missed out on the kudos).

It has however taken quite a long time for to integrate and perfect all the systems into a practical and workable unit. Hopefully this is what has recently been achieved by Stirling Energy Systems.

Stirling Energy Systems have kindly given me permission to copy materials and have sent me some really interesting photographs of their "SunCatcher".


Try and Catch the Sun

The idea of using a mirror and Stirling to catch and convert sunlight into electricity is not a new one. There have been quite a few prototypes and development efforts. The Advanco and McDonald-Douglas Stirling units are pictured below.

Stirling based unit by McDonald Douglas




Stirling based Advanco Vanguard 63Kw

Stirling Energy Systems

SunCatcher is a 25Kw solar dish which uses a Stirling engine based converter. The convert utilises a closed-cycle, high-efficiency four-cylinder, reciprocating Stirling Engine. The engine uses a sealed cooling fluid that is recycled through the engine.




The suns heat is focused by mirrors onto the converter units receiver tubes which contain hydrogen gas. The heat pressurizes the gas in the heat exchanger tubing, the expanding gas powers the engine.




Waste heat from the Stirling engine is dissipated to the air by a radiator similar to one used in cars. The gas is cooled by a radiator system and is continually recycled within the engine during the power cycle. The conversion process does not consume water as it is a closed system.




The SunCatcher™ mirror system is an innovative radial design. The girasol (sun tracking device) is controlled by sophisticated software.




The SunCatcher's Stirling Engine based Power Conversion Unit has a peak efficiency of 31.25% one of the highest in the business.




Stirling Energy Systems should be shipping by next year so get your orders in soon. Ireland, because of our location and the greenness of the landscape (made so by all the rain and cloudy weather) need not rush out to invest in this technology. I think we will have to wait until someone comes up with "Rain Powered Technology"

Thanks to Stirling Energy Systems for permission to use photos etc.


http://www.stirlingenergy.com/how-it-works.htm




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Some Sterling Stirlings

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Some Sterling Stirlings

What started me reading up on the Stirling engine was research reading I was doing on some new solar energy projects. one of these projects uses a Stirling engine to convert the sun's energy into rotary motion and thus into electricity. I will write about this later on.

Lots of Modern uses for the Reverend Stirling's Invention

A variation of the Stirling engine can be used as a heat pump for refrigeration or air conditioning, when it is driven by an electric motor. There is also a machine called the "Stirling Cryocooler" which is used to liquefy air and other gases.

Wikipedia has a very interesting entry for Stirling engine uses:

"Marine engines:

The Swedish shipbuilder Kockums has built 8 successful Stirling powered submarines since the late 1980s.


They carry compressed oxygen to allow fuel combustion whilst submerged which provides heat for the Stirling engine. They are currently used on submarines of the Gotland and Södermanland classes.



They are the first submarines in the world to feature a Stirling engine air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, which extends their underwater endurance from a few days to two weeks. This capability has previously only been available with nuclear powered submarines."


Tiny Stirlings

There is a market in model Stirling engines, and quite a few interest groups around the world. Some of the more spectacular at demonstrating the principle are the little low pressure low temperature engines which can work from the heat of your hand or happily run for months on the heat of an Internet router. The computer component company MSI have developed a Stirling engine that uses the heat of a CPU (Central Processor Unit) to drive the fan which help cools the chip. I does not appear to have reached the shops though, I have been trying to locate a unit to play with and have failed to find one!!

The Stirling principle is used in this toy low-pressure engine

Here is a very novel and practical application of a low pressure Stirling engine
made by MSI used as a CPU cooler fan. (Not available in the shops!!!)
(OOps just spotted this is a NorthBridge cooler not a CPU cooler)

Stirling Engine based CHP units

Micro-Generation is a term which is becoming more popular in recent times. Previously it referred almost exclusively to small domestic wind generators. Recently there is a trend to use heat in domestic gas boilers to generate electric power. The companies developing these CHP units claim that it is a a far more economical way of generating electricity than the large scale central model currently in use.

CHP Micro-Generation Efficiency Figures published by Disenco UK

Here are two examples of (CHP) combined heat and power using a modern reincarnation of the Reverend Stirling's engine. The first example is from a UK based company called Disenco.

Top above is test model of the Disenco CHP gas boiler
Below it is an artist impression of the unit

IMHO CHP units would not be of much interest as yet in Ireland , not until smart meters are introduced, where micro-generating units like the above can feed power back into the electricity network and get paid or credited, at a reasonable rate, for the power generated.

http://www.disenco.com/default.asp?id=3111


Pictured below is a very very similar unit from a New Zealand based company called Whispergen, the idea seem to be catching on in several places at once.

Stirling application by New Zealand company Whispergen

Whispergen are a Zealand based outfit. They do have agents in Europe etc. check out their site, link below. Thanks to Jim O'Riordan for the heads up on this one.

The layout of the CHP unit:
A) Gas burner: flame heats the four cylinder heads of the engine
B) Exhaust heat recovery unit: uses the exhaust heat to heat the water
C) Stirling engine: uses the heat from the burner to push pistons back and forth
D) Water heating: water is further heated as it passes through the engine
E) Wobble Yoke (inside): converts the linear motion of the pistons into
rotating motion for the alternator
F) Gas valve: supplies and regulates the gas to the burner
G) Rotary alternator (inside): generates electricity
H) Water pipe connections: delivers the hot water to the home’s hot water
cylinder and heating system

http://www.whispergen.com/



In the next Stirling post I will publish some photos of solar generators using Stirling engines.


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Variations on a Theme of Stirling

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Variations on a Theme
of Stirling

There are three fundamental variations of the Stirling engine. All three have two pistons but these work in different ways in the variations.


The Alpha Stirling Engine

The Alpha type Stirling engine has TWO power generating pistons. The two pistons are in separate cylinders, one hot and one cold. The Alpha configuration has a high power-to-volume ratio. It also has problems with seals and lubrication due to the high temperature of the hot piston. The hot piston generally has a hefty insulating head which adds inefficiency.


The Beta Stirling



The Beta type Stirling has only a single POWER piston. This is fitted in the same cylinder on the same shaft as a second piston called a displacer.

The displacer piston fits loosely in the cylinder and does not generate any power. It's sole purpose is to shuttle air / gas from the hot side to the cold side.

When the working gas is pushed to the hot end of the cylinder it expands and pushes on the power piston. When it is pushed to the cold end of the cylinder it contracts and the momentum of the machine, assisted by the flywheel momentum, pushes the power piston the other way to compress the gas. The beta engine avoids the difficulties of hot moving seals.


The Gamma Stirling

The Gamma Stirling is a Beta Stirling with the power piston mounted in it's own separate cylinder. The hot air/gas flows between the two cylinders as a single body. The Gamma configuration produces a lower compression ratio but has the advantage of being simpler and is often used in multi-cylinder engines.

Another diagram of the Stirling Gamma engine
close enough a layout to the working model below

Another toy model clearly showing the principle of the above diagrams

In the next post on Stirling, I will be looking at some of the interesting applications and variations of the engine.





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The Reverend Stirling's Engine

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Robert Stirling's Unique Engine
2nd post on the Reverend Stirling's Engine

Beautiful German model of a gamma Stirling engine
clearly showing the 2 piston configuration
(note the cooling fins on the power piston)

It is almost 200 years since a minister of the Church of Scotland invented a unique type of engine. His engine employed radically different techniques to anything before and much since. It took science some time to explain the principles at work, even today there are doctorates being written on aspects of the Reverend Stirling's engine.

The Stirling Engine was not Popular

The engine never really 'caught-on'. It was used mainly to drive water pumps and for some industrial purposes but compared to the steam engine, it remained little more than a curiosity.

There are two main reasons for this:

1. The engine does not produce the massive power that steam engines can produce.
2. The engine uses a direct external heat source and does not have the store of power like steam built up in a boiler. Because of this, it cannot easily or quickly accelerate, nor can it slow down quickly, due to heat lag. The Stirling engine prefers to run at a steady speed and was therefore not great for automotive purposes.

Has Stirling's Time come?

It would appear that the time have arrived come for a second coming of Robert Stirling's engine. Today we need engines to drive electricity generators and for this purpose the Stirling engine is just the biz because with electrical generator what you need is an economical motor with a steady speed and output, there is no need for acceleration.

The Stirling Design Concept

Reverend Stirling's engine directly converts heat into mechanical motion, and it does this very efficiently. Given the times 1818, almost 200 years ago, Robert Stirling's engine was very special indeed in both its concept and design.

The main advantages of the engine were (a) economy, (b) quietness of operation, (c) the ability to use just about any fuel or heat source, and (d) safety.


Wikipedia says of the Stirling Engine:

"The Stirling engine is noted for its high efficiency, quiet operation, and the ease with which it can utilize almost any heat source. This compatibility with alternative and renewable energy sources has become increasingly significant as the price of conventional fuels rises, and also in light of concerns such as peak oil and climate change. This engine is currently exciting interest as the core component of micro combined heat and power (CHP) units, in which it is more efficient and safer than a comparable steam engine. Widespread adoption of CHP could have a significant effect upon worldwide energy utilization."

In the next post I will have a go at understanding how the Stirling engine works and a look at some of the main variations of the design.



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