A question for Kurt

[kurt]

There's a lot of landscaping plant types that I've never seen before. The fancy places have major over the top landscaping schemes. The ancient gardens are amazing.

Most of the stats have standard overrides so testing them during our job is just like doing it now.

Everyone will have one of the smart stats someday. They're great. How I got involved in the whole escapade is a crazy story. How it all plays out is a mystery.

[Brandon Whitmore]

I would like to walk into a house and test the furnace and the thermostat without destroying the programming and setting the curtains on fire.

Jumper Wires....

[Tom Raymond]

Everyone will have one of the smart stats someday. They're great.

Why? My old gold Honeywells work just fine. I have three of them set between 64 and 66 and my house is very comfortable.

I can't imagine that letting my hydronic radiant system modulate based on the whims of everyone else and their hot air doing me any good.

[kurt]

There's a plentiful supply of folks that can't imagine all sorts of things.

[gtblum]

Everyone will have one of the smart stats someday. They're great.

Why? My old gold Honeywells work just fine. I have three of them set between 64 and 66 and my house is very comfortable.

I can't imagine that letting my hydronic radiant system modulate based on the whims of everyone else and their hot air doing me any good.

That's the kind of thinking that keeps the stuff people think they need from ever being developed. You know. Like the power rear view mirrors on my truck.

[Chad Fabry]

I have three programmable thermostats- Honeywells, controlling three zones- they're not smart stats but they learn how long it takes to achieve the desired temperature at the programmed time.

I heat with wood fired hot water to radiant floors. The programmable t stats have reduced my wood use by about a 1/3 . More importantly, they've reduced my trudge to the boiler from three times a day to two.

[kurt]

Not intending this to be a sales pitch for t-stats, but control systems are the base and future of energy efficiency. It's as important as building envelope and system engineering. It's extremely useful for residential in ways I'm getting educated on and previously thought silly. And it's not just for rich folks and their second homes or nervousness if Fluffy the cat is warm while they're on vacation. Fabry's testimonial is indicative of how helpful control systems and software can be.

Which reminds me....someday I have to make a pilgrimage to the Fabry estate. I have this notion it's a wonderland of thoughtful ideas and good craftsmanship.

[Marc]

To me, energy efficiency will remain mostly about 'methods and materials' with a little help from web capable microprocessor-based devices to coordinate the HVAC system, electrical system, appliances and fixtures all together in an intelligent and cohesive fashion. Even the utilities will be linked in. We're all familiar with smart meters, aren't we?

Microprocessor-control took over industrial machines long ago, more recently in vehicles and if I'm not mistaken, it already forms the core of some electronic t-stats already in use.

Marc

[Les]

Which reminds me....someday I have to make a pilgrimage to the Fabry estate. I have this notion it's a wonderland of thoughtful ideas and good craftsmanship.

..............and blueberrys and ponds and politicians and demolition and sheep shearing by rank novices for entertainment!

He threatened to stop at my place once; I got the cistern filled, stoked the fire, laid out the table, got out the "good" tissue and he just zoomed down the highway on his way to yet another social engagement.

[Jim Baird]

When microprocessors are scalp inserted at birth by legal mandate to guarantee compliant behavior by good citizens, then we will have attained uber-efficiency and a loss of whatever makes us human. Not funny, it could happen, no?

BTW when I was four my brother dropped a brick on my head from a rooftop, which cut my head open. That's when they installed mine, albeit with a faulty device. I get all my instructions from the universal radio station that nobody but me can hear.

[kurt]

To me, energy efficiency will remain mostly about 'methods and materials' with a little help from web capable microprocessor-based devices to coordinate the HVAC system, electrical system, appliances and fixtures all together in an intelligent and cohesive fashion. Even the utilities will be linked in. We're all familiar with smart meters, aren't we?

Microprocessor-control took over industrial machines long ago, more recently in vehicles and if I'm not mistaken, it already forms the core of some electronic t-stats already in use.

Marc

The guys that came up with the stat do this sort of integration on really big commercial/retail operations. They take existing buildings and equipment, and with nothing other than programming, cut energy consumption by 2/3's.

It might not make much difference in a carefully engineered residence, but it will make a difference. In a couple instances, with careful programming, they've taken plain old houses and cut consumption by a third with detailed programming.

I used to think it was silly, until I talked to the cutting edge guys figuring this stuff out.