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Home Heating and the Stirling Engine. |
Home Heating and the Stirling Engine
Stirling Engines are heat engines, they require an external heat source to
operate. The amount of energy they produce is directly related to the amount of
heat they have, low temperatures produce low power outputs. Some people have
proposed using excess heat from home heating systems to drive a Stirling Engine,
but that is really putting the cart before the horse.
A much more efficient method is to use a heat source (such as natural gas or
propane) to primarily drive a Stirling engine, and then to use the waste heat
from the engine to supply hot water which can be used to heat the house.
We gathered a nice array of Stirling Books, Educational and Scientific
products. Have a nice
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This is the principal that is used in large commercial Stirling engines, but
until recently it hasn’t been economical to scale it down the residential level.
New technologies, however, have allowed this system to be used in the home.
Several Manufactures are working on or are producing Economic
Stirlings
Several manufacturers have introduced Stirling engines for household use. They
are generally compact devices about the size of a washing machine and use gas or
propane to operate.
How it Works:
- The gas is fed to a burner which provides heat to the engine. The heat is
converted to mechanical energy which is used to drive a rotor for producing
electricity.
- There is also a water feed to the burner so that it can produce hot water as
well as electricity. This hot water is used for both heating the house and for
supplying the hot water taps. Waste heat can be recaptured allowing for a 90%
efficiency rate.
- This type of engine may not supply enough electricity for an entire household,
but can offer supplementary power for peak power periods. It can also be
connected to the utility power grid to feed excess electricity back into the
grid for a credit.
- These systems are environmentally friendly because they reduce our dependency on
fossil fuels thereby cutting down on greenhouse emissions. They also provide
cost benefits to home owners in terms of reduced utility bills.
A sample gadget is fun
as toy or give away
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