I November 1976 RAIN Page 15 STRETCH YOUR ENERGY Space heating and water heating equipment that can switch between different fuel sources is becoming available as energy costs continue their climb. The devices work on two principles: Cover Your Bets (be able to switch to altern.atives when one fuel is unavailable or too costly) and Stretch Your Resources (use as much renewable resources as possible to reduce the rate at which we use up our fossil fuels). Depending on solar energy for hot water heating is a lot easier when small wood, gas or electric demand heaters are available to raise the water the final step to desired temperatures when there isn't enough sunshine available. Similarly, more people are converting to burning wood since combination wood/oil or wood/gas units are available- the oil can be used to ignite the wood and to heat the house wlien people are away or too tired to deal with wood. Some of the units that are available: Spring Mountain Hot Tubs, Inc. 2617 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley, CA 94702 Produces copper coil convection heaters for hot tubs, operating on propane, hatural gas or electricity to supplement solar heating. Larger convection heaters available also for use without solar panels; as well as redwood hot tubs. Brochure and price list available. Blazing Showers P.O. Box 327 Point Arena, CA 95468 Produces stovepipe water heaters for wood stoves (RAIN, July 1976) and firebox waterheaters for efficient woodstoves (that don't send so much heat up the stovepipe). Soon will have available a solar water heating system to use in conjunction with the wood heat-a natural combination as in many areas there is usually need for the woodstove and C·OVER YOUR BETS anyhow when there's not enough sunshine to heat the water. All these units can be made yourself pretty easily. Someone (you? us?) should put together some simple how-to guides. Blazing Showers has one for their stovepipe heaters. Above: Contents of Blazing Showers Stovepipe Hot Water Heater 7. Manual 2. Storage tank adaptor 3. Stovepipe heating unit Woqd and wood/oil furnaces are becoming available again in the U.S. Som~ claim high efficiency, but beware -the efficiency of wood burning isn't the same as the efficiency of the whole -,system. Few people put furnaces in their living rooms, which means that heat radiated from the furnace and distribution systems frequently ends up heating a basement, crawlspace, unused rooms or the sky instead of you. Some of the wood/oil, wood/gas furnaces available in the U.S. are: The Yukon Wilson Industries, Inc. St. Paul, MN 55114 This furnace is being specified now on many Indian reservations in Minnesota, North Dakota and Alaska. Wood, wood/ oil or wood/gas units. Forced-air sp'ace heating, HS Tarm Tekton Design Corp. Conway, MA 01341 Made in Denmark. Hot water space heating and water heating from wood, coal, gas, electricity or oil, with autnmatic switching between fuels. Len-Jay Furnace Co. Underwood, MN 56586 A wood-burning furnace designed to add on next to an existing oil or gas furnace, sharing blower, ducts and chimney. Riteway Marco Industries, Inc. P.O. Box 6 Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Modern-Aire Wood or Wood-Oil Furnace Modern Machine and Welding 2307 Hwy. 2 West Grand Rapids, MN 55744 Richard Hill Department of Industry Cooperation Board~an Hall . University of Maine Orono, M'E Designed experimental high-efficiency ~ood furnace installed in conjunction with a solar heating system in the new Maine Audubon Society Headquarters. The furnace is designed to transfer so much of its heat to the solar storage unit that a small fan is necessary to p:ull the flue air out of the chimney. Water in the wood that is converted.to steam 'iri burning is recondensed in the heatexchanger, recovering significant amounts amounts of energy. Across our northern border can be found more wood furnace manufacturers. Three Canadian companies, Newmac, Duomatic and Lunenburg Foundries, manufacture combination wood-oil furnaces. Regular wood furnaces are manufactured by Valley Comfort, Fawcett and Lunenburg Foundries. Add-on wood stoves that attach to existing oil furnaces and utilize their fans are made by Hallmack Heating Ltd. Contact: Bruce McCallum Conserver Society News 512 Blvd. Wilfred Lavigne Aylmer, Quebec J9H 3W3 Canada for inore information. (TB)
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