Overview:
We were assigned the task of designing a tiny house that would be energy efficient by using passive solar design to harness the suns energy. Throughout the task we conducted miniature experiments like making a solar water heater or lighting a house with only sunlight, and these are our results from each experiment
Solar Water Heater:
Using only sunlight we tried to gain as much calories of heat as we could in a container of water. For my group we took a tub of water and covered the sides in tinfoil and the bottom with copper pipes. We suspended the water in a sack of saran rap and covered the top with more saran rap. The light and heat from the sun would go in the container and bounce around on the tinfoil into the copper which would then heat the water that was in contact with it.
Passive Solar Lighting House:
We created a cardboard house and used passive solar design techniques to try to get the house as bright as possible using only the sun. We used solar tubes, light shelves, clerestory windows, light tubes, and more to try to illuminate our house.
Material Heat Capacity:
Most other groups tested how long it took to heat up certain items but we got to work with insulation materials. To test how well the insulation kept in heat we lined a small box with it and put in a super heated piece of copper. We then let it sit for 10 minutes. After that we took the new temperature of the copper and compared them. This is a list of the classes results: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q7MVMeUG8lohOpvlnyf8CSxV7uYprwOBvO0aAyIZl-k/edit#gid=0
Wind Turbines:
We built blades from a variety of materials and in a variety of different shapes to try to find the most efficient design style. We found that for vertical wind turbines having small to medium sized curved or slanted blades was most efficient for shape while card stock or folders were most efficient for materials.
We tested the turbines by mounting them on a pole with a multi meter and blew a fan on them.
Final Project:
After all of this lead up we finally got to make and design the tiny house. For this we made a physical model, a list of all materials we needed for the house along with the price, and we made blueprints for everything. After this we created a presentation on the tiny house, and here it is:
Content:
These are some of the concepts that were very important to this whole project:
- Radiation: The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves
- Conduction: The movement of heat/electricity through an object
- Convection: When a heated liquid rises and the colder liquid sinks creating a circulating current
- Insulation: a material with a high heat capacity used to hold heat within an object
- Solar angles: during winter the sun is closer to Earths horizon making the light come in at a shallower angle, while in summer it is "higher up", giving the light a steep angle
- Day lighting techniques: A number of ways to try to get as much natural light into a house. This includes but is not limited to windows, light shelves, clerestory windows, and solar tubes
- Specific heat capacity: The heat required to raise the temperature of the unit mass of a substance by one degree
Why energy efficiency? Most forms of energy have a waste product that can be damaging to the environment, and some are not renewable. Natural sunlight on the other hand has no extra waste product to light/heat your house and won't go away for a long time.
Conclusion:
This project overall was quite fun. I felt like I stepped up and took a very active role in this project. I would find things I needed to work on a lot more than waiting for instruction. One thing I feel I could have done better was include others, I didn't dis include anyone but I didn't make an effort to include others that had nothing to work on.
These are some of the concepts that were very important to this whole project:
- Radiation: The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves
- Conduction: The movement of heat/electricity through an object
- Convection: When a heated liquid rises and the colder liquid sinks creating a circulating current
- Insulation: a material with a high heat capacity used to hold heat within an object
- Solar angles: during winter the sun is closer to Earths horizon making the light come in at a shallower angle, while in summer it is "higher up", giving the light a steep angle
- Day lighting techniques: A number of ways to try to get as much natural light into a house. This includes but is not limited to windows, light shelves, clerestory windows, and solar tubes
- Specific heat capacity: The heat required to raise the temperature of the unit mass of a substance by one degree
Why energy efficiency? Most forms of energy have a waste product that can be damaging to the environment, and some are not renewable. Natural sunlight on the other hand has no extra waste product to light/heat your house and won't go away for a long time.
Conclusion:
This project overall was quite fun. I felt like I stepped up and took a very active role in this project. I would find things I needed to work on a lot more than waiting for instruction. One thing I feel I could have done better was include others, I didn't dis include anyone but I didn't make an effort to include others that had nothing to work on.