- Two of the most important uses of fuel, from the standpoint of carbon emissions, are
heating of living spaces and heating of water, and both involve supplying heat at a temperature
not very different from nearby “ambient” temperatures (the temperatures of nearby outside air or
ground water, for example). Here we note that one
strategy is to pursue passive and active solar energy management, the domain of solar
architecture, to heat buildings in winter and to heat water year round. A full wedge is probably
available from judicious combinations of solar design, careful construction, substantial
insulation, and broad use of efficient heat pumps.
- The jobs of space heating and water heating rarely involve
boosting the temperature, relative to ambient temperature, more than 50 degrees C. Thermodynamics
identifies the combustion of fuels for such purposes as intrinsically inefficient1.
For more information, see the ImpEE Resource on "Domestic Energy ".
- Ford, K.W., et al., eds. 1975. "Efficient Use of Energy". New York: American Institute
of Physics. Part I – A Physics Perspective.
