G'day Bob

25 Jan 04 10:35, Bob Lawrence wrote to David Drummond:

 BL>> Is the composting toilet inside?

 DD>> It can be. The tank is usually under the floor.

 BL>  Do you flush? If so, why not use a septic tank?

1) Lack of water to flush
2) Much less liquid pollutant to dispose of 
[..]
 DD>> The outside body of the fridge feels cold to the touch.

 BL>  Metal always does... what you actually feel is the flow of heat away
 BL> from your skin, and metal conducts heat. Check the computer screen
 BL> versus paper. The screen conducts heat better, so it feels cooler. If
 BL> anything, the screen is actually a fraction warmer.

 BL>  That's why I said to compare it with "similar metal in free
air." I
 BL> might be old, but I'm thinking all the time. If it still feels 
 BL> cooler, then you're right - the insulation sucks.

The greater part of the fridge body is not metal - it's coreflute. It is
colder than metal near it.

 BL>  I worked on a micro-controller for a fridge a few years back, and
 BL> I was surprised how effective the insulation was. Most of the loss 
 BL> was through the door seals, even though the body of the fridge is large.

 BL>> That's exactly right. The trick is to point the cells at the
 BL>> lower, winter sun.

 DD>> It's behind the trees much of the day in winter....

 BL>  I take that back! Most of your load is the fridge. You *need* more
 BL> amps in summer.

 DD>> The advantage of having the panels up the tower is LESS SHADE
 DD>> from the trees. 

 BL>  Oh, duh... I thought I'd made it clear that MOST AMPS is at midday
 BL> when the sun is HIGH and therefore LESS SHADE. It's the two hours
 BL> around midday that are important, not what happens outside that. With
 BL> a fridge the main load, I's be inclined to align the cells for 
 BL> maximum at midday in late December (or whenever it gets hottest up 
 BL> there).

Evey bit of sunlight I can capture means less panels to buy...

Regards,
David

--- Msged/LNX TE 06 (pre)