DFW Solar Home Tour

Date/Time
10/06/2012
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Tour Host
North Texas Renewable Energy Group
Mellen West
Phone: 2147075161
www.dfwsolarhometour.org

Registration Location
Easley House
1910 Nancy Jane Circle
Garland, TX 75248
United States

Tour Fee
Free

---

Renewable Energy Features:

A patent-pending attic heat recovery system for warming a swimming pool or spa called WarmSpring. The combination of a conventional shingled roof and an attic space may be regarded as an unintended solar collector. The limited efficiency of a roof-attic comprised solar collector is offset by the large solar absorption area involved which typically consists of most if not all of the roof surface. WarmSpring works in the following manner: Hot air extracted from the attic space is blown through an air-to-water heat exchanger. As a fairly small flow of water (about four gallons per minute) passes through the heat exchanger, its temperature increases typically by 10 to 15°F. The warmed water then mixes with the water in the pool and thereby distributes the heat. The small water flow rate in the heat exchanger loop allows the use of very inexpensive ¾” PVC tube and fittings.
This attic heat recovery system differs from earlier technology in that it will ventilate the attic space whether there is a requirement for pool warming or not. In other words,
during mid-summer, when the pool will get uncomfortably warm with supplemental heating, WarmSpring can revert to just functioning as an attic ventilation system in order to reduce the load imposed on the air conditioning. Additionally, the warming action of the system only requires a 140 watt pump to operate rather than relying on a typical 1.5 to 2 hp pool filter pump to function. WarmSpring systems will typically add hundreds of thousands of BTU’s to a pool or spa per day.

Installer’s comments:

The house has single soffit-mounted heat exchanger unit. This newer model of WarmSpring has virtually no visual impact and has more capacity than the earlier rooftop units. For this house, the heat exchanger is above the balcony overlooking the pool. Because there is almost nothing to see on the outside, a mock-up of a soffit unit installation will be on display at the house. This mock-up consists of a slice of house lying on its side in order to show what is inside the attic for this type of installation. The blower used for soffit-mounted WarmSpring installations uses about half the power of a typical attic fan for the same amount of flow volume. WarmSpring provides an effective alternative for people that might be uptight about how adding solar collectors will change the looks of their house (rather than having a deserved feeling of pride) or worry that the neighbors will object. More information at WarmSpringPoolHeating.com

Owner’s comments:
“We recently became first time pool owners when we moved-in. We are really enjoying the time we get to spend using it. There wasn’t a heater for the pool and no natural gas pipes going to the pool equipment. The WarmSpring system really worked for us because the attic space did not have good ventilation either. You really have to look hard to see anything different about the house. The system runs really quiet so you really don’t notice it is running. About the only thing you do notice is that you get to swim way before any of your neighbors.”

by Brenda Easley Garland TX