I am currently working on an update to the Turtlerock Masonry Heat website (www.turtlerockheat.com). Part of this project includes re-visiting projects from the last few years and taking photos of the heater inside the finished home. Often times the heaters have been in use for at least one winter. It's a great opportunity to get feedback on heater performance and see what the strengths and weaknesses are for each particular design. I'm generally very happy with what I have seen in terms of heater performance, especially with heaters built inside modern, tight, well-insulated homes. In these cases owners are getting as much as 100% of the required heat output for the home. In older, less insulated, leakier homes heaters are still performing well but are sometimes not able to keep up with the heat loss, so on the coldest days supplemental systems are being used more often. Sometimes these results are more or less predictable in project planning, but every time a project is revisited the overall knowledge base regarding performance takes another jump forward.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Recent Site Visits
I am currently working on an update to the Turtlerock Masonry Heat website (www.turtlerockheat.com). Part of this project includes re-visiting projects from the last few years and taking photos of the heater inside the finished home. Often times the heaters have been in use for at least one winter. It's a great opportunity to get feedback on heater performance and see what the strengths and weaknesses are for each particular design. I'm generally very happy with what I have seen in terms of heater performance, especially with heaters built inside modern, tight, well-insulated homes. In these cases owners are getting as much as 100% of the required heat output for the home. In older, less insulated, leakier homes heaters are still performing well but are sometimes not able to keep up with the heat loss, so on the coldest days supplemental systems are being used more often. Sometimes these results are more or less predictable in project planning, but every time a project is revisited the overall knowledge base regarding performance takes another jump forward.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Next Heater Project
After years of completing all project plans with pencil and paper I have leaped into digital drafting. The next heater project, to begin in early February, has been entirely designed using the program "Sketch Up". One advantage is that the client can open and view the files once they have downloaded the free viewer. Revisions can be called for and completed with ease, allowing for a good digital exchange of ideas until the final draft is completed. Using Sketch Up it becomes much easier to draw the proposed heater into the existing home environment, allowing a greater recognition of the spacial relationships in living areas. The downside is that the drawings are colder, and the intention of the mason as an artist is lost. This can be compensated for with hand drawn images of key areas or concepts.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
First Posting!
Greetings to my new blog! It's a first....
Today might just be the coldest day of the winter so far, so it's a good day to begin blogging on masonry heat and start postings that will present current projects and concepts. I am currently taking a little time off from on-site projects, but am completing design work for heaters and bake ovens that will be built in 2009. Stay tuned!
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