WRITTEN BY ANNE FISCHER | 30 OCTOBER 2012
The Energy Emporium sells products designed to reduce its customer’s dependence on fossil fuels, and its headquarters also serves as a demonstration centre and test site for solar electric systems, solar hot water systems and balance of system components.
Based out of Enfield, New Hampshire (US), the business operates from a large house built in 1850. Owner Kim Quirk renovated it into what is now a zero net-energy building. The renovation required insulating the walls, ceiling, basement and air sealing the envelope, which was done by Murphy Cell-Tech using dense packed cellulose and closed cell foam. The solar thermal heating system is composed of individual components that hadn't been integrated in this way before.
The solar thermal system consists of four SundaSeido evacuated tube collectors, which heat a seasonal storage tank created and installed by Thermal Storage Solutions. Quirk describes the thermal storage tank as a “very large, well-insulated, Thermos in the ground.” According to Quirk, the storage tank was an early prototype so there were many issues that had to be worked out.
Solar thermal energy storage tank being installed
The way it works is the tank is heated all summer with the solar collector, and that heat is retrieved in the winter to heat the building. A ventilator brings in fresh air, warms it, and circulates it throughout the building. Quirk said they’ve been through one winter with the heating system and it kept the house at 68F during the day and 65F at night with most of the heat provided by the thermal storage tank and the thermal solar collectors, with an additional 3500kWh ($600) of electrical backup.
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