Energy Efficient House
Overview |
This project was by far the longest of all our projects. We had 5 smaller projects inside of the larger project in order to help us understand the concepts better. We created a solar water heater and measured the change in temperature over time for the first small project. Second was creating a scale model of a 1000 square foot home only lit by the sun, or in this case, a lightbulb. The third project was designing 2 wind turbines, one with a vertical axle, and one with a horizontal axle. The fourth and fifth projects were the most hectic and were the projects that we presented. We made a presentation for a cold frame, and another presentation for the north window of the STEM solar home.
Solar water heater |
We created a solar water heater and were tasked with measuring how much heat was added (or taken out of) the water that ran through a copper pipe and into a jug of water. We measured a total change of six degrees Celsius over a time period of 30 minutes. We have a cup to move the water to the water jug at the top and run the water through the pipes into the cup and back to the jug again. |
Daylighting Model: |
This project was probably the most fun yet. I loved how you could design a home for conventional use, be as creative as you want, and use more real life aspects of the world in doing so. Our model, shown above, was not the most effective daylighted solar home, and the solar tubes, shown left and above by tin foil, were not as useful for dispersing light as we had hoped, therefore leaving a very dark room. Overall, this was one of my favorite projects of the year.
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This was another fun project. using straws, wooden dowels, special hubs, and manila folders, we had to design and prototype two wind turbines for efficient wind created energy. One was called a VAWT,Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, while the other was a HAWT, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine. We had 2 simple HAWT designs, a pinwheel design, and a standard propellor design. The VAWT was a complicated design that went into a cylindrical opening beneath it, which was the least effective. I had an interesting idea of how a HAWT could work, shown left, where the turbine goes underneath and powers the air conditioning as well as providing power to the home it is installed in. It was wishful thinking and ended up not working very well at all.
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Wind Turbine Design |
Cold-Frame Design |
This project was making a presentation and a design, along with a model and blueprints, for a cold-frame, which is essentially a miniature greenhouse for small plants to be protected from dying from frost. We created a simple design with a transparent plexiglass front panel and a glass top panel to allow sunlight in and hold it in to retain the heat through the night.
We were required to hold the presentations in succession, starting with the second presentation (below) of the plan for the North Window lighting. The presentations were 3 minutes each, and were filled with information, so we had to shorten our presentation. This was another fun presentation, and gave us a chance to look at something that might possibly become a reality and a new project for the class, if we presented well and had an effective, and affordable, idea. We had a fairly simple design, but it still ended up fairly expensive, so our design was not chosen. Find our powerpoint presentation HERE |
This was the other project for us to do a presentation on, which might have gotten chosen for a class project, if we could convince the judges, in this case the garden club, to support our idea, and if our design was well thought out and cost efficient as well.We had a nice design, although it wasn't very practical and ended up at around $200 to $250. Some other groups were as low as only $11, so we were in no place to compete with most of the other designs.
Find the materials and cost HERE |
North Window lighting |
This project ended with a quick flash, with our presentations being completed, and then us rolling right into our next project, our build a band. In the end, neither of our designs were chosen (I'm not surprised by this, as they were both rather costly). I went through many peaks, or good areas, and pits, or not-so-good areas, over the course of this project, as it was extensive ending up as 2 months long. Our cooperation and will are what went well for the project, motivating us all. Our disorganization is what went poorly, as I had to make the blueprints for the cold-frame from scratch a second time. Other than these it was a very fun and educating experience.
Peaks: >I became a lot more upbeat and less self-critical over the course of this project, starting early on. >I also learned how to take initiative and do my own work without having to ask what there is to be done, such as realizing that we needed a script for the presentation for the north window. Pits: >I still could have ended up doing more work, for example when we needed a model for the north window plan. I definitely could have improved on my performance during this project. First, I sat next to one of my childhood friends, which never ends well, leading to us getting sidetracked over and over. I also could be more resourceful and not just wait to be told what to do. I also learned how down and self-critical I was before going into this, always telling myself how I will get a bad grade, which should have led to motivation, but ended in a saddened mood. After our first collaboration check-in, I was enlightened to my behavior, and was quick to readjust my way. This is definitely one of the projects that will have changed me for the better, and I hope they learned just as much as I did about themselves, solar energy, and teamwork and cooperation under stress. |
Reflection |