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re: winter heating (for those in colder climates)
1 oct 1996
who? what? huh? wrote:
>>then again,... you could buy rabbits, and use the rabbits to make
>>rabbit pellets, which you would use in the pellet stove.
sounds messy and complicated, vs, say, composting the pellets. perhaps
the wabbits could live on top of a septic tank with a hardware cloth top,
and a plate under that that is periodically and automatically washed.
>>the rabbits would give off some body heat naturally,
right, 39.22 btu/hr of sensible heat per average 5.41 pound bunny, according
to my ashrae hof. and another 19.31 btu/hr of latent heat (water vapor--
perhaps recoverable as condensation, since rabbits are warmer than houses.)
for a total of 10.8 btu/hr-lb, vs turkeys at about 12 btu/hr-lb, 50 lb dogs
at 7 btu/hr-lb, 4 lb chickens at 6 btu/hr-lb, 80 lb goats at 5.5 btu/lb,
150 lb pigs at 4 btu/hr-lb or cows at about 2 btu/hr-lb. notice how bigger
critters lose less heat per pound? smaller surface to volume ratios.
sheep have a table all of their own, on page 9.8 of the 1993 ashrae hof:
table 2 heat production of sheep (btu/hr-lb)
fleece length at 46 f at 68 f at 90 f
total latent total latent total latent
mature, shorn 4 8% 2.7 12% 2.0 38%
1.2" 2.2 29% 2.0 28% 2.0 65%
2.4" 2.0 23% 1.9 43% 1.9 76%
lambs, 1-14 days 10.5 8.0
notice how much more latent heat there is at 90 f? sheep sweat.
>>and you would have fresh rabbit for stew. (& rabbit schmaltz?) :^l
mmmm. or goat-head soup...
>there was a thread here last winter about heating your house with
>rabbits. i think the consensus was that if you didn't mind the smell
>of several dozen closely packed rabbits and the chewed-up baseboards,
>it could be done, albeit somewhat impractically.
nonono. the creatures go downstairs, with a vapor barrier between you and
them, and you live above, say in a two-story house with 3000 ft^2 of average
r20 walls and ceiling, requiring (68-36)3000 ft^2/r20 = 4800 btu/hr on an
average 36 f december day, ie 120 rabbits or 11 goats or 1 large cow. but
you have to feed them in the winter.
how about 144 ft^2 of uv polyethylene film sunspace glazing instead of this
menagerie, ie $7.20 worth, along the outside of the lower south wall, which
would collect about 1000 btu/ft^2 of heat and lose about 6(68-36)1 ft^2/r1
= 200 btu/ft^2 on a winter day?
nick
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