"Michael McNeil" wrote in message
om...
"BigWallop" wrote in message
...

I vaguely remember the woodyard I worked at having to pay three figure
numbers for the upgrade. Up to then he was running everything on a
diesel genny.

The genny would be viable if you had a means of abstracting the heat.
(Think how much oil a CH boiler uses to no other effect but heating,
while a generator not only burns the same fuel but supplies the lecky
too, also, as well.)

The internal combusition engine's biggest product is heat. Far more heat
than power is produced. Extracting "all" the heat, and it produces a hell
of a lot, and power (electiucty) it is very efficient. But most people would
not use all the heat and power available, so they are very inefficient.

How much oil does a central heater use?
And what generators have a
comparable fuel consumption? And how
much would heat exchangers for
the cooling and exhaust cost?

Heat exchangers are not cheap. Many people make their own. It is using
all the heat available. Having a small LPG genny, about 1.5 kW/hr, and
extracting all the heat is feabile. But you have to extract all of its heat
and store it in a large thermal store. Then your house has to be run mainly
on LV lights, run from batteries overnight with the genny off, and all
appliances run on gas (gas fridges are available). Washing machines, etc,
have to be super energy efficient and hot and cold fill, with the hot water
comming from the stored water. No appliance should draw more than 1.5 kW.

Now there are Combined Heat and Power Stirling units available.
http://www.whispergen.com
http://www.microgen.com/products1.html





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