All of the talk below about heating kennels makes me think more and more about Solar and Wind power which I have been looking into for a few years now.
Since it is more affordable and there are more options available to us than even five years ago, I was wondering if anyone in our Lab community has tried these renewable resources in any way?
Would appreciate hearing about any products and uses.
I guess I haven't "gone green" yet, but I do know someone who has... There is a Cavalier breeder in OH by the name of Laura Lang Roycroft Cavaliers. If you go to her website, she has a link to her home which is totally GREEN. Not as in color, but as in solar, etc... It's interesting. I'm sure some of the technology could be adapted to a kennel use.
Solar isn't practical year-round in our part of the country (Iowa). Residential wind generators are still too expensive and require an 80-ft tower to be really effective--then you need either storage batteries, or have to be on grid to sell excess back to the local utility.
After paying outrageous propane bills last winter, we went renuable with a wood-fueled boiler. It is a free-standing little building outside the house, centrally located between all of our buildings. It heats water, circulates it through a pipiing system, and funtions as a heat exchanger system. It uses our existing furnace to push the warm air around. For the kennel and other buildings, there is a fan-driven unit that hangs from the ceiling.
It is clean burining (re-burns the gasses so very little emissions) and we have enough dead trees in our timber to last severaal years.
The one boiler will heat the house, the garage, the kennel and my hubby's shop.
I know it isn't practical for "city folks," but it was the best option we could find for our situation. We are replanting trees as we harvest : )
We have some farmers up on our hill in CNY that are trying to get permission to erect a couple of wind turbines. They are offering to power others in this area. Maybe we can be one of them...CNY gets a lot of wind! My cousin was one of the original and most influential designers/developers of the turbines today until he succumbed to cancer this past winter. His ideas came to him decades ago and he had a PHD in aeronautics. It's too bad the world didn't start listening to him and his collegues a lot sooner, however, better late than never. RIP Woody.
Thanks all for replies both on here and through personal e mail.
This is interesting stuff and would be good for the country as well.
We are seeing more and more solar panels and windmills in Ohio so it is very feasible.
