LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Heating: Houses
built 276 days ago
EA Technology of Britain has invented a "smart" central heating system that tunes into the weather forecast. Called Celect, the new electric system operates using hidden radio signals, which transmit the weather forecast for the next couple of days. By monitoring the radio every few hours, the boiler can predict weather patterns a day in advance and alter radiator settings around the house in preparation for the change. In addition to being programmed to respond according to the weather pattern, radio signals can ... forward information to tell the boiler the best time of day to use electricity. The system is being tested in 350 homes in Britain.
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The small one-time grants provided by LIHEAP allow the poorest of the poor to meet basic heating and cooling needs. Those who qualify for the program fall at 150 percent below the poverty level. Most often these are elderly or disabled individuals, and LIHEAP assistance prevents them from having to make the dangerous decision to forgo food or prescriptions or to live at unsafe temperatures. Frequently those who succumb to excessive heat or cold are low-income individuals living in depopulated areas that lack basic infrastructure such as grocery stores, movie theaters, or libraries where people can cool off. These are the poorest of the poor, and yet at current levels LIHEAP is only able to serve 15% of eligible households.
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In cold climates, houses with their heating systems form dissipative systems. In spite of efforts to insulate such houses to reduce heat losses to their exteriors, considerable heat is lost, or dissipated, from them, which can make their interiors uncomfortably cool or cold. For the comfort of its inhabitants, the interior of a house must be maintained out of thermal equilibrium with its external surroundings. In effect, domestic residences are oases of warmth in a sea of cold and the thermal gradient between the inside and outside is often quite steep. This can lead to problems such as condensation and uncomfortable draughts (drafts) which, if left unaddressed, can cause structural damage to the property. This is why modern insulation techniques are required to reduce heat loss.
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"This winter, U.S. consumers face heating costs of close to $1,000," noted Alliance President Kateri Callahan. "Further, total 2008 home energy costs for U.S. households are projected at close to $2,200. That's a huge bite out of the family budget. But consumers can reduce those costs by up to 30 percent, and even more in some cases, with simple yet effective energy-efficiency measures."
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The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program... known as LIHEAP, provides low-income households with help paying their winter heating bills. The LIHEAP season started on November 1st and applications may be submitted until March 31, 2006. The average LIHEAP grant is approximately $400 and it generally takes 4-6 weeks to process a properly completed application.
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In such a house, a thermostat is a device capable of starting the heating system when the house's interior falls below a set temperature, and of stopping that same system when another (higher) set temperature has been achieved. Thus the thermostat controls the flow of energy into the house, that energy eventually being dissipated to the exterior.
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