Case Studies Algarve

Christmas penguin ...

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Parent Category: Articles about Heating and Cooling in the Algarve Articles about Heating and Cooling in the Algarve

It was Christmas Eve and a penguin was walking home in the snow.

He was old and he felt the cold.

Suddenly The Ghost of Yesterday appeared and pointed to the village square where some young penguins were playing snowballs. The old penguin remembered that he used to play like that. But now he felt cold, so he continued on his way home.

Cloud Control!

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The latest generation of air-conditioning can be controlled remotely via a range of pc/laptop, tablet or smartphone devices. No servers, adaptors or wires are necessary – only a small receiver connected to the fan unit in the room. If you're at home, your existing WiFi connection can be used: simply start the App from your chosen device. If you're away, just launch the App and manage your system via the 'Cloud'. The App is free, user-friendly and designed to correspond to your system's hand-held remote. Easy!

Origins of Underfloor Heating ...

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Underfloor heating is nothing new. Roman public baths and villas used 'hypocaust' systems, whereby hot air from an outside furnace was drawn through underfloor voids, heating the building's floor or bath tiles. The Korean 'ondol' ('warm stone') system pre-dated the Romans by 500 years, whereby a sunken kitchen stove passed wood-smoke under the raised floor of an adjoining room, then expelled it from a chimney on the opposite side of the dwelling.

New Energy Resolutions

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New Year is traditionally the time to consider the 12 months to come. 'How can I improve my quality of life? My home? How can I economise so as to improve my finances?'

The cost of heating & cooling is a major expenditure for most homes, so an analysis of annual energy bills is a logical undertaking. The Algarve winter is short but nonetheless nights are cold, many properties are not well insulated, so heating can be costly.

Origins of Air Conditioning ...

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In the 1800s rudimentary attempts at lowering air temperature were made in hospitals, with fans blowing across tubs of ice. As refrigeration technology advanced, large central plants were established in some US cities to pipe cool air into meat warehouses, beer cellars, bank vaults and archives.

Origins of PV...

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In 1873 Willoughby Smith (pictured) found that electricity travels through selenium when placed in light (photoconductivity). In 1877 William Adams and Richard Day discovered that sunlight actually generates electricity in selenium. In 1883 Charles Fritts made the first primitive PV cell, mounting selenium on a metal plate and coated in gold.

Efficient ventilation...

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The Algarve's humid climate causes many homes to suffer from damp and mould. Humidity can create an uncomfortable indoor ambience - and an unhealthy one. Dehumidifiers are commonly used but the best solution is better ventilation. There are various ways to achieve this, varying in sophistication -

Origins of Thermal Solar

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In the 1760s the Swiss inventor Horace-Bénédict de Saussure made an open wooden box with another inside, put insulation between the two, covered the top with glass, then placed it in the sun. Because glass allows light to pass easily but impedes heat from doing so, the heat was trapped and the box warmed up.

Plug in Photovoltaic!

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Plug-in photovoltaic (PV) solar kits are as simple as they sound – just mount the panels, connect them to an DC/AC inverter box that comes with the system, then run a power cable to any domestic socket to receive FREE power.

Ozone Friendly Air-Con ...

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The 1987 Montreal Protocol established the global phasing-out of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), which damage the Earth's ozone layer. In 1992 the phasing-out of HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) was also set.