Excess wind energy helps heat Kotzebue homes
November 12, 2024
Alana Vilagi stacks bricks around the electric resistance elements of an electric thermal storage heater as she installs it in a Kotzebue home.
Four members of ACEP鈥檚 Reducing Fuel Consumption in Rural Arctic Communities project team recently installed seven electric thermal storage heaters, or ETSHs, in Kotzebue homes. These room heaters will be controlled and 鈥渃harged鈥 by using excess wind energy. Homeowners can turn on an electric fan to extract heat from the device.
Dominique Pride, Alana Vilagi and Mark Masteller installed the 145-lb heaters, then loaded each with 440 pounds of specially designed bricks that closely surround the resistance heating elements. Rob Bensin worked with KEA staff to separately meter each ETSH and performed the final wiring inside each home.
A major component of this project is to study the economics of using excess wind energy through an ETSH to displace space heat provided by heating oil 鈥 currently running about $8/gallon in Kotzebue. Six heaters were installed in homes, and a seventh was placed at KEA to allow their staff to better understand the installation and performance of an ETSH.
