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For what its worth, years ago we created a series of exhibits about  
energy, heat and insulation.

One of the components was a house that reflected the amount of energy  
input required to maintain a given temperature.  As heat was lost the  
energy requirements went up (watts) and as the heat lost was decreased  
the amount of energy would decrease.  Visitors could manipulate the  
insulation levels, position, and other variables like solar warming  
and wind.  The house was always somewhat warmer than the environment.

We also had various insulation materials and a heat source and  
visitors could directly compare their insulation effectiveness through  
comparative touch.

Most of it was instructive, but not particularly surprising or truly  
engaging.  The house was neat.

Hope this helps,
Charles




On Feb 24, 2009, at 12:24 PM, Chuck Howarth wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Hey, Mike, infrared imaging might do the trick.  You could combine a  
> hands-on activity with photos of real houses taken in IR to show  
> heat losses.  In addition to infrared cameras, there are much  
> simpler laser-sighted IR devices that just give the temperature of  
> any surface at which they are aimed, so you could create a set of  
> surfaces of different temperature (hot water pipes with and without  
> insulation, for example) and then let visitors explore with the IR  
> probes looking for heat loss.
>
> Chuck Howarth
> Gyroscope, Inc.
> 283 Fourth Street, Suite 201
> Oakland, CA  94607
> [log in to unmask]
> 510-986-0111
>
> Check out our blog!
> http://museums-now.blogspot.com/
>
>> Howdy all,
>>
>> Has anyone ever seen a compelling interactive about house  
>> insulation?  I
>> have seen the awesome aerogel demos where you put a piece of  
>> chocolate on
>> top of the aeroge.  Then you put a blowtorch underneath the gel  
>> with out
>> melting the chocolate.  But that demo is not exactly suitable for an
>> unfacilitated exhibit. We are trying to teach people about the  
>> energy saving
>> power of insulation but every idea I come up with rhymes with fame.
>>
>> Any help would be much appreciated.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>
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