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The energy crisis of the
1970s ushered in many innovations to energy production and use.
One of these innovations occurred in Seattle.
The use of the renewable resource of radiant heat from the sun
and the force of wind was theorized to be plentiful.
But there was little in the way of hard facts.
Particularly in a land with little sunshine.
In 1975, Seattle's Energy Department sought, quote, “factual, usable data
on new directions to guide us toward viable energy alternatives”
in the form of a large scale study called Project Weathervane.
According to City Light engineer Al Yamagiwa,
“there is enough energy from the sun assisted by a wind generator, to provide
70% of the heating requirements for a home.”
City Light customers were interested in trying out their own solar panels,
but City Light had no information
to offer them regarding the feasibility of actually heating their homes.
Yamagiwa stated, “A lot of people are trying it on their own
and they need to know this kind of information.”
Planning began in 1975 under Gordon Vickery,
Superintendent of City Lights and $50,000 was allotted to fund the experiment.
The project was designed to gather real-time
energy needs through the use of a test residence.
A family conducting their normal daily activities
could provide baseline solar heating data for the Pacific Cascade region.
The home selected was a condemned property that the lighting department
had originally purchased to build a substation,
but construction of the substation was delayed until 1980.
The structure was retrofitted
and in 1975 a family of five moved into the Project Weathervane home.
Located at 5161 South Creston Street in Rainier Beach,
the home had 1000 square
feet of living area on the main floor and 500 square feet in the basement.
It included three bedrooms, one bath, a recreation room and storage.
The solar collectors were 22 three foot by six foot panels, tilted at a 60 degree
angle on the roof. To supplement the solar radiation to be collected,
a six kilowatt windmill generator on a nearby hill could transfer
energy to an electric immersion heater in the storage tank.
A heat pump was also installed. When there was ample sunshine,
the rooftop panels trapped radiant heat. Then through a mixture of water and antifreeze,
the heat was carried from the panels to heat exchange coils
in the basement. Utilizing the heat holding property of water,
a 1500 gallon water tank housed the coils
and stored the energy collected from the rooftop panels.
Air in the heat ducts throughout the home was warmed by these coils.
Project Weathervane was a family home,
and provisions were made for the privacy of the selected five person family.
The experimental equipment was confined
to a room in the basement with a special entry
for City Light technicians. Along with other criteria for selection,
the participating family had to be willing to take readings, be interviewed
and photographed, and show the home to visitors with little or no notice.
In exchange for the opportunity
to live in the home, the family would pay rent of just $50 per month.
The data collected by Project Weathervane over a ten month
period was put into the form of a comprehensive baseline data document
and used by federal agencies and academic institutions.
The actual solar heating system performance of Project Weathervane showed
that approximately 40% of the total house heating requirements were provided
by solar energy.
Subsequent to the experiment,
the home used for project weather vane was decommissioned and the property
was used by City Light for its originally intended purpose:
the construction of the Creston Nelson Substation.
To learn more about Project Weathervane, Seattle City Light or to view
additional archival records, please visit seattle.gov/cityarchives.
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