Modern mosquito traps employ carbon dioxide gas to attract their prey. They are highly effective, but burn large quantities of propane to produce CO2. Instead of using more fuel to produce more greenhouse gasses, why not tap an already available supply of CO2?

Most household furnaces and water heaters utilize methane for heat production, but wastefully allow the gas to diffuse into the atmosphere. Simply construct a pipeline to supply the various outdoor lures with the combustion product. Even if a fan were needed to propel the gas through the tube, it would still be more efficient than burning propane.

Finally, mosquito haters can enjoy a peaceful afternoon outside without the high cost or the guilt of global warming.
-- Aq_Bi, Jun 04 2005

So, a peaceful mosquito-free afternoon outside while, indoors, the furnace is running. Any mosquitos tough enough to be out on a furnace-running type of day must be Minnesotans.
-- baconbrain, Jun 04 2005


This is a world-class idea! Even in summer, the water heater is left on. Chilly Minnesota afternoons are perfect for those wily bloodsuckers. Also, I can see retrofitting air conditioners to run on propane - this should be a simple matter. Two for the price of one! Full points.
-- bungston, Jun 04 2005


[+]

Bungston, don't you mean methane, not propane? It would be silly to run your water heater on methane, but your A/C on propane.

By the way, converting air conditioner use gas (using an absorbtion heat pump) is probably a good idea anyway; besides being cheaper, it reduces the load on the elctric grid (reducing how often brownouts occur), is immune to brownouts, and if you're planning on adding a backup power system, it allows you to make the backup significantly smaller than it would need to be to power a conventional air conditioner along with everything else.
-- goldbb, May 10 2009



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