| Passive solar is a method of using the energy | | | | is the only to arrive at a definitive answer. |
| from the sun to heat a home. It is extremely | | | | You are also going to have to incorporate a flip |
| popular because the process is free once a | | | | strategy for the heat. As the sun enters the |
| passive solar home is created. | | | | glass plate and heats up the masonry of the wall, |
| Passive solar can be used to heat a home in | | | | you risk losing vast amounts of it through the |
| colder areas, but you have to go into it with | | | | glass surface. This means you need to create an |
| reasonable expectations. While the cold climate is | | | | air circulation method whereby you draw the hot |
| a hurdle, the real issue is going to be the length of | | | | air into a secondary space behind the wall. This |
| time the sun beats down upon your property. If | | | | can simply be a closed off room or a space |
| your home receives only four or five hours of | | | | intended for the purpose. The circulation should be |
| direct sunlight a day, forget it. You will never | | | | done on a timer similar to the solar thermostats |
| produce enough energy to keep the home warm | | | | used on solar hot water panels. The point is to |
| for sufficient periods of time. | | | | keep the built up heat from escaping back into |
| Passive solar design is very popular in warm to | | | | the environment. |
| mild climates because it is more or less a free | | | | The greenhouse approach simplifies matters. The |
| method for warming a home. The manipulation of | | | | essential idea is to build an insulated greenhouse to |
| the position of the home and placement of large | | | | collect and store the heat of the sun during the |
| windows in the south facing wall is typical | | | | day. Often called a sunspace, the greenhouse is |
| strategies for dealing with the issue. Obviously, | | | | similar to those used for plants. Even in cold |
| large windows in a cold climate are going to result | | | | climates, the sun will produce a magnificent |
| in significant heat loss regardless of the quality | | | | amount of heat. Again, the problem is keeping the |
| with which they are built. So, what can you do? | | | | heat from escaping once it has built up. Since the |
| There are two primary approaches to creating a | | | | sun has to come in through a transparent |
| passive solar design that works in the winter. One | | | | surface, you inevitably have the problem of the |
| is the use of a large Trombe Wall and the other is | | | | heat escaping through the same. The best option |
| the greenhouse approach. Let's take a look. | | | | is to use a controlled timer to blow the air |
| Trombe Walls are popular in passive solar designs | | | | through to the house once certain temperatures |
| because they effectively convert sunlight to heat | | | | are reached. It is not very efficient, but you have |
| and are interesting from an aesthetic view point. | | | | little choice. |
| Typically, a Trombe Wall is 8 to 12 feet in length | | | | An alternative to passive solar heating in very |
| on the south facing wall of a home. In significantly | | | | cold areas is biomass. Corn burning furnaces are |
| colder areas, the wall is going to need to be much | | | | popular. They are a much cheaper solution as are |
| larger, perhaps the full length of the home | | | | the corn kernels. This biomass energy is also |
| depending upon energy analysis and the cold | | | | much more reliable and, personally, it is the way I |
| weather expected. An energy audit of the home | | | | would go. |