Heating Your Home with an Active Solar Energy System

Passive Solar Design for the Home

by | Jun 16, 2004 | HowTo, HVAC, Solar Heating

To understand how passive solar design works, you first need to understand how heat moves. Heat-Movement Physics As a fundamental law, heat moves from warmer materials to cooler ones until there is no longer a temperature difference between the two. A passive solar...
Heating Your Home with an Active Solar Energy System

Residential Solar Heating Retrofits

by | Jun 16, 2004 | HowTo, HVAC, Solar Heating

Heating Potential, Costs, and Benefits A solar heating system designed to provide all of your space heating requirements will be very expensive, and in many cases impractical. Solar space heating systems are usually designed to provide 30 percent to 80 percent of...
Heating Your Home with an Active Solar Energy System

Solar Heat Gain Control for Windows

by | Jun 16, 2004 | HowTo, HVAC, Solar Heating

External window shading devices such as awnings, roof overhangs, shutters, and solar screens, and internal shading devices such as curtains and blinds, can control the entry of solar heat. However, shutters, solar screens, curtains, and blinds make rooms dark....
Heating Your Home with an Active Solar Energy System

Solar Water Heating

by | Jun 16, 2004 | HowTo, HVAC, Solar Heating

Solar water heaters are cost-competitive in many applications when you account for the total energy costs over the life of the system. Although the initial cost of solar water heaters is higher than that of conventional water heaters, the fuel (sunshine) is free....