Passive Solar Heating and Cooling – Ideas on How to Make Your Home More Comfortable
There is much talk about using solar energy to generate power, but at times we forget that we can harness the suns energy to heat and cool our homes by clever design.
There are relatively simple changes to basic home design that make our homes more comfortable, simply by understanding the orientation of your house and using well understood methods of blocking or allowing the energy of the sun into your home. Read more
Putting Solar to Work – Solar Energy is Not Just About Making Electricity, It’s for Heating & Cooling as Well
We forget that solar power comes in many guises. Stand alone solar lighting can provide simple efficient lighting to the outdoor areas of your home. Either installed as off the shelf or a DIY solar panel hook-up, it can provide garden, garage or porch lighting for home security and enhance your homes appearance. When it comes to solar, we are so used to seeing solar hot water systems and solar panel electrical systems, that we forget that the suns heat and energy can be used in many other ways.
Home designers these days are well versed in passive solar design. However, these features are not always adopted unless asked to do so by the client, or unless required by local regulations to implement them as energy saving measures. If you are considering a new home, you are well advised to discuss the many design features that would make your home highly energy efficient and practically free of heating and cooling costs, simply by applying good design. Read more