Go Solar! Passive Solar Design Saves Big

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The angle of the sun’s arc through the sky is lower in winter than in summer. Passive solar design takes advantage of this cycle to capture heat in the winter and block it in the summer.
The angle of the sun’s arc through the sky is lower in winter than in summer. Passive solar design takes advantage of this cycle to capture heat in the winter and block it in the summer.
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Alternative builder Clarke Snell promotes passive solar design for homes, a technique that saves energy and reduces pollution.
Alternative builder Clarke Snell promotes passive solar design for homes, a technique that saves energy and reduces pollution.
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In a climate with cold winters and moderate summers, houses that are long and thin on their east-west axis are best because they expose more wall surface to the south, where it will be warmed by the sun in winter.
In a climate with cold winters and moderate summers, houses that are long and thin on their east-west axis are best because they expose more wall surface to the south, where it will be warmed by the sun in winter.
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Flowering vines above the patio of this California home are just getting started in the spring. By summer, their rapid growth transforms this area into a cool, shady spot. In winter, the vines die back and allow more of the sun’s heat in through the windows.
Flowering vines above the patio of this California home are just getting started in the spring. By summer, their rapid growth transforms this area into a cool, shady spot. In winter, the vines die back and allow more of the sun’s heat in through the windows.
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In a climate with mild winters and hot summers, compact houses with a northern orientation are easier to cool than long, thin houses.
In a climate with mild winters and hot summers, compact houses with a northern orientation are easier to cool than long, thin houses.
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South-facing windows take advantage of the sun’s position during the winter to allow in a maximum amount of light and heat.
South-facing windows take advantage of the sun’s position during the winter to allow in a maximum amount of light and heat.

Great news! You have free access to a source of energy that can save you thousands of dollars on your home’s heating and cooling bills. You can harness this eco-friendly energy source using inexpensive, readily available technology, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee.

The energy source is the sun, and the technology is passive solar design — the conscious manipulation of building temperature by using the sun’s direct energy. If you are planning to buy a new home or remodel your current residence, go solar! Put passive solar design on your “must-have” list.

Everyone is already aware of some of the advantages of solar design: We all appreciate the coolness of a shady porch or patio in the summer, or the warmth of a sunny window in the winter. But most people are not aware of the huge difference solar design can make in the amount of energy needed to heat and cool our homes. In most situations, a well-designed passive solar home stays cool in the summer without air conditioning, and in the winter it requires much less energy to heat. The combination of a woodstove and solar design is often enough to keep a house comfortably warm, even in very cold climates.

The best aspect of solar design is that if you’re building or remodeling a home, you can incorporate it at little or no extra expense. With oil and natural gas prices rising, and power blackouts becoming more common, it now makes more sense than ever to take advantage of natural heating and cooling rather than depending on fossil fuels.

After all, we already heat and cool our homes with solar energy. That’s because the fossil fuels we burn today are nothing more than stored solar energy. Plants captured that solar energy through photosynthesis, and then — over millions of years — heat and pressure transformed dead plants and animals into deposits of coal, oil and natural gas. I wish I had the biggest bullhorn ever made (solar-powered, of course) to broadcast this message: There’s a better way! Everyone should use solar design to save energy, save money and reduce pollution.

  • Published on Aug 1, 2006
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