A passive solar house means designing the house to be environmentally connected with nature. By collecting the sun’s heat and distributing it when needed through floors, walls, and windows, you are able to use the sun’s heat in the winter months and keep the heat out in the summer months. By capturing the sun’s heat for your use, you improve the air quality of a house by eliminating the stale air in your home.
Passively means to design it without a mechanical ventilation or solar panels. It is designing the construction to be environmentally friendly, like facing your house in the right direction. For instance, houses are generally faced in the wrong direction because the way neighborhoods and subdivisions are situated to fit the most people in one area. Maybe they can’t help that but you can if you are not in a subdivision or an area with high restrictions. You can help during construction through window placement. You may need to place a window in a place where you may not want a window because of the sun light.
I know one customer that has a beautiful house but has plenty on windows with round arches on top of them. Since they are not screened or have any curtains, he can’t control the sun light coming in. It would be better to design a house with a shutter that will activate automatically on the entrance of that light called a canopy. Or, you can do it passively by not putting the window there to begin with.
If you have to use energy to control blinds then that’s not passive. Passive is doing it with the environment. The Japanese have been doing it for thousands of years, but Americans have never caught on to it.
Existing houses can do some things. Place shades or curtains on your windows. You can tint your windows by putting a sheen on it to keep the heat out and to reduce the amount of light entering. Many customers want to see outside and see the beauty but forget to screen out the heat. One customer said he didn’t like the discoloring or tint of the windows. But it’s not that much of a color difference. So, he would rather pay $700 a month for his electric bill then tint his windows.
If you want the air conditioning unit to run 24 hours a day, that is not being passive to the environment or caring how much your electric bill is. You may be able to afford the electric bill, but your grandchildren won’t have any clean air to breathe. How many of you are guilty of this?
A totally passive house is very practical and can help anybody anywhere since we all get sunlight. When windows are in direct sunlight, heat is generated in the home. Placing windows properly can decrease energy necessary to cool a home (depending upon what time of year).
A passive home is absolutely more advantageous than an active one.
Posted by: Robert Farbe | July 24, 2009 at 09:15 AM
Would a passive solar home more advantageous than an active one? Some location, a totally passive solar home may not be very practical.
Posted by: Magniwork Review | July 22, 2009 at 10:21 AM