How Do You Build A Solar Heated House?
Architects and builders implement passive solar techniques to reduce heating costs for buildings. Unlike “active” solar techniques that involve transforming solar power into electricity, passive solar heating warms buildings directly from the sun’s radiation. A house that maximizes its solar-heating potential may need more mechanical cooling in the summer, but architects can design buildings to strike a balance between the seasons. Solar heating works best when houses are composed of “thermal mass,” properly oriented, well-insulated and equipped with appropriate windows. Choose the most beneficial orientation. Orientation is important because solar rays will enter windows and strike building facades as the sun moves from east to west. Southface Energy Institute, a nonprofit educational organization, recommends orienting the length of the building to run east-west. More-precise designs may warrant experimentation with slightly different orientations, taking into account the exact moveme
