|
|
solar house heating (was: plutonium cost)
18 nov 1997
scott nudds wrote:
> you do realize don't you that windows can be made so well insulating
>that a properly designed home can literally be heated during daylight
>hours with solar energy alone?
that's the easy part, compared to the rest of the day, or a cloudy week,
when those windows lose several times more heat than well-insulated walls,
if they are between the living space and the outdoors. "solaria" can be
much more efficient house heaters, ie low-thermal-mass sunrooms that get
cold at night, as popularized by the brace research institute in montreal
in the 70s. mine is 32' long x 12' deep x 16' tall, made with about $500
worth of standard commercial plastic film greenhouse components. the floor
is playground mulch over black plastic film. it's 84 f in there this morning,
with an outdoor temperature of 30 f. the south house windows are open to
allow warm air to circulate between this room and the rest of the house.
my house was built in 1820, and its stone walls now have insulation outside,
so they can keep it warm at night. how can newer houses store heat at night?
nick
|
|
