Heating the house with sunlight?

[sumi]

I spoke with a man about a year ago, that told me about a few methods he's familiar with, for using the sun's light/heat to heat up buildings. I wish I could remember now what he told me. I vaguely remember painting walls and roofs black to attract and absorb heat… I've actually known people to do that in opposite, paint roofs white, to keep buildings cool!

Does anyone here do something along those lines? If do, please tell us about it.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have been opening my east windows in the morning and closing everything up by night. If it helps me, its only minimal. I did watch a video on it. The woman was living in a trailer and swore by it. Mind you.....I don't have many windows, and my curtains are not thick and mainly were made to keep the sun's rays out by summer time, when I am most vulnerable.

 

[Yaya]

Hi. U r thinking of Trombe walls. I also thought of a solar oven type of idea that feeds the heat into the house....

 

[Britesea]

I wanted to try that idea, but our windows open sideways- it doesn't work as well with them

 

[Denim Deb]

On sunny days, I've been making sure I open the curtain on my south, picture window. It lets in quite a bit of heat. I should do the ones in the basement as well, but it's such a mess, I don't want to! Though since they're blinds, I could probably just turn them so they let in some of the light, but still make it so it's not easy to see in.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have large windows in my house, all double paned, glazed & with special gas in them. I pull my shades at night, during day when sun gets onto S side, you can put your fingers between shade & window glass and feel the heat. In winter, I then put shades up for solar heat -- at night it gives extra inch of area to hold colder air out of room. Summer, I pull the shades down during day to keep heat out. My East & West sides have large porches the entire length of house, so, cooler for breezes & open shades with little solar heat transfer. It does work but, you need to control it. My house is light tan. On my North end, there is a garage the entire length, so I have extra protection from the N winds in winter.

I have considered building one of the "window" heaters shown but, for my chicken coop. While it will fit into my S house windows, it would also create less sealing of the window. At night that may be a detriment. Then, I have to say that although we had strong NW winds, creating wind chill temps of 19 this AM, there was only a little ice in the waterer inside of the coop. I have large East window in there & large South window. They seem to be just fine & the water seems to confirm it's not too bad in there for them. Plenty of air at top but they produce a lot of body heat. Outside, all water was frozen. BUT my morning delivery of hot water made all happy --- they love the warm water! The windows on E & S seem to give them ample light & some solar heating. At least they are laying well, even in this weather. 21 eggs from 30 hens in mid-winter is fine with me.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

I spoke with a man about a year ago, that told me about a few methods he's familiar with, for using the sun's light/heat to heat up buildings. I wish I could remember now what he told me. I vaguely remember painting walls and roofs black to attract and absorb heat… I've actually known people to do that in opposite, paint roofs white, to keep buildings cool!

Does anyone here do something along those lines? If do, please tell us about it.

Harness as much sun energy as possible with thermal mass inside the tower. The sun warms it during the day and releases it into the living space at night as the temperature drops. Thermal mass produces a more even and gentle heat than the air duct or the space heater.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I saw a house that was designed for passive solar heating and cooling. The house had a furnace and air conditioning units, but the design of the house helped keep the costs low.
The entire south side of the house had a 4' wide porch with the roof overhang. Along that wall was huge windows. Part of that wall of windows was the hallway to the bedrooms. The walls opposite those windows were concrete. In the winter, the sun was low enough that it would shine in through the windows and heat up that solid concrete wall. The drapes were pulled over the windows during the night to keep as much heat in as possible. The concrete walls slowly released the heat all night and kept the rooms warm. During the summer, the sun was high enough overhead that it didn't shine directly into the house with the 4' roof overhang, so even without closing the drapes, the concrete wall didn't heat up and instead acted as a cold sink and helped keep the house cooler. It was pretty slick how it worked.

 

[flowerbug]

there are also other ways that might be less passive, but heat pumps, geothermal and using a solar set up to run pumps which move energy captured from the sun via solar hot water collectors can be used to make a lot of difference in a colder climate. for people who live in a warmer climate with a lot of sunshine using the ideas of thermal mass and being more underground can also make a lot of difference.

there are a lot of things to read up on when doing homes that have a tighter air flow situation because you don't want to get caught with not enough fresh air or have mold problems (among other things).

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

there are also other ways that might be less passive, but heat pumps, geothermal and using a solar set up to run pumps which move energy captured from the sun via solar hot water collectors can be used to make a lot of difference in a colder climate. for people who live in a warmer climate with a lot of sunshine using the ideas of thermal mass and being more underground can also make a lot of difference.

there are a lot of things to read up on when doing homes that have a tighter air flow situation because you don't want to get caught with not enough fresh air or have mold problems (among other things).

That will be best in the Philippines, A lot of residents here really need solar power, so they can save money paying on electricity bills