When fuel prices rise, everyone goes on the alert. No one was concerned when oil prices were low, using it freely for their cars and homes even though early '70s automobiles were comparable in size with tanker ships that carry Saudi Arabian crude to North America! Home design and construction were carried out with little consideration for energy efficiency or fuel consumption.
Solar energy is free, renewable and non-polluting, so why isn't it used everywhere today? Most people have the same implementation questions: Do you have to change your lifestyle with a passive solar system? Are there concerns with its variability and is it worthwhile? Are you better off going with a traditional heating system? Solar-based living does not necessarily mean a house full of glass and complicated electronics. There are some simple guidelines that will enable your home to enjoy the sun's energy to the fullest.
Most people are aware of using solar heating for hot water supply in the home. This is because about one third of our home energy bill goes towards hot water heating, as Florida State's electrical utility companies confirm. It is the third highest cost, following heating and cooling.
A solar water heater can operate together with your current electric or fossil-fuel water heater to supply a portion of the home's total hot water heating requirement. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants and the cost of your water heating.
You can find plenty of water heating systems using solar energy today, including home-built designs that are simple but effective, like the batch heater. This design has no outer jacket or insulation blanket but is painted black and placed in an insulated plywood box. There is a plastic or glass glazing covering the assembly, which is angled to solar south. Pressurized domestic water goes into the tank’s bottom and heated water comes out from the top to your home’s hot water heater.
When your system is installed and operating, you can monitor its performance through the storage tank temperature and the heat exchanger’s inlet and outlet temperature difference. Tiny, slow leaks are tell-tale signs of poor performance and can be monitored on the pressure gauge. When the temperature of the circulation fluid changes, the system pressure rises and falls but the average pressure at rest should be the same throughout.
Geoexchange technology is also known as geothermal, ground-source heating or heat pump. It offers unlimited renewable solar energy stored underground - about 50% of the sun's energy is usually absorbed by the ground. It is a simple concept: during winter, heat energy gets drawn out of the earth through pipes, known as a loop, which contains antifreeze solution to prevent freezing as the ground's heat is transferred to the home "heat pump" (basically a compressor and heat exchanger).
Natural energy from the earth looks very costly compared to traditional types of heating, but there are not enough facts to support this argument. A typical natural gas furnace with central air-conditioning costs about the same as the heat pump, although gas lines and chimney costs should be accounted for. The main installation cost difference comes from the loop in the group, well water transfer unit, excavation and drilling.
The most obvious response to renewable home-heating fuels is firewood, but many developing nations do not have a good supply of wood. Biodiesel is an alternative renewable clean home fuel for heating and transport.
Wood burning is not simply putting a log in your fireplace or using a refurbished wood stove to heat your home. Only stoves that employ advanced technology can burn wood cleanly, efficiently and over long periods. The types of wood-burning stoves that are high-tech are:
