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Here Comes the Sun: 16 Tips for Using Solar
posted by Annie B. Bond Dec 3, 1999 11:22 am
Adapted from 547 Ways to be Fuel Smart, by Roger Albright.
Solar energy doesn't have to mean expensive solar panels. There are money-saving ideas for using solar energy that everyone can use. Here are 16 ideas you can do right away, at minimal cost and effort, to take greater advantage of that great free source of energy, the sun.
- Begin on the outside of your house. Black and other dark colors absorb sun warmth; white and light colors reflect that warmth. Assuming you live where it gets cold in the winter, darker colors for your house exterior, particularly your roof, will pass more of the available heat from the sun to your house.
- You can get sunburned under water; you can get sunburned on a cloudy day; you can get sunburned through a T-shirt; and you can get sunburned on a ski slope when the temperature is below zero. Naturally, the windows of your house, and especially those facing south, can admit a lot of heat from the sun. Storm windows will impede the passage of sunlight very little, but they do keep in more of the heat once it has entered your house.
- Most conventional greenhouses have glass on four sides and a glass roof. The plants get a lot of light, but the heating bill can be enormous. At night, the heat leaves through the glass walls and roof. A solar greenhouse usually has a large, sloped south-facing area of glass to receive the light the plants need to grow. However, the other sides are well insulated to reduce the heat loss to the outdoors.
- In a solar greenhouse, sun heat is stored in the soil and in water containers. At night, this heat radiates into the greenhouse and keeps it from getting too cold. Take advantage of this concept throughout your house by having solid objects with an ability to store heat standing in the sunlight to store warmth that will be radiated after the sun goes down.
- One good heat collector is a windowsill row of flowerpots or an indoor window box. The dirt will store warmth during the day, helping the plants to grow and warming the room at night.
- In your house, can the low-lying winter sun slant across the room to warm a brick-fronted fireplace, a slate entryway or a similar solid surface? Be sure the drapes are pulled back to take advantage of these solar collectors. Don’t forget to shut the drapes at night to keep in warmth.
- Light-colored shades or slatted blinds drawn across a sunny window will reflect the sun’s warmth right back outdoors again. During the daylight hours, keep the sunny windows in the clear to let that warmth in.
- The first step into solar power for many people is a solar hot water system. Such systems are available for new homes or for retrofitting on older homes. They will furnish 50 to 100 percent of your hot water requirements. Look at your current cost of heating hot water and talk to a contractor about the costs and possible savings of a solar system. Ask your contractor for references so you can get a better idea of how much people in your area save with their solar hot-water heaters.
- If you have unused space up under your roof—and this will certainly be true if yours is a house with a truss-roof design—consult with a plumber on a cost of putting a second-hand, uninsulated hot water tank up there. Make sure your attic floor can support the added weight. At least during the warmer months, the upstairs tank, liked to the water lines before the water gets to your regular heater, will preheat the water, making for less fuel usage for household hot water. If your roof is insulated, that space up top will be warmer than the outdoors even in winter, so the tank up there can pre-warm your water year-round.
- Sunshine is not only a source of warmth but also a source of light at the same time. Turning on the light switches in the daytime may be a habit you can break just by rearranging the furniture or opening the blinds more often.
- Next time you’re ready to repaint or repaper a room, think about how the room is used before you choose the colors. Light colors in a room will bounce the daylight around, making it a pleasant and cheerful place without extra illumination. This is a less important factor in bedrooms, which are used primarily at night.
- In fact, in rooms used solely for sleeping the main function windows have is to provide a little ventilation. Wintertime solar heat won’t be available when the room is in use, so let the windows be small, or heavily draped.
- Window light can be scarce in the kitchen because you often want a lot of storage, rather than windows, on the outside walls. So it’s even more important to choose light colors for the kitchen walls.
- If you’re designing from scratch, or doing a major remodeling, think about a combined kitchen-dining area with storage on the north wall and windows on the south and east walls. That way you can have both storage and sunshine.
- Whenever possible, place daytime reading and working areas where window light will be sufficient on all but the most overcast days. Specifically, consider the location of the sewing machine, the chair with the magazine rack, the play table for the children, the workbench, and items like an artist’s easel or a computer. Light also means heat, so you’ll be warmer as you work.
- Are you planning to turn a dark attic into a bright living space? A skylight could change a gloomy garret into a pleasant place. Make sure you install a high-quality window or the heat loss in winter will more than cancel out the savings you gain from the daylight. Look for a double-paned window with at least a half-inch air space between each pane. Low-e glass or argon-filled units will reduce heat loss. Some skylights include shades to reduce overheating during the arm months. You can also use the shades, particularly if they are made of a fabric that insulates well, to keep the heat in at night. Finally, select the model with the lowest rate of infiltration.
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547 Ways to Be Fuel Smart
Every tip will pay off in lower fuel bills and more comfortable living!buy nowrelated stories
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50 comments
add your comment »Useful information and great ideas! I work for a San Diego landscaping contractor and this year we have had a lot of customers wanted solar powered features in their gardens. I find it’s always good to research the latest solar powered ideas since the technology is constantly evolving.
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New solar company getting started, not yet in production, but currently taking reservations for systems. These systems will be RENTED for what you are currently paying your electric company or possibly LESS, and you can lock in your rate against future rate increases for as long as 25 years! Please visit my website for details and to reserve your system today. Over 30,000 folks already have. http://www.solarays4u.com
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I live in an apartment in Nevada that only has windows facing west. Is there anything else I can do to utilize solar energy (other than moving)?
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Since I posted my url for my solar website, lil-url has gone away. New url is working: http://www.solarpowur4u.com Please visit today.
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There is solar energy help right around the corner for almost everyone. We are reserving systems now. Visit my website to get all the information and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. http://www.lil-url.com/solarpowur4u
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Homeowners: when it's time to replace the roof, try putting a solar tube in rooms that need more light during the day. They don't cost that much ($250-500), are easily installed by the roofer, and make a HUGE difference. We never need to turn on the lights until night in the rooms where we have them.
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Don't forget using the sun to dry your clothes! Even a drying rack indoors if your community won't allow a clothesline will help. Try drip-drying clothes til just barely damp & then finishing them in the dryer if your family can't handle the rougher texture. You will save LOTS of energy that way!
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Yes, solar hot water is a great way to start but there is now a new company out there who is making solar PV panells affordable. It is a start up so I may not get my panels for 2years but I would never get them any other way. If you have net metering in your state and you want to have solar electric in your home WITHOUT paying more, check out this site. I was so excited I signed up right a way. www.solarunion.net
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Someday I wish upon a star, and wake up where I really have a home of my own, and when that day comes, it will be the greenest house around.
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Thanks for all the great tips!
Solar water boilers are great! Very popular here in Israel, I highly recommend them. Even in winter (which is the rainy season) we can get enough hot water at least half the week for all our needs. We've been using them about 20 yrs.
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