I think I’m going to break down and turn the heat back on. High today is 11c/51f in #yeg with no solar gain, so we’re down to 17c in the house.
Last few years I’ve turned off the furnace in mid March-ish and been able to coast on solar gain until September. Even days at -15c with sun made a net gain.
But these last few cool, dreary days means I’m breaking my streak after May long.
1/x
This morning it was -4 F and by early afternoon it’s warmed up to 12 F. I think the furnace has turned on just once in the last 4 hours. Many south-facing windows and great insulation for the win!
Our house uses about 750 Btu/hour/delta°F and there is a reasonably large thermal mass inside the outer insulation envelope.
Koji, our older gray boss kitty approves!
#Solar #PassiveSolar
#StellaAndKojiShow (without Stella)
#CatsOfMastodon
As a hobby project, I've gotten interested in using #mirrors for heating and lighting purposes (and as an outlet for a bit of #climate anxiety). Just did a write-up of my progress over the last few months for the @LabB blog: https://www.laboratoryb.org/diy-seasonal-mirror-based-window-extender/
This ancient knowledge is making a comeback in houses, but where it is really making a huge impact is in greenhouses. Even in colder climates where temperatures can reach -40c(-40f), passive solar designs are enabling greenhouses to run all-year.
Image Source: https://atmosgreenhouse.com/blog/the-case-for-a-mostly-passive-solar-greenhouse
📺 Examples:
https://youtu.be/F2Pg3gY7wQ4
https://youtu.be/8qtQgH7DQF0
Passive Solar ☀
Within Arizona(USA) is a beautiful cliff-dwelling built by the Sinagua people in 1100-1425 AD. Montezuma Castle (renamed to this by colonizers) has around 20 rooms, and is built using a method that today people call “passive solar building.”
The design ensured the buildings were hit with the heat of the low-winter sun, but protected from the high-summer sun by overhang.
🧵 1/2
Does anyone do passive solar heating? Do you have a greenhouse attached to your house or lots of thermal mass / tile floor / water? How did you learn how to build it? What are your favourite resources?
Book Review: "The Solar House - Passive Heating and Cooling" by Dan Chiras
Chiras covers lots of detail on passive design, solar heating, and thermal mass. He covers different techniques for capturing and storing sunlight as free heat.
He also calls out the idea of energy use in house construction decades before it was common - "you should also account for how much energy it takes to *construct* and *move* these materials".
But I wish the book had more details on how to do it. How do I calculate? Where and how do I build? I would love more details.
I learned a lot, but I still don't know anything
https://brownfoxff.substack.com/p/book-review-the-solar-house-passive
#bookreview #passiveheating #passivesolar #solar #heating #house
Kyle Davis
JRD3DU
naturaldynamics
Stephen Bannasch (316 ppm)
Matt Cropp 🌲🌲
Sprig 🌱
brownfox-ff