What Is Passive Solar House - Simplified And Clear
This principle of construction makes maximum use of solar energy for natural heating, cooling and ventilation of the house and can contribute significantly to energy savings in the household and improve the quality of everyone who lives in the house.
Although the idea is not new and it seems that each of us could itself well design passive solar house, the best thing is to let the experts with experience to do that.
What is passive solar house?
Passive solar house thanks to its design, orientation to the sun and the materials used in construction, thanks to the sun, partially or fully meet the need for heating in winter, while stays cool in summer. Ideal passive solar house for maintaining a comfortable temperature does not use any mechanical devices or mobile devices. For air circulation is used only natural circulation of air. One of the key factors in the design of such a house is certainly the maximum utilization of the features of the local climate.
Elements of proper design
Houses of this type often have the appearance of the rectangle, and in order to maximize the impact of the sun longer side of the rectangle should face along the east-west axis, so that the entire long side of the building was maximally exposed to the sun, which comes from the south or the north (if the house is in the southern hemisphere).
Another important element is the correct size and placement of windows and glass surfaces in the home, in order to ensure maximum solar gain during the winter days, and to again prevent excessive heat loss during the night and on cloudy days, which can be result of improperly installed windows.
Therefore, for this purpose are used high quality windows and frames with lower coefficient of heat transfer. As a rule, on the south side are placed the highest windows while on the remaining three are placed smaller windows to ensure the penetration of daylight into the whole house.
In order to ensure a comfortable temperature during the summer months it is necessary to prevent excessive penetration of solar radiation through glass surfaces on the south side. Therefore it is necessary to use the fact that the sun during the summer months is high above the horizon, and for block penetration of solar radiation it is necessary to carefully select the correct length canopies that blocks solar radiation. As the sun during the winter months is low on the horizon properly sized canopy will not prevent the entry of the sun into the house. To block the excess of solar radiation can be used and additional blinds, Venetian blinds and similar.
The fourth important element of passive solar home is a thermal mass storage, i.e. walls or floors of a material with high heat capacity, such as concrete, brick or stone walls and water tanks. Her task is to accumulate heat during sunny winter days, and release the same during the night or on cloudy winter days. During the summer months it helps to cool the area by taking over the heat.
If you are building a low-energy house, passive house or solar passive house as the most important element is sure to be isolation, isolation and again isolation. Without carefully designed and well executed outer isolation all the heat from the interior will simply and quickly be transferred to the environment. Only good insulation will prevent rapid heat dissipation and allow a comfortable temperature long after the sun goes down.
Garden
With the proper selection and arrangement of plants around the house it is also possible in significant way to contribute to successful functioning of a passive house, of course, if it offers this option. Deciduous trees on the south side of the house in the summer will further protect from the hot sunshine, while in winter, when the leaves fall off, will not create excessive barriers to entry of sunlight into the building. On the north side it is best to plant evergreen plants that will keep the facility from the cold northerly winds of winter and reduce the heat loss from the same.
Investment
If the investment in passive solar house when building is higher than that of “ordinary” house, it is priced in the same class as the investment in a passive house. The difference between passive and solar passive house lies just to the careful design and optimization of the above parameters, which means that during the construction we do not use expensive high-tech special materials or methods of construction. Estimates of the energy savings for heating in winter range from 20-50%. Also, the existing facilities could be partially adapted by the above principles, but of course, the maximum effect can be achieved only in the construction of the new facility.
