Passive solar heating system
Posted by Solar energy guru | Filed under Solar thermal solutions
Solar energy is one of the most efficient and resourceful forms of energy in the world. Solar energy uses the energy provided by the sun in order to supply energy for the building. It could be used to run the whole household. Solar heating utilizes the solar energy in order to heat the building.
There are two types of solar heating including: active solar heating and passive solar heating. The passive solar heating system amasses the heat of sun devoid of using any type of mechanical heating device. On the other hand, the active solar heating uses the mechanical devices to ensnare, store, and dispense the heat. The active solar heating system provides more heat as compared to the passive solar heating systems; however, the active solar heating systems have a high initial price for installation and equipment and require higher maintenance cost.
The passive solar heating is the part of the passive solar building design and makes use of the features of building in order to absorb and discharge heat. These features of the buildings are known as thermal mass. The thermal mass includes masonry, windows, and several other architectural aspects of the building.
With the passive solar heating, the real design of the building is essentially designed to capture the heat of the sun and disburse it slowly in some time. For instance, the huge windows are generally replaced with the walls of the building facing south since south is the most sunniest part of the building all through the year. The sun will shine via those windowpanes and will be absorbed by the thermal mass like the brick wall.
The brick wall will further store that heat within it naturally and at the time when there is no sunshine, the brick wall exudes that heat and assist in warming the room. Sporadically, mechanical devices such as fan might be required in order to distribute the heat gathered in thermal mass all through the building.
Types of passive solar heating
There are three types of passive solar heating including the indirect gain, the direct gain, and thirdly the isolated gain. Direct gain is the simplest and purest form of the passive solar heating. The sunlight gets in through the south facing windowpanes; it is captivated by the thermal mass and after that reradiates the heat when required to arrive at a comfortable temperature. It greatly depends on the architectural design, materials, orientation, and location of the building.
While in the indirect gain, the thermal mass is located between the room or space to be heated and the sun. The sun warms the thermal mass generally, with a water wall or masonry and the thermal mass delivers the heat to the rooms or the home. On the other hand, the isolated gain is possibly the most complicated from of the passive solar heating, which includes heating either air or water in the conventional loop.
Passive solar heating is cost effective
Cost effectiveness is the main reason for designing a building with a passive solar heating system since with the passive solar heating system might not be capable of satisfying the warming requirements of the house completely. Thereby it will significantly save the energy costs. The main expenses are generated at the time of building of the office or home, but those expenses are generally overlooked when working in combination of an experienced contractor and architect.
The main benefit of the solar heating system is that it has no adverse effects on environment. In addition, the passive solar heating does not emit the greenhouse gases and do not rely on the usage of the fossil fuels. This sort of solar heating is purely clean and renewable.
