Real Estate, Finance and Home Articles of Interest

Unfortunately for those of us who don't live in Southern California, the price of keeping our homes warm during the winter can be enormous. It can easily become a waste of power and savings. Going green in home heating can be effective in saving you money and helping out the environment- so why not consider passive solar heating when you're looking for alternative home heating options?

A fair bit of solar energy hits the surface of the earth, even in the depth of winter. The surface temperature would actually rise much higher were the days of the same length as in the summer. Imagine the possibilities of collecting power every minute the sun is available. Even better, what if no major alterations to your house would be required?

Now we have the Trombe wall. It is made of some sort of material (concrete or rock, for instance) which is utilized because of its thermal mass. This means that it holds in the heat of the warmest part of the daytime and releases it gradually throughout the following hours. It has exterior insulation by means of a sheet of glass and also has an airspace which means it avoids losing warmth during the nighttime. Over the glass there is a shade which lets the lower wintertime sunshine in but keeps the higher summertime sunshine out. That results in smaller air conditioning costs also.

It is not very easy to retrofit your home, and you would might need to do a major renovation. Custom designed homes are also expensive. Retrofitting your home for other energy efficient heating systems such as radiant heating is also expensive. However, with passive solar heating, after you pay for installation, it costs nothing to heat your home.

Not everything from the past involves excessive waste of resources. Trombe walls invented in the 19th century are an excellent green choice for building or buying your new home. These type of walls, made popular in home designs in the 1960's, are to be considered when you are searching for an energy efficient home.

Ideas that circulate in the mainstream today do work, but people have been looking for money saving opportunities for a long time now. It's due now to the increase in environmental consciousness and rise in heating costs that is leading people to look to the solutions of yesteryear, such as passive solar heating, that were used effectively by our ancestors to save resources, to use as solutions to help save the world.

Most of us have to worry about the large costs of heating our homes during the winter. Who doesn't want to save energy and money? One thing people seldom consider when it comes to alternative home heating is the use of passive solar heating. The Trombe wall is made of concrete or stone and stores the sun's heat energy to be released gradually throughout your home. It is insulated on the outside to prevent heat loss, and can even lower your cooling costs in the summer low as well. Retrofitting your home may be a major renovation, but well worth the investment.