How to Heat Your Home With Passive And Active Solar Heating Methods

Learn the difference between passive and active solar heating. Solar heat is free. Capturing it may cost you a little but there are some ways to do it cheaply and reap the reward of lower utility bills in winter.
There are two ways to capture solar heat for your home. They are passive and active solar heating.
Passive solar heating does not involve outside gadgets or mechanical devices. It is simply the act of allowing your home to receive more solar radiation during the winter.

Work closely with your architect if you are building a new home and if it is possible, orient and design your home that you have rooms with windows that capture the low angle solar heat in the wintertime, but can also be blocked from summer sun. This kind of passive solar heating, combined with good insulation, can mean more than half of your home's winter heating needs. Homes with passive solar design are becoming more and more common and are very popular in Northern New Mexico among other areas.

Try to maximize solar heat gain in winter by removing evergreen trees that do not loose their leaves and planting deciduous trees such as maple and oak that loose their leaves during winter. They will shade the home from the summer sun and allow more sun to hit your home in winter when they loose their leaves.
Remove window awnings and solar screens during winter and get in the habit of opening drapes during sunny winter days.

Change the color of your home. If you live in a predominately cold climate consider painting your home a few shades darker. Darker paints mean more solar heat gain and if your climate is more cold than it is warm it makes sense to go darker. In hot climates you should choose light house paint colors.

Learn about they types of active solar heating methods. When it comes to active solar heating there are a couple of options. The first is to install a large capacity solar hot water heater or a dual system with one side feeding a radiant heating system. You don't need to rip up your floors to use radiant heating. You can install a solar hot water heater and use it to feed a properly sized, forced heat wall radiator.
Another active solar heating option is an outside solar air heater.
These are basically an insulated box with a solar powered fan that you place on a sunny outside wall. When the sun is shining warm air is produced and fed into the home through a duct. For more info on solar room heaters see the resource section.

Take advantage of solar rebates. Active solar heating systems, such as radiant heaters supplied by a solar hot water heater may qualify for a federal rebate if installed in 2008.