Warm your house with passive solar technology

[jpak]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/01/HO1AV6S5K.DTL

The pre-Columbian ancestors of today's Indians used it. So did the ancient Romans, the medieval Arabs and many other preindustrial peoples around the world.

It's still widely used in less-developed countries, and it is increasingly popular in well-developed countries as energy shortages loom.

"It" is passive solar technology, a building technique used to gather and store free heat from sunlight during the day to use for heating buildings at night. It has been in use since ancient times because it's easy to design and to incorporate into new or existing buildings, inexpensive to install, durable and as reliable as the sun itself.

Passive solar technology came into use when early builders noticed that dense building materials, such as stone and brick, remained warm for hours after being heated by the sun. By facing a stone or brick wall toward the sun (south or southwest), the builders could capture and store the sun's heat in the wall during the day. At night, the warm wall would help heat the building.

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[roseBudd]

1. I have layered cut off sweater arms & socks with no mates between my storms &

double hungs. I'm saving dryer lint to stuff them with also

[mac2]

2. We installed tile in our foyer, guest bath, eat in area, and

kitchen to hold heat and air conditioning. It saves energy. The only bad thing is that it is hard on your feet as you age.

We planted trees to shade the house but you have to be careful on small lots. Clay soil and trees sometimes are a disaster for large trees. They fall easily in the wind since their root structure is small.

We do face south and feel the suns warmth on cold winter days. Our windows haven't held up well to the sun and wind over the years. They are metal framed and not that long lasting before they fog up in our MW extreme climate.

I don't do laundry on really hot or cold days. In the MW we have cycles...warm, cold, etc. so I work around or with them. I always save like clothes to do a large load. I use my guest bath for them in baskets.

I don't buy dry clean required items if I can at all help it.

If I buy new clothes I always wash them before wearing to remove the chemicals. If they are leather,etc. I air them first in the basement before wearing them.

We keep our cars for years and take good care of them. My next car will be a hybrid. I love the idea of a car with little noise inside. Especially in heavy traffic.

Buy home water filters so you don't waste money on plastic water bottles. If you need to use water on the road take some in a container.

Don't drink a lot of pop, coffee, etc. Drink lots of water. Your body and skin will love you for it.

When looking for a new retirement home I always ask if the builder is eco- friendly and will allow solar panels. I want them!! When I asked that of a eco-friendly builder in Georgia, he and his wife looked at me like I was crazy. Crazy those Northern, liberal "tree huggers" to ask about solar panels. Eco to them was composite decking and smaller flush toilets. Good grief.

We later found out that there were huge chicken farms in the area. So we didn't want them to build near us. They stink worse than any farm I've ever been past. Especially in the Southern heat. I was raised in farm country with lots of cow farms, etc. Those farms are just disgusting and should be regulated to be a certain size and no more.

Dead Pig farms floated and rotted during those coastal storms which hit the South coast. They couldn't remove them? They had weather reports.

There is a lot we could do for the environment without a lot of cost. The will to do so is missing.