Residential cabin as a passive solar home

Modern society is increasingly interested in environmental protection. One of the most important step is to use alternative energy sources as much as possible. Solar energy – the most powerful. It`s theoretical annual potential is many times higher than other energy resources. The Sun gives us not only light, but also heat. This energy could be used for electricity and heating production in almost every place. Today`s buildings are constructed on purpose to effectively use a solar energy, so I will introduce how to build your own ecological passive solar house.

Passive solar home. People increasingly began to look for alternatives to use renewable energy to reduce heating bills and save money. The Sun radiates light and heat, which causes natural processes and all existence on earth. Some of these natural processes could be used in a building`s design as a manner to help heat and cool the building. The basic things are used for the solar energy is thermal energy which comes along with the radiation emitted by the sun, natural convection and conduction. When the sun shines on a building, the building materials can absorb, transmit or reflect the solar radiation. Additionally, air movement, caused by heat flow of the sun, can be predictable in specially designed spaces. These basic things lead to design details, choose the right materials and places of the house that provide heating and cooling effects in your home.

Building materials. A passive solar home can be constructed from various materials. It depends on what type of building do you want – from concrete, bricks or green ecological house, wishing to save the environment. There is a big variety of green building materials, but wood is used mostly. Wooden houses have many positive qualities, which enchant most of the people. This material is green and very strong, so it has possibility to stand much more years, than others. One of the most positive things about these types of buildings is that they could be collected very quickly. Depending from house size – it could be assembled from 7 days to 3 months, while an usual brick house needs half a year. If you are thinking to build a house of wood, you can start to construct it right away. Every house a foundation is needed, so the log cabin`s base could be from concrete or large solid logs considering on what place you are going to build it.

Energy efficiency. Before building a house you have to know, that using a passive solar energy it is the most cost-effective thing to reduce heating and cooling bills. The house, built from wood and special construction design ensure energy efficiency many more times. Log cabins are very insulated, so take very little energy to heat in the winter time and to cool in summer. Passive solar home has a wide range of design. Chose the right building specialists which are experienced in this kind of building design and work with them together to properly optimise energy-efficiency in your home. If you are going to remodel your house, the first thing you have to do is to have a home energy audit anteriority and then ensure cost-effective energy consumption magnification.

Right place selection. Before you start to collect a passive solar home, you have to make that south side of your house could be able to look at the sun. You have to make sure, that trees, or other planning buildings will not block south side of your house from sun radiation. If solar access is not cloaked in that region where you want to build a house, you should look for a lot being deeply between north and south and place your house on the north side at the end of the lot.

Passive solar home operating principle. When the sun shines through south side windows, a passive solar home collects the heat and maintains it in materials that keeps a thermal mass inside of the house. Part of the heat that passive solar house can absorb is called passive solar fraction. Glazing area and the amount of thermal mass causes the heat quantity that gets inside the house. The ideal ratio of thermal mass depends on climate and different glazing. Residential cabin which is well-designed as a passive solar home provides daylight all year and in that way helps to reduce electricity bills. It also provides ventilation at the night time and ensures comfort in cooling season.

Every passive solar home has basic elements, which must work together, to make sure a successful design.

• Properly adjusted windows. Usually windows should be turned to the true south approximately at 30 degrees and they do not have to be shielded by trees or other buildings during the cooling season time from 9 o`clock in the morning and 3 in the afternoon every day. But in spring, leaves falling time and in summer it is better to shade all windows in order to avoid overheating.

• Thermal mass. Wood can keep enough of thermal mass without proving it out. The thicker the walls are, the more thermal mass will be in your home. In winter wooden house can keep normal warmth without any special heating, and self-ventilating in summer.

• Sun distribution mechanism. Solar heat transferred from the sun is collected and apportioned to different locations of the residential cabin as radiation, convection and conduction. Radiation is when you feel the warmth on your face while you are looking through the window at the sunny day. Darker colours can take to itself much more heat and it is a very good choice for a passive solar house. Conduction originates between two objects, which are touching each other like hands with warm windowsill. Convection is when heat comes through the air into cooler places in the house. So you have to make all these mechanisms to work together.

• Control. Roof, thermostat, operable insulating shutters and awnings, low-emissivity blinds are needed to control heat in all seasons.

Summarizing all, passive solar residential cabins can be one of the most attractive modern buildings which are friendly to the environment. To collect this type of building you will not cost a lot of money and your time. Sun is the most powerful energy source giving us light, heat and electricity that we can use without any damage for our earth. In 2010 yrs passive house built or remodeled more than 15,000 people in Europe and these numbers are growing incessantly.

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