| Passive Solar Design |
| Active Solar Design |
| Sunspaces |
| Natural air circulation and ventilation for heating and cooling |
| Forced circulation and ventilation for heating and cooling |
| Active sunspaces, solariums and sunrooms |
| Solariums |
| Passive gain and storage |
| Heat energy can be gained and removed passively through the simplest of techniques. The most common is the ordinary window. Location and orientation, along with reflection, will determine how much energy you can gain or reject. Storage will depend upon the medium and the capacity onto which the gained energy is directed. |
| Sunspaces are designed to heat a small volume of air quickly. This heated air is then transfered into living spaces by means of natural or forced convection techniques. |
| Solariums are usually considerable larger than sunspaces and may also be used as living space. Solariums are usually constructed using a concrete mass as a base to absorb and store heat. Most solariums also contain plants to contribute to the amount of humidity and greenhouse gases to collect and hold in heat. |
| Properly located windows and working vents and ducts will allow for natural convection currents to carry heat into, around or out of a house depending on the season. |
| Thermosyphon techniques can be used to produce domestic hot water and to circulate home heating fluids without the use of inefficient pumps. |
| Fans and temperature controls are added to the sunspace design to enhance temperature gain, distribution and flow of the heated air. |
| For those systems that cannot take advantage of a thermosyphon system due to system size and/or constructrion and location contraints. |
| Fans and/or automated vents are added to assist in the distribution and removal of hot air. |
| Daylighting schemes |
| Non-solar back up systems |
| Sun rooms |
| What are Passive and Active Solar Design? |
| Passive solar home designs include methods in which the natural flow of fluids, whether it be air or water, and energy are harnessed without any other type of external energy input. |
| Sun rooms, or three season rooms as they are sometimes called, are usually larger than solariums and are typically used more as living spaces than for heat gain. Though, if properly designed, they can double as both. |
| Proper location of windows and use of methods to channel natural light will reduce the need for electric lighting. |
| Wood stoves |
| Gas log fireplaces |
| Conventional hot water heaters, furnaces and boilers |
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| Active solar home designs include the same methods as passive solar design but usually include mechanical devices such as pumps, fans, vent dampers and electical controls to regulate flow. These devices are usually dependent on outside sources of energy but may be utilized with power gained from PV panels. |
| Solar electric panels can be added to operate mechanical devices associated with active systems, therefore giving the active system a sense of passive operation. |
| Can be used for auxilary heating and hot water heating |
| Can be operated using LP gas and used as an auxilary heat and lighting source as well as ambiance. |
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| When used in conjunction with a solar system, smaller, more efficient models can be incorporated to assist in home and hot water heating. |
| LP appliances |
| Small propane space or wall heaters can assist in heating. LP can also serve as cooking gas. |