What are the 18 Golden rules that passive solar houses have in commun to minimize the need for any back-up cooling or heating system


Your electric bill is rising every year and I´m sure it´s becoming a strain on your budget as well. By making use the sun´s free power, you can turn your house into a passive solar house and will save your electric bill.

Sure, you can create your own energy with PV solar or hot water solar, but the best way to reduce your energy costs, with the lowest environmental impact, is to reduce your energy needs. The old saying, “the cheapest kWh is the one you don´t use”, very much applies here. And by using the Passive Solar house design techniques you will be able to reduce your energy need by 20-90%.

The sun can really keep you from turning up your furnace or to boost up the air-conditioning to get to a comfortable temperature in your house.  The sun provides so much energy to your house to make it comfortable during all seasons.

 

There are two types of solar design systems -passive and active.

Passive solar design systems

A house constructed as passive solar house uses the natural movement of air and heat to maintain comfortable temperatures, while operating with little or no mechanical assistance. It's called passive solar house because the design of the house maximizes the benefits it receives from the sun with standard construction features. A passive solar house takes advantage of local breezes and landscape features like shade, trees and windbreaks, and uses a simple system to collect and store solar energy with no switches or controls.

Active solar design systems

On the other hand, active solar systems use mechanical devices such as pumps and fans to let the heat flow from collectors to storage or from storage to use. Photovoltaic panels that collect solar energy, turning it into electricity, are also considered an active solar system.

 

When you apply as much as possible passive solar house design techniques, you can considerably reduce the size and capacity of your regular heating and cooling system. When you calculate well your energy need and implement passive solar house techniques as written in the other articles in this ´energy category´, you can reduce your energy need by 20-90%. Just image that, by using the power of the sun, opening solar windows to let in cool breezes or protecting your home from the summer heat by providing shading and with some other simple alterations to you house, you reduce your energy bill that much.


Following all passive solar house design principles with an already existing house will be tough and requires quite some changes to your home, but many easy to plan measures can already provide you a lot of benefits. The five basic passive solar house design principles are:


Actually, smart orientation, smart overhangs and shading, smart insulation and smart solar windows are not exclusive for a passive solar house design. They are and should be applied to any new-build or reconstructed house. It´s more common sense that these measures should be applied. The majority of the tips provided in there articles will improve your house without major reformation.