Passive heating is a type of solar heating used in providing heat to residential and commercial buildings. But because solar heating usually produces much more energy than a typical house or small building can consume, a passive solar heating application is a cost-saving addition to any building. And when passive heating is installed during construction, the price is relatively equal to the cost of other heating sources.
Passive heating systems are designed using a forced air system and/or radiant floors using water. The solar collection is not limited to the roof either—when a building is specifically built for passive heating, the solar collection unites are integrated into many building elements. Some of these elements include the walls and windows. All of these building elements help to collect, store, and disperse heating throughout the building when needed.
One misconception of passive heating is that it relies solely on the generation of solar power. While much of the energy is produced through passive heating elements, a building using this system should always have a standard mechanical system installed for backup heating. Because of the high efficiency of solar, these more traditional heating units for backup can be smaller and used a lot less fossil fuels to maintain comfortable temperatures indoors.
Even the coldest of climates will be able to benefit from passive heating systems. The way that the passive solar heating design works is by using two main elements to absorb the sun for heating (or cooling) and also store it for use later on.
The first element of a passive heating system is the direct gain. The direct gain design works by directly absorbing all of the solar energy it can through solar collection panels. This is done through elements places on the walls, floors, and roofs of buildings. During the day, most of the heat is collected in the cores of the solar panels. When the temperature drops inside the building due to cold weather or night time, the stored heat released itself to maintain the temperature inside the building. This action reduces costs because the amount of storage can easily maintain indoor temperatures for several days without collecting more solar energy.
The second element of the system is the heat storage unit. While solar collection panels may be able to hold a considerable amount of heat, additional storage units for this heat energy may be necessary. Most buildings, if constructed with energy efficient materials, can store this heat within the floors and walls to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. To maintain proper heat retention, each square foot of sunlight should be diffused over about nine square feet of the storage surface.
Passive heating is a system that can greatly reduce the amount of traditional heating systems needed in a building, creating environmentally friendly buildings.
Jason Grace
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany
