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To: camle

3) why not tell us about the technology rather then give us a bunch of promises? how does it work?
Well, mostly I was hoping interested parties might actually do some research on their own rather than my writing a book. Many have already been written.

1) what do you do in the dead of winter when the sky is overcast for several weeks in a row, and outside temps below zero?
I don’t know where you live, but several weeks in a row is unheard of in the United States. Several days in a rows when a big storm system moves through, but that is about it 99.9% of the time. More on that later though.

2) what do you do in the dead of summer when you have the hot sun beating down on you all day, our side temps in the high 90’s?
That is the easiest question of all. In the summer for most of the US, the sun rises to a much higher angle in the sky. A small roof overhang that will easily let winter sun in, will block summer sun. Passive solar can also be used to INCREASE natural ventilation. an over the top example is here http://ottp.fme.vutbr.cz/laboratore/e-komin.php, or search solar chimney venitlation under images for some simple drawings.

A. Earth sheltering: It is not required but is the most efficient, cost effective strategy for controlling temperature swings. Google it. There are a zillion ways to do it from really simple to really elaborate. A walkout basement on the south side with the north side in the ground and most or all of the East and West sides in the ground is a simple example that add no cost to the building. A little bit of rigid insulation placed properly in the ground significantly increases performance.

B. Cost. There are plenty of Governemnt studies, and the consensus is that passive solar adds 0-2% to the construction budget. The three solar houses I built, added 0% to the budget. Due to other sensible techniques it was actually well under budget of homes in the area for $/sq ft.

C. Insulation - A highly insulated building costs a little more but will absolutely save the money, especially when combined with active solar. Smoggy Wallasey England had a school built in 1961 at the latitude of approximately Southern Alaska. They only get a VERY low 1500 hours of sun per year. Yet this well insulated passive solar school removed their heating system after decades of never using it. So that answers your question about overcast. In decades it was never overcast enough to need an additional heat source. BTW, they never even asked for passive solar, the guy just built it that way in budget.


44 posted on 09/26/2014 3:56:30 AM PDT by Prophet2520
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To: Prophet2520

thanx for the explanation. turns out i am already at least contemplating many of these concepts. house will be in north-eastern Maine


60 posted on 09/26/2014 5:31:30 AM PDT by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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