solar heat anyone?

[d-man's mom]

I'm already dreading the price of heating oil this winter and am trying to find some alternative ways to heat my house. Does anyone here have a solar home?

I have oil heat and also a wood stove. I expect to go through a cord of wood this winter, but I still use 2-3 tanks of oil per winter. My house holds heat very well upstairs, but not as well on the main floor. The heat from the woodstove (even with a blower on it) gets sucked up the stairwell. I have to have the stove super hot with the blower on in order for it to really make an impact on the main floor.

I put plastic on the windows to seal them up and the house was insulated a few years ago. Because it's 150 years old, I think it's just a cold old house!

Anyway, I've been looking around online at solar alternatives. Has anyone used a passive solar system? I've found some room heaters that I could put in a window and will kick on with a blower when the air inside of them hits a certain temp. My house has great east-west sunlight, so I think this could be a great option for us. I'm just trying to figure out how much space one of those heaters would cover, and if it would work on cloudy days, etc.

Eventually I want solar panels on the roof, but won't do that until I replace the roof.

Thanks!

 

[Ardenne]

We're building a passive solar home! I can hardly wait until it's done. We'll use active solar for generating electricity. A good passive solar design with an appropriate amount of thermal mass will keep the house between 55 and 75 most of the time without additional heating/cooling, and we'll have a solar water heater that heats water for radiant flooring for extra heating in winter. We'll also have a masonry heater for extra heat when needed.

I haven't seen the solar window units you're talking about, but they sound like a good idea. I know regular solar panels *do* generate electricity on cloudy days, just not as much as on sunny days -- for the same reason you can get a sunburn even if it's hazy outside. I'd suspect the window units would do the same, but I'm not sure since I'm not familiar with them.

You might want to consider hiring someone to do an energy audit on your home. You can do it to some degree yourself (try the Energy Solution Checklists at www.lowes.com or www.homedepot.com, and you might want to look at the Home Energy Saver audit from the Lawrence Berkley National Lab at http://hes.lbl.gov), but for a really *good* analysis, you can hire someone for around $200-400 to come in with equipment like blower doors, smoke emitters, and infrared cameras to really figure out where the heat is escaping and recommend the most cost-effective fixes. Try googling for energy+audit+your state to find local auditors, if you can't find any in the phone book.

Good luck It's so nice to run across someone else with an interest in utilizing solar power!!!

 

[MdmMim]

I'm already dreading the price of heating oil this winter and am trying to find some alternative ways to heat my house.

We installed a wood furnace last year and love it! (We had oil as a backup, but did not burn any all season.) The wood-generated heat is way much better than oil--I was actually warm this past winter! I think we went through 5 cords of wood (very old house 170 y/o?, not well-insulated). DH fills it once a day, and we're good to go.

 

[jennifer293]

We own a chimney service and we have been installing lots of woodstoves lately. Gas is just WAAAAYYYYY too expensive these days so many people are turning to wood again....which is GREAT for us. I think that solar would be an awesome alternative but I have never checked into how costly it would be VS. another wood heater.


I LOVE LOVE LOVE cold weather it gives us $$$$$$$ in our pockets!!!!

 

[ocd4disney]

I have been researching solar panels for my home.. ..well my future home...it will be ready to move in in march. i have been looking online but i am having a hard time figuring out how much it will cost and how much it will save. the examples on this one website i found use a lot fewer kilowatt hours than we do. i don't get it......we are getting a gas fireplace but it won't matter...we live in texas... why they put in fireplaces here is beyond me! I need help cooling my home...lol.
I have seen solar panels that look a lot like shingles....i hope we can put those on our house, but again it depends on the cost...we will have to save up.

 

[Taja]

The early solar panels were okay, but not wonderful.

Have been researching for my next house (a few years away, but I want to know what is available), in which I plan to use primarily solar power. The options are great! It's much more expensive up front, but the potential for long-term savings is terrific.

Haven't seen the portable units, but have been using solar lighting in the yard. It works well!

 

[d-man's mom]

We installed a wood furnace last year and love it! (We had oil as a backup, but did not burn any all season.) The wood-generated heat is way much better than oil--I was actually warm this past winter! I think we went through 5 cords of wood (very old house 170 y/o?, not well-insulated). DH fills it once a day, and we're good to go.

Wow! 5 cords! I will go through probably 2 cords in my wood stove this winter. I'd love to be able to figure out a way to have the oil as a back up, but would rather go solar than spend the $$ on a wood furnace (especially when there's nothing wrong with my current furnace).

Still looking at solar panels of some kind. Thanks for the replies!