How To Get Free Alternative Energy - Build A Sunspace!

One you have decided that your home is ready for solar conversion; you need to decide the best way to do it. The first step in converting an existing house for a solar power system is to choose which solar strategies will work in your home. Then evaluate each choice in terms of how much solar power will it collect, how much money it will take to build the system and what the system will do to the appearance of the home. One bright way to welcome the sun into your home is to build a solar addition, or sunspace. Constructed properly, a sunspace not only provides a ray of hope in the fight against rising energy bills, it also can serve as a cheery, light-filled living area.

A sunspace is the most popular solar retrofit because sunspaces usually work well with any size or style of home. Besides providing inviting sun-warmed living space, sunspaces are also very efficient. They usually contribute anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of the heating needs of an average house. A sunspace collects energy efficiently only if it’s built to take the heat. That ability depends primarily on three considerations - location, size, and glazing.

There is computer software now available to help establish design and performance criteria for specific solar projects like sunspaces. This software makes it easy to avoid making uninformed and potentially costly decisions about a sunspace addition. Once you have determined where to build the sunspace, you need to decide how large it should be. Generally speaking, bigger is better, but deeper can be wasteful. You do not want to build a sunspace so deep that sunlight can’t penetrate to the back wall. Exactly how deep it should be depends on the height of south-facing windows and how much roof glazing, if any, the space will have, as well as sun angles, shading, and other factors at your site.

The third consideration is the amount, type, and placement of glazing. Under the best circumstances, each square foot of glazing will collect enough heat to warm two square feet of sunspace area. Thus, glazing is usually installed on the entire south wall but kept to a minimum on the east and west walls. Glazing slightly angled usually to a maximum of 60 degrees collects more sun during winter. The right amount of glazing for each house will vary. The most popular kind of glazing is fixed glass, but if you want to keep down costs, you should consider other materials. Fixed windows are less expensive than the operable variety and lose less heat. Wood framed windows lose the least heat through the frames. For metal frames choose a brand that has good thermal breaks between the outside and inside surfaces. Double insulated windows are the best buys in most parts of the country.

Now that you have collected and stored all that free heat, you have to find a way to distribute it as evenly as possible. You can do this in two ways, take advantage of natural forces, or give Mother Nature a little help by adding a fan or two. Many solar designers like to give the convective process a boost by inserting small fans inside some of the vents. Another way to enhance a passive solar system is to use a fan to force solar heated air past an indirect thermal mass, which makes heat transfer faster and making the mass more efficient. For example, you can use pre-cast concrete slab sub-floors that have cores running from one end to the other. Fans pull solar heated air through the concrete storing the solar heat in the slab for later use. Another even more extensive hybrid is an underground rock-bed that has heated air forced into it for storage.

Just about any home can tap into this source of almost limitless, free nonpolluting alternative energy source. Once you have mastered a few basic principles about passive solar energy, you can open your house to sunlight, capture and store its energy and distribute energy and heat when and where you need it.

Build a Sunspace and get free alternative energy. Besides providing inviting sun-warmed living space, sunspaces are also very efficient. They usually contribute anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of the heating needs of an average house, visit http://www.solarenergyassociation.com to learn about building a Sunspace. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_A.