Читать книгу The Self-Sufficiency Handbook - Alan Bridgewater - Страница 54

Regarding the use of solar power to warm our homes, most of us are already doing it via passive direct solar gain. This means that we have shaped our houses so they are, in effect, well-insulated boxes with windows facing the sun at midday. The sunlight shines through the windows onto the various walls, floors, and pieces of furniture within the house, where it is collected and stored as heat energy. If the night is cool, we draw the curtains or shutters to retain the heat that is gradually given off by the walls, floors, and furniture. If the night is warm, we throw open the windows to let the heat out.

If we take the direct-gain idea one step further, we could create thicker walls and floors, with more masonry and concrete; use more insulation in the floor, wall, and ceiling cavities; have larger areas of glass that are positioned so the sun’s rays will strike them at right angles; and use darker colors inside the house, thus helping radically increase a house’s capacity for heat storage.

Whereas the passive, direct-gain approach is absolutely fine in a temperate climate where the days and nights are mild, it fails in a hot-cold climate where the days are hot and the nights are cold, because the rooms will be uninhabitable at midday.