Solar Heating for Your Home

Selecting solar heating methods within your new home is an advantageous and exciting decision. It is great for the environment, as it cuts down on harmful emissions and takes advantage of a truly renewable heating fuel, the sun. You spent a lot of time selecting just the right style of home prior to purchasing your home plans, why not take the same time and effort to select and design a solar heating system.

There are several different ways to view a solar heating system to be used in the home you are building from the building plans you purchased. First, you need to determine whether this will be a primary heating system, or simply an additional system in order to heat a small area on your home plans, a room or even the entire home.

Depending on your decision about the intent of the solar heating system, you will have to choose the type of heating system that works best for your particular home building plans and lifestyle. There are two main types of solar heating systems that can be used and integrated with your stock home building plan.

First, there is a passive heating system which basically could consist of large glass tubes filled with water that are heated by the sunlight and radiate additional heat into the room. Generally, this is something that would need to be integrated into your home design plans if it is desirable to you. Then, there is a passive system that works with gravity and pulls liquid heated in collection tanks throughout the heating system in order to provide a main source of heat or an additional source of heat to your new home built from stock home design plans.

These passive systems are generally the old-fashioned way of implementing solar heat as an additional heat source within your home. Many of the materials first used in the implementation of such systems experienced corrosion and even rust during the 1980s, when there was a large push towards solar heating of stock building plan homes.

The materials are not such an issue for consideration now, however. But there are much more reliable systems that depend only on a few hours of sunshine per day to thoroughly heat your entire home, regardless of the home building plans you have selected for construction.

The more active solar heating system has a larger up front cost than a passive system, as there are pumps and other mechanical parts involved in the heating of the home. Often, solar panels will need to be installed. In addition to the other expenses you will face when building a home from stock building plans, you need to account for the cost of materials in this type of heating system. Be aware that you will also need, or in some cases be required to; install a back up heating method using electricity, oil or natural gas.

If you are working with a builder to determine the best heating system match for the home you are designing from home building plans purchased from a designer or architect, it is important to consider all factors before determining which type of solar heating system is the best option for you, the homeowner.

This home building article by:
Michelle McClory with AmazingPlans.com