Solar Heat Your Home Today

Solar heat is not exactly a new idea when it comes to powering one’s home nowadays. Since the beginning of mankind, the sun has been utilized to provide warmth to people. With modern technology today, however, this has completely changed the ways of how this can be done, taking older methods to a whole new level.

Back in the 1920s, homes were supplied with hot water through big storage tanks heated by sunlight. However, as the gas and electricity costs have lowered, these applications have become too expensive. Old ideas are usually re-used again as time goes by with added twists and with today’s hot water heating systems, solar power has been used once again for the past few decades.

What’s even newer nowadays is how solar energy is used beyond basic windows. Naturally, it is possible to let the sun stream through windows, but this often leads to certain areas becoming too bright and too warm in homes, while others do not receive the same amount of heat.

Modern solar systems that use solar heat can transfer solar energy around for an even and comfortable temperature in the entire house.

Some solar systems make use of a mixture of water and salt water. The channels and tubes that hold this mixture can be found in tiny parabolic troughs similar to mirrors that focus the sunlight into raising the temperature of the water. This is how solar systems work in heating water and this very technology can supply the entire home with solar heat.

Water systems are usually designed to retain solar heat, so that the water is always readily available and doesn’t need to be reheated all the time. However, solar systems at home reverse this idea to let go of some of the heat.

In one particular application, tubes run under clay or wooden flooring materials. By doing this, heat will gradually flow through this flooring and find itself in the air for a comfortable interior environment.

Today’s smart designers have taken this idea to a whole knew level. Since they are aware that water isn’t the only known fluid in society, they realized that air could be used as a fluid by giving air liquid properties with an easy flow.

By filling tubes with air, it is possible to gain and release heat where needed. And since gases are not liquids, leaks that may occur will not cause any damage to the home.

These applications may not be as efficient at heat storage as liquid systems, though, since they are not as dense. But this way, you will not have to worry about major repair costs if something goes awry. If a leak springs in the system, you will just have to replace or fix a small section, which hardly costs any money compared to completely replacing walls or flooring after a water leak.

These problems are actually quite common. In places where the winter is quite cold, water pipes may freeze and break. And many of these cold days will still be able to provide a lot of sun that can be used in solar systems.

Find out more about possible solar systems for your home and marvel at the wide variety of options that you are sure to discover.