EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Solar Heating
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-08-09, 03:10 AM   #21
cdig
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 61
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

hey Daox, have you thought about maybe putting in a layer of decorative brick wall as a heat sink? If you hunt around in the free ads you can sometimes find reclaimed bricks for dirt cheap or even free if you remove them yourself.

as for the tree in your solar path, hack it down and plant a few more else wheres if you're concience is bothering you

cdig is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-09, 07:30 AM   #22
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

That is really not a bad idea at all cdig. I'll definitely have to think about it.

However, the big tree will need to stay. It blocks a ton of direct sunlight in the summer months and really helps keep the house cool. During winter, the sunroom does get a lot of direct light since the trees have no leaves on them.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-09, 10:13 AM   #23
GaryGary
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SW Montana
Posts: 139
Thanks: 1
Thanked 21 Times in 15 Posts
Default

Hi,
Nice sunroom!

One thought would be to distribute excess heat from the sunroom to the rest of the house. This keeps the sunroom itself from overheating, and provides some heat for the rest of the house.

If there is an accessible attic, maybe a vent in the sunroom ceiling ducted to a ceiling vent somewhere else in the house, with an inline Fantech type fan, and controlled by one of those replacement thermostats for attic vent fans (HD carries these).

Low mass sunrooms can be good home heaters:
PolySpace

Gary
GaryGary is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-09, 11:16 PM   #24
Christ
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 123
Thanks: 14
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

I second the brick-as-thermal-mass idea. It's a great way to add cheap/free thermal mass.

If you live in an area with alot of rock in the ground, DIG THOSE BABIES UP! Dig yourself a hole in the backyard, sift the rock from it, and stack them up against the wall (if you like stacked stone look). The hole in your yard that will be left over could also be utilized for other things, like a summer fish pond or a compost ditch.

You can do some nice designs with brick/cement/cinder block/stacked stone that look great and make excellent thermal mass. If you can make reflective frames to put around the windows, they'll pick up more sunlight as well. (Like the open flaps of a solar oven.)
Christ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-09, 02:23 PM   #25
wyatt
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 75
Thanks: 3
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

Here's an idea I have had, and it actually ties in with a project Daox is working on/has mostly completed...
Temperature dependent door/shade opening and closing. If it's warmer between the glass and shade, the shade opens (in the winter), then when the room gets warm enough the doors open, automatically! Opposite for when the room starts to cool down. You can get a summer setting and a winter setting. You would also want it easy to temporally disable in case you wanted the doors open late at night for some reason. You may even be able to do all of this with one controller. I don't know much about the programming, but your Arduino actuated grill block would be perfect if you could figure it out.
wyatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-09, 06:08 PM   #26
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Well, we got some area rugs for the sunroom. These should hopefully help increase solar gains somewhat.

The first one is a smaller rug. In the picture its hard to tell, but its a real dark brown color. Annie seems to like it.






The second one is much bigger, and multi colored. Again, browns and greens though.

__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-09, 06:55 PM   #27
Christ
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 123
Thanks: 14
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
Well, we got some area rugs for the sunroom. These should hopefully help increase solar gains somewhat.

The first one is a smaller rug. In the picture its hard to tell, but its a real dark brown color. Annie seems to like it.






The second one is much bigger, and multi colored. Again, browns and greens though.

Have you considered either a darker colored floor, or a floor with some thermal mass to it? Like wood or stone... Or even stove brick, might look pretty neat on the floor. What about a cobble stone floor? (Bricks) I'm thinking about a cobblestone floor for the area closest to the windows in my house, since there are only windows on the south face of it.
Christ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-09, 10:19 PM   #28
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

The floor actually is pretty hefty on the thermal mass side already. It is ceramic tile over the hydronic pex line with a sand trough sleeper underneath it.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-09, 10:29 PM   #29
Christ
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 123
Thanks: 14
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
The floor actually is pretty hefty on the thermal mass side already. It is ceramic tile over the hydronic pex line with a sand trough sleeper underneath it.
Woops! The white-ish tile looks like Linoleum... I'm still thinking about doing a partial cobblestone floor in my house, though. It just seems to me like it would look neat.. and besides, if I don't like it, I'll just pull it back up, use the brick for something else, and do another type of floor, like wood scraps or something.
Christ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-09, 12:58 PM   #30
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

That sounds like it would be pretty cool to me. Lots of work though.

__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Tags
passive solar, thermal mass

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:14 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design