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Health & Fitness

Let's Save Energy! - Free Heat

Free Heat…?


Hello Everyone -


Yes, I said FREE heat. You already know about it.

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You know how it heats up your car in the summer, and how it makes sand at the beach too hot to walk on.    
Yes…the sun.  


The sun is an endless supply of free heat. Who would want to pass up on free heat, especially with this winter!

The sun will generate about 260 btu’s per hour of heat through a window about 9 square feet. on the south side of your home. That’s a lot of free heat (about $25 to $30 of free heat per window if your heat with oil)!
How do we collect that free heat?  

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First, hopefully you have windows or skylights on the south side of your home, that are unobstructed (no fences, trees, other homes, in the way of the sun light).  In the winter, open up the blinds as far as they will open.  You want to allow as much sunlight in as possible.  As the sun crosses from east to west, you will collect all that free heat through your windows.  You can also open the blinds on the east side in the morning…that will collect less heat (due to the sun’s position), but it’s still free heat.  

If you have heavy dense furniture on the inside, or a stone floor, or even better, a stone wall (such as fireplace) in the direct line of the sunlight, even better!  These solid dense materials will slowly absorb the heat, warm up, and then slowly dissipate the heat into the room after the sun has passed.  What an incredible concept – the direct sunlight can warm your home during the day as it shines in, and will continue to warm your home later in the day due to the “stored” heat in stone walls or furniture.  

This is actually once of the concepts behind extremely efficient homes, or “passive” homes. They are intentionally built and oriented such that they collect as much sunlight as possible during the day, and store it in stone walls and floors.

What about the summer??   Well, in the summer, close those shades on the south side windows.  The exact same concept applies in the summer-  your home will be warmed by  the solar heat from the sun.  Solar blinds will help control that heat gain in the summer. The better the solar blind, the better the heat control.

So, in the winter, open those blinds as far as they will go on your south facing windows and skylights.  Your wallet will appreciate it…..and, you will be helping the earth.

To learn more about this and how you can save hundred – or more – on your utility bills, please see my website at www.saveenergyusa.com or my facebook page at saveenergyusa.

Think energy savings every day!
jeff

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