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How do you heat your home with solar panels?
Posted by adminI use forced air to heat my home. I will need to replace my furnace in a couple of years, possibly less. I’m interested in solar energy for all kinds of reasons. It looks like a great solution for light and electric appliances, but how can it be used to heat a home? More to the point, if I were to put solar panels on my roof, would I still need to purchase a new gas-burning furnace, or is there something else I should factor into a solar electric system that could heat my house using forced air, in place of the furnace?
Different type of panels needed. It would require many more panels than have room for to heat with solar electric. To heat your home the collectors have some kind of fluid circulating to absorb heat. The fluid is stored in a large insulated tank so that you can have heat as you need it.
I would suggest using the solar heat to supplement your conventional heat source. Never know if it will be cloudy for several days.
You’ll not likely be able to generate enough electricity to eliminate your furnace but you might ba able to suppliment it enough to reduce your energy costs significantly. Using solar panels to directly heat water for a baseboard heat system is usually a better way to heat a home. They have however been making large advances with solar panels and who knows what will happen in just a few years.
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some experience with solar homes
Different type of panels needed. It would require many more panels than have room for to heat with solar electric. To heat your home the collectors have some kind of fluid circulating to absorb heat. The fluid is stored in a large insulated tank so that you can have heat as you need it.
I would suggest using the solar heat to supplement your conventional heat source. Never know if it will be cloudy for several days.
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You should check on line by typing in solar panels, I understand they are pricey but can be real effective to heat and everything if you have enough and have a lot of sun. We have the great location on our house with southern exposure but in Michigan where I live I would be SOL since it is sooooo grey most of the time and summer is not much better around here for some reason, good luck
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basically, the solar panels are placed on the roof, or inside of room (sort of like a greenhouse), that retains heat and aids the hot water making process. many are made of black abs or black polyethylene collectors, through which, water is circulated (either continuous, or on demand).
the hot water passes through a radiator like coil, with a fan located on one side to force air through, heating the house. other variations include water hoses/tubing inside of the walls, or embedded in the flooring, which, instead of fans, are based on radiant heating methods.
Other variations include plumbing into the hot water heater, cutting down on power or gas to make the water hot, as well as swimming pool or spa heating as well.
You could use existing furnace. your costs would be related to construction or installation of the panels, heat room (better in cold climates) and plumbing, with other costs associated with variations.
I built my own sealed panels out of plywood, copper pipe, 2xs, cinder rock, and glass, making a panel 4′ x 8′ and about 6-inches thick. It was a tedious process, but my end problem wasn’t so much the hot water, but having to cool it down a bit for variable end uses
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Check out this first before you spend a fortune in solar panels.
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/Energy/not-your-parents-solar-panels/
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