Now that winter is nearing and temperatures cool, you're probably starting to think about options for heating your home. Lucky for me and my family,  we have a several to keep us toasty warm inside when the weather turns frosty outside. Thanks to these simple alternatives, my family and I do not have to rely on natural gas or propane during the winter. We save hundreds of dollars a year. And we contribute little toxins to environment we love so.

We enjoy the warmth and ambience of passive solar technology. This technology always seems to amaze me because it actually works really well. It keeps my home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Passive solar technologies aim to maintain an interior thermal comfort throughout the suns daily and annual cycles. This is achieved while also reducing the requirement for active heating and cooling systems.

I live in Taos, New Mexico. One of the many benefits of living in Taos is ample sunshine, be it fall, winter, spring or summer. It is this sunshine, this energy, that we use to heat our home during the fall and winter months. 

How does passive solar work?

Passive solar is possible by appropriate solar orientation and window placement. It focuses on south-facing windows, few windows on the west side, having a good thermal mass, and cross ventilation. We have most of our windows on the south side of our home this allows the sun to come into our living room, kitchen and dining room areas, as well as two out of the three bedrooms in the colder months. This keeps our main rooms in the house warm and cozy.

Q: "What about when it warms up?"

Amazingly, when the weather outside starts to warm up, this sunlight does not come through our house because of the shift in the suns angles.

With a well designed overhang, the south facing windows that admit the low-angled rays of the winter sun are shaded from the high angled summer sun. In the summer, we can also open windows on both the south and north sides of the house and create a cross breeze to keep our home cool and comfortable.  We also have very good insulation that is appropriate for our climate and location. This insulation keeps us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

As I have mentioned I am always a little amazed that this passive solar technology works. With the change of each season I am pleasantly surprised. Because so much sunlight penetrates our house throughout the winter months, I find myself wondering how we are going to deal with this in the summer time when it is really warm outside. But, at just the right time, I start noticing less sunlight coming into our home, until eventually none comes in at all. Then when it starts to get cool again (in the fall), that same pattern comes back. We start to see a little sunlight creeping in, little by little, day by day, until we are  eventually flooded with ample sunlight and heat.

I have had friends come over who are used to air conditioners or swamp cooler in the summer time. They are amazed to find that we do not have any of these devices running in the summer and really have a hard time believing that our house stays pleasantly cool from a cross breeze when we open the windows. 

I proudly let them know our house is very efficient and keeps us cozy all year long, the passive solar way.