Many people are out to not only save money but save the planet as well. One of the ways that a person can accomplish both saving money and helping to save the Earth is through solar heating. In this article, you will learn what solar heating is and how it will help you to save money.
The Use Of Solar Power Is On The Rise
The costs of energy usage is increasing on a daily basis and they are expected to continue to climb. For this reason, many people are choosing to go with solar power. But what about solar heating? That’s a different matter.
What Is Solar Heating?
When people are speaking of solar heating and their homes, they may be referring to active or passive solar heating. Passive solar heating is the absorption of light for the use of the heat that comes with it. You can bring that heat into your home with big windows, dark colors, or other methods.
The other type of solar is called active solar. This type works with the same principles as passive solar but nothing else is the same between the two. What makes this kind of energy different is that there needs to be an active element that will move the heat from the collector and absorber to the thermal mass or even directly into the home. This is often referred to as a solar thermal system.
How It Works
Most homes today have a forced air heating and cooling system that is controlled by a thermostat. There are a couple of different ways that you can convert this to a solar-powered heating system. Using a solar water heating system can do this, or you can convert it by using a system that uses an energy collector (such as a solar PV panel) and uses that energy to heat or even cool your home.
An important first step, however, is to be sure that your HVAC unit is not a suspect for energy loss. One important way you can do this by insulating your pipes. Of course, there are also more ways to check for HVAC energy loss*. You can research this to learn more.
Energy Saving Costs
Research was completed in 2009 showed that most homeowners were spending about $2000 per year on energy costs for their homes, and (of course) since then, costs have continued to rise. However, you could find yourself saving money on energy costs if you switched to solar power and/or solar heating.
Tax Credits
Many say that the government is only out to take your money. The fact of the matter is that the government is also concerned with saving the planet, and with sending money back to you in various ways. For this first reason, it is currently offering monetary incentives that will help inspire a greater portion of the population (of the United States) be motivated into using solar energy. These incentives come in the form of tax credits and are offered from both the federal government as well as many state governments.
Home Values
You will also find that, by adding solar energy or solar heating, you can increase the value of your home. Of course, you can’t know exactly how much solar energy will add to the value of your home until you go to sell it, but you will definitely be able to show the possible homebuyer how much you have saved on energy costs since the installation of the solar power, and studies have found that the extra home value is typically greater than the cost of the solar system.
Conclusion
There are many different ways to save money as a homeowner. One of the ways that is often overlooked but growing in popularity is that of solar power, but solar heating is also an option to consider. To learn more about solar energy and how to have it installed into your home, search around this site and ask plenty of questions.
This article has been courteously sponsored by Quality Mechanical.
Image Credit: 10 10 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license)
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