When a solar cooling system is set up properly, the hotter the temperature gets, the cooler your home will be. Are you wondering how this works?

Solar heat can actually help cool your home. When a solar cooling system is set up properly, the hotter the temperature gets, the cooler your home will be. You might wonder how this works …

You can use heat to cool your home by using the forces of nature to pump air and drive the heat away.

Here are some DIY projects that you can consider, in the quest for a cooler home:

1. You can try building a thermal or solar chimney. This is a heated chimney that collects and ejects heat from the interior of the house. Once the chimney collects heat from the sun, it creates a vacuum effect which sucks in cool air, while hot air exits through the top vent. Your chimney can be in the form of a hole in the floor with ducts through the roof. You can cap the chimney with a turbine that will catch air, to help release hot air out of the structure. If you set it up in this way, your thermal chimney will function as a wind chimney as well. This solution will make your cooling system work during the day, when the sun is up, as well as during the night, when the wind is blowing.

2. You could also use an evaporative cooler. We all know that when water absorbs heat, it evaporates. Thus, when air travels over water, it cools down. This method should be used when the humidity level is low. And be sure to use preventive measures against health hazards that can be presented by stagnant water - such as malaria, mildew, and Legionnaire's Disease. The size of you evaporative cooler would depend on the size of your home. It usually consists of a box containing the fan, and a wet pad. It can be mounted on your roof, or at the side of your house. You can use a windmill to circulate the water that keeps the pad wet. The fan will blow the air through the pad, and the air will eventually enter into the house through open windows or vents.

These are just some of the ways you can use solar and wind energy to cool your home. There are also kits you can buy - but, like most DIY projects you can purchase the things you need in a local hardware store. Commercially available kits are likely to cost more than what you would spend if you buy your parts separately, although they might also be faster and easier to set up.

————————

If you are looking for complete and step-by-step instructions on how to install DIY Wind and Solar Power systems, along with pictures, videos, and and diagrams, please see DIY Wind and Solar Cooling Methods.

For more basic information on solar cooling, see Solar Cooling

Source Article: DIY Wind and Solar Cooling Methods

Timber Windows UK - Hint #1 - Timber Replacement Windows are Well Worth the Money

Though it’s not unusual for timber windows and doors to cost as much as three times the amount of PVC doors and windows, proprietors need to keep in mind that the expense of restoring their house’s windows should come up to around 5% of the market worth of the property. So, if your property is worth about £125,000, you should plan on paying about £6250 for your wooden windows. This may sound like a great deal of money; but, understand that your investment is extremely likely to add to the financial worth of your home in an amount that will be much more than the money amount you used to purchase the timber frame windows.

Timber Windows Hint #2 – Evaluate the Warranty

A trustworthy UK timber window contractor should offer you a written guarantee. The agreement is based on the assumption that the proprietor will keep the windows in good order. Concerning windows that come already finished from the makers below are a couple of general guarantees:

Against infestation from fungus and against decomposing – 30 years
For windows that are double glazed – 10 years

UK Timber Windows Hint #3 – Opt for the Best Materials

For your replacement sash or your casement windows to be strong, they must have a superior wood product and be painted or stained with a durable substance. The finish on your replacement windows should also be a multi-layer that begins with a preservative coating and continues with primer and at least 2 coats of micro porous paint. This is a factory finish which should endure for 5 to 8 years and then it will be time to paint or stain again. The task of painting or staining a window doesn’t take up much time because it doesn’t even take a half hour.

If you select the correct windows and you install and upkeep them well, superior UK timber windows will endure throughout decades and possibly centuries. Acoustic glass: Designed for application in high noise areas, such as busy streets or near airports. Other types of glass, even double glazed, do not offer the same level noise reduction as acoustic glass, even if they are of the same thickness. Most manufacturers publish charts that detail the degree of noise reduction offered by acoustic glass. This glass can be tricky to install properly, so customers are cautioned to employ a professional installer. Also, since there are sources of noise that are unrelated to what comes in through the windows, an acoustic survey is recommended to determine exactly what percentage of the total noise the window will remediate when installed in a replacement sash.

A lot of people are living with a HVAC in their homes that is probably several years old. Most people do not realize that cleaning and maintaining the Louisville HVAC in addition to doing Louisville duct cleaning every couple of years should be done for a variety of reasons. This article will describe all of the reasons why doing these two steps will not only help your budget but the health of your family as well .

The first reason to have your HVAC cleaned is to help it run more efficiently. A lot of homeowners do not realize that when the systems age and get dirtier they become less efficient to run and have to work a great deal more to warm and cool your house . Having the system cleaned will use less energy and thus save you money on your heating and air conditioning bills. Therefore, the upfront cost of having the system serviced will more than pay for itself in the long run .

When you decide to have your system cleaned be certain you do your research of who will do the actual cleaning . There are a lot of companies that offer deep discounted cleaning bargains for under $100 and usually many of these businesses are not certified specialists in HVAC servicing and cleaning. Be sure to hire a company that is certified so they do not cause more harm than good to your system . A standard service call for cleaning should cost anywhere from $400-$500 if it is done correctly .

Another reason it is a good idea to have some duct cleaning done in your house every 2-3 years is for the better air quality in your place . Many homeowners never have their air vents cleaned out while living in their home and that behavior should stop for the well being of your relatives living there. An article recently in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported the health benefits of having your ducts professionally cleaned out by a certified duct cleaning specialist . Numerous items have been known to be found in air vents and ducts in a home over the years . Technicians have found dead animals, toys, socks, pet hair and of course a great deal of dust and dirt. Can you imagine how efficient a duct is when there is a dead animal blocking it ? You want the air being forced into your home to pass through clean vents resulting in high quality air for all residents to breathe.

The health of your family is the final imperative reason to have your ducts cleaned out. Asthma and allergies is rising among kids in the US and homeowners need to clean out their HVAC unit in addition to the ducts to get rid of all of the dust causing allergens that can create or even make worse asthma symptoms. If your ducts and system are cleaned every couple of years, there will be less allergy symptoms and asthma attacks for family members in your house that suffer from these conditions.

For many people who live in smaller homes or in apartments, a room air conditioner is the perfect device to provide cooling for their living quarters. Room air conditioners are fairly small units that can be mounted right within a window frame or can be installed through an exterior wall for venting.

There are also portable air conditioning systems which use a flexible tube that goes to a nearby window for ventilation. These portable units are mounted on casters so they can be rolled from one room to another and they use a flexible hose for venting, so no installation is required.

room air conditioner
The purpose of air conditioning equipment for a room is to cool the air within a small, confined area and they are not intended to be used as a "whole house" air conditioning system. They are most often used in houses or apartments where people are renters; therefore, they are not permanently installed and can be removed and taken to a new location if the occupant moves.

Most of the room air conditioner units come with built-in control panels, either on the face of the unit or on the top near the front, positioned so that the user is able to easily see and adjust the controls. Generally, there are independent controls for setting the target room temperature and for controlling the fan speed for circulating the conditioned air around the room.

appliances air conditioners
Most people are not aware that room air conditioning units do not "technically" cool a room. It is more correct to say that room air conditioners remove the heat from the air and then moves it elsewhere to where the unit has been vented.

A pressurized refrigerant, R-22, flows through the air conditioner unit when it is turned on. While the unit is on, the condenser will pull the refrigerant gas into the air conditioning system and then pressurize it, which raises the temperature of the gas.

This heated, high-pressure gas travels next to the condenser coils, which are located on the outdoor portion of the unit where the fans distribute the heat that has collected. The cooled gas then becomes condensed into a liquid, which moves to the interior part of the room air conditioner to the evaporator coils.

At this point, these coils can absorb the heat that is in the room. The fan then moves the air throughout the unit. The thermostat controls the cycling of this process to maintain the desired temperature in the room.

Some room air conditioners have mechanical controls, such as knobs and push buttons. The newer air conditioning units are controlled with electronic touch-pads that tend to provide more functionality and can regulate the mode the units operate in, the temperature set point, a timer for automatic shut off and powering on, and various other conveniences, most of which are designed to make the unit as energy efficient as possible.

air conditioning system
In order to help consumers choose the best room air conditioner unit, small air conditioners are rated for their energy efficiency level by EnergyStar.gov, which is a service of the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

The Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) is the cooling capacity of the unit, in terms of BTUs divided by watts of electrical power used by the unit. To have an Energy Star rating, a unit has to have an EER that is 10 percent higher than similar models.