Passive Solar Energy Heating and Cooling Tips for Homeowners

Whether you're someone who is passionate about preserving the environment, you are looking to reduce your energy costs or both, this is a great article for you to read. The reason why is because over the next couple of minutes, you will see some of the ways that you can implement passive solar energy heating and cooling tips for your home.

The great news about all of these options is that they are not only highly-effective but very easy and affordable to do as well. In fact, you can do them over the course of one weekend and have lower energy bills in no time.

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Do some landscaping. 

Something that you can do that will help to boost your curb appeal while also preparing your home for extreme temperatures is to do a bit of landscaping. By planting some trees and shrubs in front of the windows of your home, it can reduce your energy costs year round. During the summer, it will shield the rooms in your house from the scorching heat. During the winter, if you have something like Evergreens planted, it can also protect your home from the bitterly cold winds.

Seal air leaks. One of the biggest causes of high energy costs is air leaks. That's because where there are small holes or cracks along your windowsills or doors, it keeps your house from being an even temperature. Plus, you find yourself adjusting your thermostat more often too. There is a relatively simply way to fix this problem. All you need to do is go to a local home improvement store to pick up some caulking. By applying it to the holes and cracks, you can keep the outside weather (and temperatures) where it belongs---outside of your home.

Add more insulation. If the last time you went up into your attic the insulation looked a bit thin and worn, it's definitely time to add more padding to it. According to most energy experts, your attic is well insulated when it has approximately 12" of organic material. One website that can provide you a list of different eco-friendly forms of insulation is Home.HowStuffWorks.com. Just go to the site and put "green insulation options" in the search field.

Change your window treatments. Did you know that your window treatments play a significant role in how comfortable the rooms in your home are? If you happen to have really hot summers, consider investing in some black-out curtains. If the winters are extremely cold, there are also thermal curtains on the market that will keep out the cold. The wonderful thing about both of these is that you can find them at an affordable costs at stores like Walmart and Target.

Adjust your thermostat. Say that you recently had an HVAC technician come to inspect your unit and you were discussing with them some passive solar options. Aside from them talking to you about investing in an Energy star unit or talking to you about how heat pumps cool your home , something that they may also ask is one, if you have a programmable thermostat and two, if you have adjusted it lately. By setting yours to around 73 degrees, that is enough to keep the rooms in your house feeling good all year long without spending a ton on your energy bills. For information on some of the best programmable thermostats on the market, visit Programmable-Thermostats-Review.TopTenReviews.com.