The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home (Real Goods Independent Living Book) [Paperback]

James Kachadorian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997 | Series: Real Goods Independent Living Book

Finally there is a contemporary book that demonstrates the potential for heating and cooling a home with free energy. This new volume is a welcome addition to the canon of indispensable solar construction books, bringing fully up to date for the 1990s the legendary promise of 1970s-era solar pioneers: the promise of a home that heats and cools itself with minimal use of a back-up furnace.

Whether you are adopting the model developed by Jim Kachadorian or using another designer's layout and plan, The Passive Solar House will provide you with pragmatic, immediately applicable solar design advice that is usable in any region or climate. Information includes:
-- Proper siting and strategic window selection and placement
-- Energy and money-saving construction tips
-- Ideal air-exchange rates, and ways to avoid overheating
-- Methods for gauging and maximizing thermal mass
-- Criteria for sizing of back-up heating systems
-- Interior design for year-round comfort

This book is brimful of worthwhile, constructive how-to advice, and gives readers the basis for understanding the hows and whys of solar design, including a succinct presentation of ten key solar-design principles that have defined and guided solar architecture for thousands of years.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published in concert with the Real Goods Trading Company of California, this book explains in detail the whys and wherefores of a particular form of passive solar design, formerly patented but now in the public domain. The patent was held by the author and used while he was president of Green Mountain Homes, a fabricator of post-and-beam kit homes. The science he used and describes here is settled and elegant, even quaint, and is detailed to a degree that could be off-putting to some readers. On the bright side, the enthusiasm he brings to the subject is useful, even to those prospective homebuilders who may not be interested in solar heating and cooling. The book is suffused with a sensitivity to environmental issues of all sorts, a useful perspective in these resource-limited times. An essentially simple book, elegant in presentation and forceful in argument; recommended for extensive scientific (for the references and associated calculations) and/or broader home-building collections.?Alexander Hartmann, INFOPHILE, Williamsport, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Author

I Am The Author

It's been 3 1/2 years since THE PASSIVE SOLAR HOUSE hit the bookstores and I've been pleased with its reception. The book was written as a "gift" to the public as I realized that the design techniques I used were known only to me. The book has accomplished the goal of having readers of all disciplines read and grasp the theory and go on to design their own solar homes or hire a professional to assist them. Sometimes a little assistance is needed from me but I see the book working as intended.

It's been 25 years since I built the prototype of the system. That building served as my model home and office while I was in the business of designing and shipping solar homes in "kit" form. The building still works like a charm for its new owner.

I've lived in my solar home for 21 years. No problems as the laws of physics are hard to defy. It still amazes me how shortsighted our government's energy policies are. For the last 25 years I have purchased the small amount of fuel oil I need for the year in August when fuel oil prices are at their lowest. I've already made 50% on this year's purchase and the heat season hasn't even begun. It's a nice and secure feeling to be able to heat my home entirely with alternate fuels; or if I chose, to use my back-up oil fired system. My solar home gives me the freedom to plan my purchased energy management to use the least amount possible and obtain the lowest price.

If you decide to purchase the book, I hope you'll find it useful in designing and building your new home to utilize our finite resources in the best way possible and best of all: capturing and storing free solar heat.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930031970
• ISBN-13: 978-0930031978
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Remodeling & Renovation > Energy Efficiency

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I built the house, April 17, 2002

By 

J. Vogt (Falmouth, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home (Real Goods Independent Living Book) (Paperback)

I picked up this book in a bookstore in Bar Harbor, Maine and 1 year later built a house around its concepts on the coast in Downeast Maine. The house is performing to expectations. We have had no problems over 3 years.

Before proceeding, our building plans were independantly verified by a mechanical contractor. He found that the formulas presented in the book were accurate and dependable.

The concrete crib added about $3K to the overall cost of the house (it has a 25'x40' footprint) and the windows had to be specially ordered from Andersen. We also had some trouble finding the 6 mil aluminized mylar.

The only departure we made from the plans presented was we decreased the amount of air exchange by 50% over what was recommended. We used an outside air intake that funneled outside air into the crib and the bathroom vents (2) for exhaust. We have had no problems with this.

I was fortunate to have found a contractor who was willing to take the time to understand the concept and then successfully build to the specifications. A number of foundation contractors turned us down. The contractor had to do the foundation himself. It went very smoothly.

If you are serious about building this house, be sure to have very specific architectural plans for your builder....she/he will need them. Procuring the services of a "green" architect who buys into these stuff is most helpful.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough exploration of one type of passive solar system, April 11, 2003

By 

Henry Perkins (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home (Real Goods Independent Living Book) (Paperback)

"The Passive Solar House" explains in detail a system that the author patented (patents since expired) for a passive design using a concrete slab for thermal mass. There are detailed worksheets to let a prospective homebuilder figure out expected temperatures and available solar intake throughout the United States. Along with the formulas and worksheets, you can figure out how much insulation, concrete slab mass, air duct area, and heating plant capacity you'll need to incorporate the author's system into your house plans. While the author's patents were in effect his company sold dozens of passive solar houses in factory-built modules. Many of those houses are depicted in both exterior and interior photographs.

While the thermal slab approach works equally well to buffer temperature swings for both heating and cooling, the book's emphasis is on solar heating. Conventional above-ground construction is assumed for the most part, but the treatment on the "sidehill" variant can be extended to included earth-bermed or buried houses.

The illustrations are generally good. In a few cases they are more diagramatic than detailed; however, with enough attention to the illustrations and the text, most details can be gleaned. (I'm still trying to figure out the spacing relationship between the concrete slab channels and the return air duct, though.) But this is definitely a book more about solar design than engineering or construction.

"The Passive Solar House" could be improved by including more techniques for summer shading (such as awnings and overhangs) rather than just assuming deciduous tree plantings (which are expensive to keep watered in desert regions). Coverage of solar absorption properties of floors and windows would also be helpful.

Summary: while not perfect, this is a very good book for explaining the author's thermal slab approach to passive solar design.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out, May 1, 2002

By 

Douglas S. Gulick "dgulick" (Littleton, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home (Real Goods Independent Living Book) (Paperback)

It is amazing how many houses are plopped down in this country with no consideration of the sun. After reading this book, it becomes apparent that even if we built the same houses, but simply oriented them with respect to the sun (i.e., windowed rooms facing south, closets on the north wall, etc.) we could make drastic reductions in our consumption of natural resources.

The book has general information on site selection, house layout, etc. but also details a manner of building involving forgoing a basement for a floor of concrete (for thermal mass), window placement and insulating shutters. During the day, the house will not overheat because the 'solar slab' soaks it up, while at night recirculation techniques are outlined that make this heat available and comfortable at night. The book also includes all the formulas used in the calculations of thermal mass, window sizing, etc. Even if you don't plan on building the house in this book, I got some great ideas involving placement of a hearth (a vertical thermal mass) in front of windows to put the sun to work minimizing the need for heating fuel. If you are planning a house, I'd highly recommend this book.