While the front of the Ramirez House may look like any other home, the back is what distinguishes it from all other homes- even solar ones! This bank of windows is two stories high and each one is double-pained. In the summer the second pane is removed and the transom windows at the bottom are opened. In the winter sunlight pours into the home throughout the day and a special venting system carries it throughout the house. The roof is also slanted at an angle that keeps the summer sun at bay during June, July, and August, and allows the winter sun to pour in all day. Due to this system, no electricity is needed to convert the solar power to heat (as it is in most solar panel systems) which is how it earns the name "passive solar heating". The view through these windows now is mostly woods, but in 1910 when the home was first built and 1943 when the "heating system" was put in, the home overlooked the Bushkill Creek, Delaware Valley and a beautiful garden.
This is only the center portion of the windows- they literally covered 3/4 of the back of the house so you can imagine the heat they produced!
glad you posted this - I was wondering what the front looked like when you posted the back of the building. I would love to live in a carbon neutral home. I wonder just how practical it was to live in.
I can imagine the heat for sure. I have more trouble imagining that the house stays cool in the summer. But then I am sure no HVAC expert. I know that the angle of sun changes between summer and winter but, given the way the sun through windows heats my house up in the summer, I think it must take some delicate calculations to position a house too passively sun heat in winter and not to bake in summer. Also seems it would only be feasible with houses that are widely spaced from one another not with houses build in suburban rows.
I wonder what the cost comparison is for using double paned windows as opposed to true solar energy. It sounds as if the second layer of panes is actually more like a storm window since it can be removed. What does forward thinking concept this must have been when it was instituted.
Thank you all- not being that scientific, I'm somewhat a loss on how to explain the way this functions but I do know that the 1910 was studied as was the direction of the sun and it's angle to the house before the remodeling was done. We couldn't go inside but my understanding is that there is a venting system in place that conducted the heat produced by the sun coming through the windows. If you notice the small rectangle windows at the bottom- they were part of the cooling abilities in summer. I don't think the house stayed as cool as our modern central air systems do, but apparently it kept it cool enough. Yes, Katy- they were a lot like storm window and there was even one closet used especially for storing them in the summer. And Kathy- I'm pretty sure they had someone to do that for them! (o:
Thank you all- not being that scientific, I'm somewhat a loss on how to explain the way this functions but I do know that the 1910 was studied as was the direction of the sun and it's angle to the house before the remodeling was done. We couldn't go inside but my understanding is that there is a venting system in place that conducted the heat produced by the sun coming through the windows. If you notice the small rectangle windows at the bottom- they were part of the cooling abilities in summer. I don't think the house stayed as cool as our modern central air systems do, but apparently it kept it cool enough. Yes, Katy- they were a lot like storm window and there was even one closet used especially for storing them in the summer. And Kathy- I'm pretty sure they had someone to do that for them! (o: