Everyone is trying to save the environment these days. People are turning off lights or buying more energy efficient bulbs to save the environment. However, they are also doing something else – they’re installing solar heating in their homes to both help protect the environment and lower their energy bills.

What Are The Perks Of Solar Heating?

There are various perks of solar power and solar heating. First and foremost, solar energy is free and inexhaustible because it comes from the sun, which is always giving off energy. Solar panels then absorb all of that power and it doesn’t cost you anything beyond what you have to pay for installation and maintenance of those panels. Each day, on average, a square meter of solar paneling collections about 4.2 kilowatt-hours of energy that can be used for anything you need it for. Solar heating systems cost between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on certain conditions. However, once installed, they offer one truly spectacular perk: they cut down on electric bills anywhere from 50 to 80 percent in most households.

Where Are Solar Panels Installed?

In order to begin using solar heating in your home you have to install solar panels. These panels, which absorb sunlight and turn it into energy, are installed on a south-facing, sloped roof. When using this energy for solar water heating, the energy solar panels collect is transferred to a liquid in the panels that moves through pipes and carry the warmed water wherever it needs to be. This liquid is either the home’s actual water or a special fluid similar to antifreeze. The fluid flows through a special heat exchanger in a home’s water heater and it gets warmed just like in an electric heater does it.

Types Of Solar Heating Systems

There are four types of solar heating systems. The first type is known as “passive.” Also called breadbox collectors or batch collectors, they are used in areas where the temperature rarely drops below freezing temperature. Water in passive systems circulates without pumps. “Active” systems, meanwhile, use pumps to circulate the water or a special anti-freeze solution.

There are also solar heating systems that called direct and indirect systems. In a direct system, any water used by people to wash their clothes or bathe in is the same water that’s actually pumped through a collector. However, in indirect systems, the solar heating unit uses an antifreeze solution to warm the water.

If you’re planning on installing solar heating in your home, make sure you do your research!