This system can employ solar energy as its heat source. In this way, your energy cost can be reduced dramatically.

This heating system consists of long plastic tubing that snakes beneath your flooring. When hot water flows through the tubes, heat radiates upwards through the floor and into your home.

Water can be heated using gas or solar energy. The preferred method would obviously be solar. This is especially true if you already have a solar water heater installed.

You can easily put in more solar collectors to increase its capacity. In this way, you can utilize the freely available energy that comes from the sun and save lots of money in the process.

If you are not familiar with this type of heating system, here’s what we can do…

… we’ll compare the advantages and disadvantages between a radiant heat floor system and a forced-air heating system:

Advantages of using a radiant heat floor system:

1. They are quiet. There are no fans forcing air out of vents, only water quietly flowing through tiny pipes under the floor.

2. Highly efficient. Hot air rises, therefore having the heat source on the ground will be much more efficient than having the heat source mid-way between the floor and the ceiling.

3. Cheaper utility bills. Since they require less energy to make you feel comfortable, radiant heat floor systems use less electricity and saves you money.

4. Once installed properly, this system is relatively maintenance-free. All you have to do is make sure the correct fluid goes into the tubing to prevent mineral buildup.

Advantages of using a forced-air heating system:

1. They are easily installed. All it takes is an hour, some tools and a power outlet before you can enjoy the warmth.

2. You don’t have to meddle with the flooring in order to warm up your home.

Disadvantages of using a radiant heat floor system:

1. It is difficult to install. It takes time to lay those tubing under the floor. This disturbs your day-to-day schedule. Therefore this type of heating is installed more in new and renovated homes.

2. It cannot cool your living spaces as effectively as heat pumps do during summer. Although cooling is possible with such system, it is generally inefficient.

Disadvantages of using a forced-air heating system:

1. Forced-air systems are highly inefficient. Hot air coming out from the vents quickly rise to the ceiling. Therefore there isn’t much opportunity to provide warmth to the space on the ground.

2. They eat up a lot of energy. This is reflected in your utility bills when it suddenly shoots up during winter.

Technology is constantly improving for this type of heating. Therefore you can expect even higher efficiency from radiant heat floor systems. This, certainly, is good news for all of us.

Continue Reading:

1. Home Solar Power – Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Photovoltaic Generators to Power Your Home
2. Home Solar Power — Different Ways of Harnessing Energy From The Sun To Reduce Energy Bills
3. What Are Solar Heaters, How They Work And What They Are Used For

You should spend less than $99 (often much lesser) to build up the solar panel to power small electronics like your automatic gate opener, garden sprinkler or fishpond filtration system.

Recently I saw a 10-Watt solar power kit going for more than two hundred dollars. I immediately thought, “I can put these kinda stuff together in half a day for less than half its price!”

This is a 10-watt DIY solar power kit.

You can use it to construct your personal 12V solar energy system to power stuff like battery chargers, electronic gadgets and LED lamps.

If you’re into building DIY solar panels, you may be pretty familiar with these main components of a DIY solar power system:

1. A 10-Watt Solar panel

2. Charge controller

3. Battery

4. Diodes and Fuse

5. Switch

6. Wiring

If you hop over to eBay, you’ll find that a solar panel costs less than $35, a charge controller costs less than $25, and a 12V battery costs less than $20. Diodes and some wires cost just a few bucks. The total cost is less than $90.

You can check out these prices for yourself on eBay…see if what I’m saying is true. If you can take the trouble to monitor listings on eBay everyday, you can usually pick up even better deals than this within a week.

You can also drop your local supplier a line to find out if their prices are similar. I personally find that retailers can sometimes reduce to almost wholesale prices when they want to move their old inventory.

Using the same concept, you can also build pieces of 60 to 120 watt solar panels as part of your solar power system for your home…at a low cost.

I recently found some innovative ways to create a 60 to 120 watt solar panel for less than $200. I thought it was impossible. But this was before I read about an ingenious idea in a manual I bought years ago…

PS. Sometimes you never know what you’re capable of unless you take action (to start). This also applies to other areas of our life. A good idea implemented can take your project on the highway to success. It can also help create a DIY solar power system that can serve you for years… even if you are on a tight budget.

Continue Reading:

1. Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities
2. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
3. Building A DIY Solar Panel – My Personal Experience