Masonry Magazine January 1980 Page.19
also recommended on unvented thermal storage walls and those with controlled vents to increase the efficiency of the system.
SYSTEM COMBINATIONS
The best thermal performance and living conditions result by combining the thermal storage wall system and the direct gain system. This is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 1, the thermal storage wall is in the center and the direct gain is to the right and left on the south-facing wall. Figure 2 shows the interior of the combined systems. The vented thermal storage wall is on the right and the direct gain is on the left. This combination permits some direct sunlight into the living spaces, achieves higher interior temperatures than the thermal storage wall system, provides less temperature fluctuation than the direct gain system, and provides natural lighting. The combination essentially utilizes the best of the two systems.
SUN SPACES
Sun spaces, often used as greenhouses, are a combination of the components of a direct gain system and the thermal storage wall system, as shown in Fig. 8. The sun space is a room or space which has a glass roof and a south-facing glass wall. The east and west walls may also be glass. The floor is similar to that of the direct gain system. It consists of 4 to 8-in. thick dark brick masonry. The north wall is a 10 to 18-in. thick dark brick thermal storage wall. The room is vented or ducted to other areas of the structure. With the assistance of fans and blowers, the structure is heated by the extreme temperatures achieved in the sun space. The sun space usually has extreme temperature fluctuations and is often unbearably hot during daylight hours. They do require removable shading devices to prevent solar gains in the summer. They will also require night insulation if they are to become useable living space in the evening hours.
SUMMARY
This Technical Notes has provided general information concerning passive solar heating systems. It has described several passive solar heating systems, the basic principles of their operation, and general requirements for consideration in their design. This introduction to passive solar heating systems hopefully provides sufficient familiarization with concepts so that the design of such systems will be understood. Technical Notes 43A provides information on sizing of passive solar heating systems and methodologies for estimating the performance of the systems and the requirements for auxiliary heating.
TABLE 1º
Environmental Data for Passive Solar Systems
ALABAMA
Birmingham Latitude 33° 34'N Elevation 630'
JAN 54.3 34.1 44.2 654 706.6
FEB 57.7 36.1 46.9 517 967.1
MAR 64.8 41.8 53.3 389 1296.1
APR 75.3 51.0 63.2 116 1673.5
MAY 82.5 58.4 70.5 20 1856.9
SEP 84.7 63.0 73.9 6 1454.6
OCT 75.8 50.8 63.3 137 1210.8
NOV 64.0 40.1 52.1 391 857.9
DEC 55.5 34.9 45.2 614 661.4
ANN 73.6 51.2 62.4 2844 1344.7
ALABAMA (continued)
Mobile Latitude 30° 41'N Elevation 220'
JAN 61.1 41.3 51.2 451 828.2
FEB 64.1 43.9 54.0 337 1099.6
MAR 69.5 49.2 59.4 221 1407.5
APR 78.0 57.7 67.9 40 1721.7
MAY 85.0 64.5 74.8 0 1872.1
SEP 86.5 68.4 77.5 0 1449.4
OCT 79.7 58.0 68.9 39 1298.7
NOV 69.5 47.5 58.5 211 955.1
DEC 63.0 42.8 52.9 385 759.2
ANN 77.3 57.4 67.4 1684 1384.7
ALASKA
Fairbanks Latitude 64° 49'N Elevation 453'
JAN -2.2-21.6-11.9 2384 30.1
FEB 9.3-14.3 -2.5 1890 221.4
MAR 23.3-4.3 9.5 1720 674.2
APR 40.4 17.3 28.9 1083 1193.9
MAY 58.8 35.7 47.3 549 1603.6
SEP 54.4 34.4 44.4 618 709.4
OCT 33.5 16.9 25.2 1234 292.6
NOV 11.7 -6.2 2.8 1866 74.1
DEC -1.5-19.3-10.4 2337 2.5
ANN 36.3 15.0 25.7 14344 767.8
"Reprinted from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Data and Information Service. National
Climatic Center, Asheville, North Carolina Input Data for Solar Systems," by V. V. Cinquemani, J. R. Owenby, Jr., and R. G. Baldwin.
*Based on 1941-1970 Period. Zeros appearing for all values appearing in these columns signify that 1941-1970 period normals were not available.