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Cool Homes with Clean Energy
When traditional energy sources are not reliable enough, or you want to save on your energy bills, you can harness solar or wind energy to cool down your home. If you’re living off the power grid and the weather is hot the whole year round, you should definitely consider a DIY home cooling project.
One way of cooling your home is by running water through the house. This can lessen the temperature of the building, while at the same time produce a calming and tranquil effect within the residence. This type of system doesn’t require a lot of energy, and can be run with solar or wind energy. There are buildings that allow lake water to flow through them.
A simple way to get water flowing through your home is with the use of a basic wind turbine. All you need are three blades, mounting, control system, batteries, tower, and a generator. You can pick a DIY kit online. When choosing the DC motor, be sure that it is adequate to run the pump you’ll be using. You can opt for a low-RPM motor, that generates 12 volts in 200 to 300 RPM.
If you’re making your own blades, you can use an iron pipe, cut in half. Once you have the required number of blades, place them in front of the motor. Then mount a thin, wide metal object, to catch the wind. The tower should be at least forty feet tall, to be effective. At that height, your wind turbine can sustain the needed speed for the generator to run smoothly.
Some buildings incorporate passive cooling designs, to keep temperatures cool within the house. These can be in the form of awnings, window shades, reflective windows, and trees. You can also use sod roof as well. This can help cool down a structure.
If the house has not yet been built, you can opt to use ecologically-friendly materials, such as straw and bale. These can provide proper insulation for your home. This is why you should talk to the construction company about your green requirements.
Both you, and the environment, will benefit when you use alternative energy to cool your home. There will be less carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere, and as a homeowner you will be utilizing resources that are freely available.
There are more ways to cool your homes without the need of plugging into the grid, and we will be posting about these in the near future. Make sure you are subscribed to this blog if you would like to be informed of new updates.
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About the Author: Megan
Megan helps others understand how they can use green technologies and tecniques to live cleaner and healthier lives, utilize natural resources, and adopt environmentally friendly living standards.
Really loved to read this beautiful and useful post. I am sure this post will be quite helpful in awaring people about the advantages of having a home that is environmentally friendly. Thanks for posting.
Sounds like an interesting alternative for cooling my home. How much would cost a cooling system like this? I am not sure I understood the mechanism, is there any other source of information for this, I am interested in some pictures too?
@Maytag – Hi, there are better sources of information on DIY solar power in general, which come with videos, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions. I am not sure if they have the exact plan you are looking for, but it’s worth checking out. You can find these at http://findportablesolarpower.com/diysolarpower/popular-diy-wind-solar-power-guides/
Hope this helps!
Hi Bruce, you bring up a valid point here, a high humidity environment is not comfortable at all, and as you correctly point out can cause some problems. All I can really say is that one has to judge each situation according to the factors that affect that specific location. In some situations humidity is a problem, and in others it isn’t. The main attempt here is to provide different ideas that can be looked into in order to save energy and take care of the environment. It’s always best to consult with a professional before making drastic changes or executing big plans. But thanks for pointing out the weaknesses in the above article. Best, Anthony
Hi, I had a number of questions on your other blog. Regarding this blog about running cool water through your house, do you think that you’ve accounted for humidity? That’s an important consideration. In an already high humidity weather, the last thing you want to do is run any kind of mist, cool or hot, through your home, trust me. In fact, a large part of what your air conditioner does is remove the moisture in your home because that’s the only way you can experience any kind of comfort. That’s why your air conditioning has a water drain system; to suck out the water in your living space. During summer I spend an average $80 on electricity per month keeping my home dehumidified, otherwise the basement drips with moisture which grows mold in the house and rots the wood frame. Before installing a permanent dehumidifier in the basement, it cost several thousand dollars to treat the mold problem down there, and will cost several more to repair the structural damage caused to the house frame and wall plaster by moisture. Besides, humid air is not at all comfortable in high heat; in fact, it is the reverse of cool or tranquil. So, as a home owner, I don’t think this is a good or cost -effective way to cool your house.
@ Bruce Barney – thanks for your comments and input. I will get back with you as soon as possible on these, okay?
@ Bruce, I asked Anthony to answer your comment as he has more information on these types of questions. I hope this was helpful. Thanks for visiting and commenting!