Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1982)
Spilyay Tymoo January 14,1982 Page 11 93 million miles away— Sun’s energy can heat your home by Marsha Shewczyk One of the natural features of the Warm Springs area is the abundance of sunshine. Kah- Nee-Ta advertizes 340 days of sunshine each year, enough to meet vacationer’s dreams. Even in cold winter months the sun’s rays shine down on this part of the country. All of this sunshine need not go to waste. Even though 93 million miles away the sun’s rays can be converted into a useful energy source which will cut down energy bills and at the same time increase harmony with the environment. Rather than existing as a consumer of energy, a building can be made to be a producer of energy. Solar energy is safe and it is available. Research into solar energy is increasing. Homeowners are asked and are oftentimes interested in participating in this research particu larly because of the “energy crunch.” Both the federal and state governments offer a tax credit for those interested in cutting normal energy consumption by the installation of energy saving devices including solar heating systems. The tax credit is available to homeowners who simply want to add solar collecting panels to their rooftop or for those who want an entire heating system built right into the structure of their home. (N) Always Have A Charge In Your Flashlight An emergency solar flashlight that re charges with sun power. Mount the detachable solar cell array to your car's dashboard or windowsill to recharge. Includes NiCd batteries. 7’A” long. 12 oz. Solar Flashlight No. 61,102 $29.95 A forty percent federal tax credit for up to $10,000 in a system’s cost is augmented by a 25 percent tax credit for up to $4,000 dollars of the cost. Oregon’s tax credit tax also applies to passive applications like greenhouses and heat storage. And there are also tax credits available for commer cial and industrial applications. Solar energy may be no more com plex than well-placed windows to admit sunlight and a masonry floor to retain the heat. A carefully planned house has the potential to receive up to 100 percent of its warmth from the sun. Houses on the average consume one-fifth of America’s energy, mostly due to bad planning and poor insulation. A house with good solar orientation will take advantage of both the daily and the yearly cycles of the sun. In winter, when heat is needed, the sun is low in the southern sky. In summer the sun’s rays come from high overhead and from the east and west. If properly o rie n te d th e hou se will m in im iz e th e s o u th e r n exposure and minimize the east-west exposure. The basic idea is to face windows and collectors to the south to obtain winter heat and avoid summer overheating. Precision is not crucial, although direction should be within 25 degrees of true south. All solar heating systems share the same objectives—to collect the sun’s heat, to store that heat and to distribute it when and where it is needed while avoiding underheating and overheating. There are two distinct approaches to the solar heating of buildings, active and passive. Active systems use hardware and mechanical equipment to collect and transport heat. A collector mounted on thè roof of a house indicates an active system in use. Water or air pumped through the collector absorbs heat and transports it to a storage unit. The heat in the storage unit heats space in a building by a completely m e c h a n ic a l d i s t r i b u t i o n system. Passive systems, on the other hand, collect and transport heat by non-mechanical means. Solar panels collect heat to warm this Warm Springs home's water T he th e rm a l e n e rg y is distributed by natural means such as radiation, conduction receive theTow winter sun but and natural convection., The protected with overhangs to passive system operates on block the high summer sun. available energy while the Other means of collecting active system uses electricity or vary from the use of reflectors, other energy sources to power stone or masonry slabs to fans and pumps which make retain heat, a water wall to a the system work. roof pond where plastic bags containing water are heated Active Solar Systems daily releasing the heat into the house at night. Most of. the emphasis in Technology in solar heating homes is' on active solar expands continously. It is an systems. The advantages of an infant industry. The cost is still active solar system are several: high for 100 percent house They can achieve hotter and heating. But water heating more useful temperatures than systems are abundant and passive systems; Less collection inexpensive. According to area is needed: They may be Tom Blaskrod, proprietor of easier to install usefully on Heaven’s Heating Unlimited in existing buildings; and, the Bend, Oregon the cost of an systems do not require the active system consisting of 2- careful balancing necessary for 4X8 panels to heat water for a natural passive heat distribu family of four is $3195 tion and storage. completely installed. The collector, often seen on Norma Gerardo of Bend housetops, for the more who recently had two such popular active solar heating panels installed expects a 25 sy stem s c o n s is ts of an p erc e n t savings on her absorbing surface made of electricity bill. The solar metal, rubber or plastic and a collector perched on her layer of galss or plastic to modular home will heat 82 reduce heat loss. The panels are gallons of water. She says, painted black for a higher rate “running out of hot water is the of absorption. number one problem in mobile The active solar system can homes.” She has enough water be either an air or water system. now to do laundry and the Large amounts of air must be day’s chores. removed in the air system Her greatest incentive for which consumes a lot of purchasing such a system was electricity and is noisy as saving money on her utility bill compared to the water system as well as the generous tax When the day is cool and overcast coils located next to a wood where pumps drive the liquid credit allowed here. She says, burning stove can provide heat needed to warm a home's water through the system. The liquid “Anything done in preparation system can supply hot water all for installing the system is year around, installation is less included in the tax credit says, “It is not cost-effective put in the car windown during cumbersome and the collectors determination.” Along with the now. It takes too long to the day will receive enough are, so far, more efficient. solar panels she had heating recover the initial investment.” charge to operate a flashlight. Preventive maintenance is coils installed behind her wood Yaw says, “We’re following Watches and music boxes necessary in the active water stove to supplement the system. it very closely. Eventually are also available which run on system to prevent freezing and The complete cost including solar energy will be a real solar energy. The potential for corrosion. Anti-freeze may be installation was $3900 through resource for heating. A more solar energy seems boundless. used instead of water with the a Bend company. effective collector will probably “The demand is increasing addition of heat exchanger. It is important, of course, to come about.” e v e r y d a y , ” c o m m e n te d As far as use in Warm Heaven’s Heating proprietor find a reputable dealer. The Passive solar system solar industry is in its infant Springs Yaw expresses his Flaskenrod. stage. There are those who are opinion by saying, “I don’t Solar system is at its simplest in the business to make a quick know how effective solar United States citizens and in the passive solar heating dollar and those who sincerely heating is here, no one knows. businesses consume 30 percent system. It is silent and believe in their product and will We need to get contractors to o f th e w o r ld ’s e n e rg y . au to m atic dem anding no back it up. get involved in it.” C onservation is necessary e x p e n s iv e o r c o m p le x Solar energy can provide along with developing new With solar heating still in e q u ip m e n t. The system s research, stages it may not be more than just heat for a house. energy sources to meeting require very careful design to cost-effective to install any type With the use of photoelectric grow ing d e m a n d s. S o la r avoid overheating and to of system. According to a cells solar rays can provide energy may be the answer. The distribute air evenly. NASA study the installation of e n e r g y w h ic h m ay be energy in the sunlight falling on Careful place and design of a solar energy system will pay converted into electricity. the United States in one day is windows are important in the for itself in four to ten years. Currently on the market are equivalent to the amount of passive system because they are Large scale solar heating is still small solar collectors to energy the United States the most direct solar collectors. expensive. W arm Springs recharge a car battery and a consumers use in one year. They should be placed to contracting officer Les Yaw very small collector which if Shouldn’t this be utilized?
