it works

Passive solar that is.

It is really quite remarkable.  Now that we’re past the equinox, it’s even clearer how well passive solar works.

Until this morning (Thursday), the last fire we built in the masonry stove was Sunday morning.  It was surprisingly warm Monday (almost 70).  Then it dropped to the low 60s Tuesday and low 50s Wednesday.  I can’t recall the nighttime lows, but I think it was consistently in the upper 30s and lower 40s.  But still no fires.  This morning it’s around 50 with a nighttime low around freezing and tomorrow is supposed to be both cold and rainy (the worst).  This is why we started a fire this morning, especially because it takes about 8 hours for the stove to really warm up and start radiating heat.

We went four days, then, with no fire despite the dropping temperatures in early November.  The combo of new construction with thicker walls and great insulation–and a decent amount of sun coming in through the south-facing windows–has kept it warm enough sans stove.  In fact, yesterday it was 72 at 3:00 in the afternoon on the main floor of the house despite the cool temperatures outside.

It would be nice if more new construction–from individual houses to entire developments–were built with passive solar.