My Mother’s House Part V: Ductwork and Hybrid Energy

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Hot air for our hybrid collection system is drawn form both the greenhouse and the round registers you see in the roof peak duct.
Hot air for our hybrid collection system is drawn form both the greenhouse and the round registers you see in the roof peak duct.
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The solar-heater air enters the storage bed (shown here before completion) at the far end and passes between the rocks.
The solar-heater air enters the storage bed (shown here before completion) at the far end and passes between the rocks.
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As you can see, our earth-sheltered house is — at least externally — nearing completion. We do have several more important features to discuss in future issues, however.
As you can see, our earth-sheltered house is — at least externally — nearing completion. We do have several more important features to discuss in future issues, however.
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The system can be switched from storage to heating mode with a single lever. That control does, though, manage an array of linkage rods that move three valves.
The system can be switched from storage to heating mode with a single lever. That control does, though, manage an array of linkage rods that move three valves.
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The system can be switched from storage to heating mode with a single lever. That control does, though, manage an array of linkage rods that move three valves.
The system can be switched from storage to heating mode with a single lever. That control does, though, manage an array of linkage rods that move three valves.
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Left: Storage Mode Right: Heating Mode
Left: Storage Mode Right: Heating Mode

<p>By the time you read this, MOTHER’S Eco-Village property will be getting ready to open its gates for the summer, and thousands of folks will have the opportunity to view our earth-sheltered house firsthand. We hope the building will have interesting features that will be relevant to nearly anyone’s favorite energy-efficient housing concept.</p>
<p>During the ongoing planning process we’ve tried to remember that earth sheltering and/or passive solar design may not be every future homeowner’s cup(s) of tea, so we’ve attempted — wherever practical — to experiment with an assortment of alternative heating and cooling techniques. In this issue, for example, we’ll describe our hybrid-solar collection and storage system… a setup that — though not strictly necessary in a dwelling with the inherent energy efficiency of ours — has proved to be quite impressive. </p>
<h2>Passive Solar Energy and a Ducting System</h2>

Because of the extensive use of glazing on the south side of our house, two areas can — on sunny days — become warmer than is necessary: The sun-heated air tends to gather both in the greenhouse and at the peak of the second-story roof. Of course, the presence of 90-degree-Fahrenheit-plus temperatures at those two locations doesn’t pose a comfort problem for the structure’s occupants (and it would be easy enough to vent the excess heat, anyway), but we simply couldn’t bear to let all that warmth go to waste.<p>
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  • Published on May 1, 1982
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