Trombe Wall Heating

Carbondale Home With Passive Solar Design

Including Trombe Wall

	This Carbondale house uses several passive solar techniques for heating and cooling in the mountain climate of Colorado. Shown here is a southern exposed wall of high efficiency windows, that allows daylight to penetrate the room eliminating the need for electric lighting in the daytime.
	On the inside is cement slab flooring, decorated with leaf imprints. The floor slowly heats up from the daytime sunlight, and releases the warmth gradually at night. In the summertime, the sun is higher in the sky so correctly sized outdoor overhangs prevent excess sunlight from hitting the floor, keeping the surface cool and comfortable on hot days.
	Shown on the left is a Trombe wall. A typical Trombe wall consists of an 8- to 16-inch thick masonry wall faced with a single or double layer of glass. The glass is placed from about 3/4" to 6" away from the masonry wall to create a small airspace. Heat from sunlight passing through the glass is absorbed by the dark surface, stored in the wall, and conducted slowly inward through the masonry.
	Shown from the inside, this Trombe wall is 9" with a 3 1/2" airspace and double glazing. In winter, the sun starts heating the wall at about 11am. After about 9 hours, the heat will have traveled through the wall and will start releasing the warmth into the room at 8pm. The room receives slow, even heating for many hours after the sun sets, greatly reducing the need for conventional heating. Rooms heated by a Trombe wall often feel more comfortable than those heated by forced-air furnaces because of the radiantly warm surface of the wall, even at lower air temperatures.
	Wood or gas burning stoves are an attractive, inexpensive way to provide additional heat. This stove is adequate to supplement any needed heat beyond what is provided by the passive solar heating techniques integrated into the actual architecture.
	The small window in the upper corner of the room opens in the summer to allow excess heat to escape, keeping the room cool.
	This entryway decking is made out of 100% recycled-content materials. Recycled-content decking lasts longer and needs dramatically less maintenance then wood decking panels. The landscaping used on the surrounding property incorporates native plants and shrubs that have adapted to the low-water climate of Carbondale. Xeriscaping techniques such as these eliminate the need for excessive water consumption.