The Trombe wall is a passive solar technique, one built into a home’s design without the ongoing need for mechanical devices. No moving parts means no maintenance requirements. In addition, a room heated with natural, solar heat is more comfortable than one heated with the forced air of furnaces. Trombe walls can easily be constructed by a qualified, solar installer, and the materials required are relatively inexpensive. In addition to having a warm home through an environmentally friendly alternative, homeowners can enjoy reduced heating bills made possible by a Trombe wall.
Trombe walls consist of an air space, an insulated glaze, vents, and a material such as stone, metal, concrete, adobe, or even a water tank. Each of these have thermal mass, or the capacity to store heat.
Trombe walls typically consist of 8- to 16-inch masonry walls. A small air space separates the masonry from the insulated glass that lets solar heat in while preventing it from escaping. The Trombe wall faces the sun, which typically begins to heat the wall in the late morning. By evening, the heat would have traveled through the wall and reached the interior of the home through the vents.
Air moves from the air space between the thermal mass and glazing via convection. Trombe walls are favorable because they distribute slow, even heat for many hours after sunset. Vents are convenient in the sense that they can be closed easily during the summer, when additional heating isn’t wanted.
Trombe walls are also accessible to aesthetic variations: they can include windows for natural lighting or moveable shades to reduce nighttime heat loss. You can even use a fish tank as your thermal mass surface.
If you’re ready for your own Trombe wall, you will make a wise investment. Especially if you select a certified, solar installer to ensure the work is done properly.
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They were an excellent company to work with. Very easy to communicate. Fulfiled all promises.
Dear Steve, I am writing this letter to thank you and express our satisfaction with your business, your product, your installation of our solar system and your employees. I was very happy that I could sit down and talk face to face with the owner of the business and not rely on the promises of a commissioned salesman. With regards to your employees, we were impressed with everyone with whom we came in contact. Every one was very helpful and my hat goes off to all of them for putting up with all of my phone calls and emails. The crew was very courteous, friendly, hardworking, and tolerant of my presence during the installation. They were very careful to keep the job site clean and they strived to get our system ready for inspection in a very timely manner. As far as the system itself, we are extremely pleased with its performance. Those SunPower modules are remarkable. They start generating at first light and are still going until it is almost dark! I almost went out to check the inverters during the full moon. Once again, thank you for the excellent work your company performed for us! Please feel free to use us as a reference. We would be glad to answer questions and show off our system to you perspective customers.