Solar Heating Tubes: The Other Green Energy
In today’s economic and political climate, savvy landlords are seeking ways to conform to the ever changing government regulations and the demands of tenants. Finding more environment friendly ways to supply energy to our buildings can be is not easy.
Wind power has been getting a lot of press of late and is quickly becoming the green technology of choice in many countries, but allow me to introduce you to solar heating tubes: the other green energy source. There is no better, or more untapped, source of green energy than the sun. Every day, 365 days per year The sun gives us energy in the form of light and heat throughout the year. Unfortunately most of this energy goes to waste, while instead we burn carbon fuels, which are rapidly running out, and only becoming more and more expensive. The situation is only going to get worse for those who continue to depend on fossil fuels, and it’s time to put all the newly developed green technology to use, while the government is happy to subsidize the costs.
Using solar heating tubes as an alternate form of green energy can have several benefits, for both landlords and tenants. Even if solar power is only used to heat the buildings water the savings can be fantastic, depending on how much hot water is used. Of course, buildings with differing purposes will use vastly different amounts of warm water, but hot water is used in one way or another in more or less every building, whether it’s tenants taking baths, doing their laundry, washing dishes, or any of a number of other uses. A lot of properties also employ radiant heat, which use coils of hot water underneath the floor boards to heat the whole building. If this is the case with your buildings, you’ll be able to cut your heating bills significantly, if not entirely.
In places like New York solar energy has always been regarded as ineffective as the weather is changeable and there is often not enough direct sunlight for solar panels to be effective. Solar heating tubes, on the other hand, work differently and are able to capture much more sunlight. The solar heating tubes can be positioned in such a way that they can collect the sun’s energy during all daylight hours, because the sun’s rays will reach the surface of the cylinder from any angle, as opposed to flat solar panels, which need direct sunlight to work at optimal levels. Coupled with the fact that the energy is then stored inside copper rods and the tubes are vacuum sealed, which allows very little of the energy to escape. The tubes are so well insulated, in fact that the outside of the tubes can be cool even though inside the copper rods can be more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The introduction of these two factors makes it possible for property owners to use solar power in less warm climates. If you are a landlord in New York solar energy is now within your grasp.
This really is one green energy system that you would be a fool not to be on the cutting edge of. Choosing the other green technology, the solar heating tube, won’t just reduce your carbon footprint and protect the o-zone, it also saves you a lot of money in the long run. If you put those two things together, it’s awfully difficult to come up with a good reason not to use solar heating tubes.
Craig Axelrod is a principal for EmmyEnergy.com, a New York solar energy company offering solar heating tube systems solar pv systems & green products throughout the Northeast.
