The Solar House presents a detailed overview of passive solar design with specific region-based recommendations. I found that the technical information was well-researched and presented in an accessible way. There is a very helpful section on backup heating systems, which provides a basis for comparing the many options such as conventional gas and oil fired fixtures, radiant floor, masonry stoves, etc. This book should help people to design homes that are very energy efficient and comfortable to live in- the best of both worlds.

This review is from: The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling (Paperback)
I have spent a lot of time researching passive solar designs using books from the library & information on the internet. A lot of books on solar designs are from the 70′s & 80′s and the designs lead to overheating of homes by overglazing (too many windows). Some of the more current books on solar design gave more vague information, and didn’t thoroughly describe concepts and materials.
This book has it all! Very good information on all the design elements, such as direction of home, foundation designs, window ratios, as well as recommendations for particular products. The book had in-depth information on all the available heating systems including solar heating, heat pumps, & radiant floor heating. At the end of the description for each heating system, there was a pro/con list that talked about the energy effiency, cost, & performance of each heating system over others . There was a helpful chart on hot water heaters with payback periods for different fuels (solar, electric, gas, propane) so you could compare the costs associated with the fuel. In all of my research, this was the first such chart that really spelled out the benefits of certain fuels over others. The book was written in 2002, so it is very up-to-date with the most current products & concepts.