Solar Heating Tubes: The Ideal Solar Energy System

In today’s economic and political climate, building owners are struggling to conform to government regulations and tenant demands. Finding more environment friendly ways to heat your buildings presents a big challenge.

We’re all familiar with wind technology, and the great advances that are now being made in that field, but you might not have heard about solar heating tubes: the other green energy source. There is no better, or more untapped, source of renewable 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. Yet most of the energy it supplies goes unused, while we continue to burn polluting and rapidly disappearing fossil fuels. The situation will only get worse for those who continue to rely on fossil fuels, and the time to embrace an environmentally favorable approach to supplying our energy needs is now, while the government is offering financial incentives.

Using solar heating tubes to heat a building has several advantages, both to property owners and tenants. Based on the amount of hot water is used in the building, the savings can be substantial, even if solar energy is used only to heat the building’s water. Of course, different types of building will use vastly different quantities of hot water, but very few buildings use no hot water at all, whether it is for tenants taking showers, washing their clothes, washing dishes, or even just washing their hands. Most properties also use central heating systems, using coils of hot water underneath the flooring to heat the whole building. If your buildings are heated this way, you’ll be able to reduce your heating bills significantly, if not entirely.

Solar heating tubes represent a new approach to solar energy and are much more efficient than standard solar panels. In places like New York solar energy is typically not the best way to harness green energy as the climate is so changeable. However, solar heating tubes will continue to be effective even through the winter months. The shape of the solar heating tubes allows the receiving unit to harvest the sun’s energy throughout the day, as they have a larger surface area than conventional solar panels, which only receive optimal solar power when the sun is shining directly on their flat surface. The energy collected is then stored inside copper rods and the tubes are vacuum-sealed, allowing very little of the energy to escape. In fact the tubes are so well insulated that the surfaces of the tubes can be cool while inside the copper rods can reach well over three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The introduction of these two design elements enables property owners to utilize solar energy even in cooler environments. If you are a landlord in New York solar energy is now a practical option.

Solar heating tubes are one green technology that you would be a fool not to take advantage of. Installing solar heating tubes in your residences will not only reduce your carbon footprint and help save the planet, it also has the potential to leave a lot of extra green in your bank account. When you put those two things together, it’s awfully hard to think of a good reason not to use solar heating tubes.

Craig Axelrod is a partner for EmmyEnergy.com, a Long Island solar power operation offering solar heating tube systems solar electric systems & green systems throughout the North East.