Here are ten+ projects that will payback the money you put into the materials in a year or less. Please see the important notes at the bottom of the page!
If you think "one year payback solar" is an oxymoron, have a look below.
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Insulation Caulking to reduce air infiltration Furnace duct sealing
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The payback for self-installed cellulose insulation can be inside of a
year depending on your current insulation levels, climate, and fuel.
Also helps your cooling bill. Most houses (particularly older houses) have high infiltration rates. A few tubes of caulking can pay big dividends. Furnace ducts that pass through unheated areas (e.g. attics) can be awful heat wasters. A five dollar can of duct mastic (NOT duct tape) could save a hundred dollars in fuel. To get an idea how much you might save, try my new Insulation Cost Saving Calculator. |
Air Sealing A good air sealing guide from SouthFace.org: Home Sealing Guide (1.8 MB pdf)
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![]() From the Southface website -- other good material on this site.
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Sources of Air Infiltration Energy Source Builder #45, June 1996, http://www.oikos.com/esb/45/airleakage.html
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Bubble
Wrap Window Insulation Gary New Installation Instruction Sheet
(8/15/06) AND, The Card
Board Shutter |
![]() Added some small updates to instructions 11/13/05.
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Insulating Window Quilt -- from the Econigics site http://www.econogics.com/busys/wnquilt.htm
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Other Conservation Projects
Electric Mattress Pad
Gary |
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This is a simple $350 thermosyphon solar heater that has no moving parts -- the cost is $2.40 per sqft.
Solar Barn/Workshop Gary There are several other thermosyphon solar collectors |
![]() This project is in the Oct/Nov 2005 issue of Home Power Magazine. |
Another simple solar collector that also provides improved lighting.
Garage/Workshop Sunspace
Gary |
![]() How does it do at -20F? |
A really, really simple and cheap scheme
Very Inexpensive Solar Shop Heater, Don R. and George Waterman http://www.motherearthnews.com
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![]() The cost is kept down to almost nothing by using poly film glazing and some scrounged parts. If you can scrounge the blower from an old furnace and find some used lumber, this collector probably takes the prize for lowest cost per square foot -- about 10 cents per sqft. The payback period where I live is well under a month! |
Lots of other solar heating alternatives here: Solar Space Heating projects
This is a simple and cheap solar heating system that uses your existing roof as a solar collector. If you have the right combination of climate and roof it might well have a one year payback.
"Black Roof" Solar Attic Heater From "Solar Air Heating Systems", Steve Kornher and Andy Zaugg
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![]() This extracted from the book "Solar Air Heating Systems". |
Solar Sunspaces attached to your house can provide heat to the house as well as plant growing area. Costs vary over a huge range (less than $1 per sqft to $90+ per sqft, but they all heat with about the same efficiency. Sunspaces up to $3 or $4 per sqft have very short paybacks. Greenhouse suppliers sell frame and covering kits that make construction easy.
A simple half cylinder poly hoop
sunspace against your house can provide lots of heat at a very low cost -- life
of the covering is about 5 years, but its easy to replace.
Many more sunspace schemes here:
Solar Sunspace projects
Low-Cost Versatile Hoop Houses George DeVault Mother Earth News |
![]() Good article on building and using “hoop house” greenhouses, which provide a very low cost per sqft greenhouse. Some construction detail. This technique could also be used for inexpensive sunspace for generating solar heat for your house. |
Sunspaces built using twinwall Polycarbonate or surplus/blemished double pane sliding glass door panels can be attractive, durable, and still offer a short payback.
Solar Rooms --
excerpts from the book Passive Solar Energy, Bruce Anderson and Malcolm
Wells To keep the cost down on your sunroom or greenhouse, use single or double wall polycarbonate glazing, or double pane glass panels for sliding glass doors that are surplus or blemished -- check with your local glass shops. |
![]() + Types of solar rooms. + Design guidelines for solar rooms. + Construction details for solar rooms. + Pictures of example solar rooms. |
Design and Installation Guide |
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You can experiment with something like this $22 sunspace to see if the concept works for you.
Instant Sunspaces Laren Corie http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html
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![]() A good article by Laren Corie on how to build and experiment with inexpensive sunspaces. The example used in the article cost a grand total of $22, and went together in a couple hours! A free download. |
Many more sunspace schemes here:
Solar Sunspace projects
Batch solar water heaters can be built for a few hundred dollars, or less than a hundred dollars if a used hot water tank is used for the batch tank. A "typical" family of 4 uses nearly $500 per year to electrically heat water, so these simple batch tanks can be in the one year payback area. Natural gas users will see a somewhat longer payback (at least until the gas rates go up again).
The Integral Passive Solar Water
Heater Book, David Bainbridge
This book is out of print, and difficult to get, but David Bainbridge has agreed to make it a free download.
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![]() The book has a great mix of how-to and engineering design information -- great for builders and experimenters. Thanks to David, the full content of the book is available here as a free download. |
Solar Energy Association of Oregon |
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Many other Solar Water Heating Projects
Important Notes:
"Your results may vary" -- payback depends on factors such as your climate, what you pay for fuel, your habits...
State or federal government programs may pay some or all of the bill -- Incentive Programs
You must do a solar site survey before you do ANY solar project -- there is not much point in building a solar collector that does not live in the sun!
People put too much emphasis on a short simple payback period. A project that has a simple payback of ten years still earns 10% per year, and the earnings are tax free and inflation protected. Where are you going to find a better deal than that? Especially one that is also good for the planet.
Gary
Rev 3/11/06