Pros and Cons of Solar Heating for Your Home

One of the biggest consumers of energy is heating your home. One option to reduce that energy usage is solar heating. This shouldn’t be confused with solar panels, which harness the sun’s energy to provide you with electricity. Solar heating focuses specifically on using the sun to produce heat. This can be done passively, e.g. with windows that let in more sunlight, or actively, through a system of pipes which absorb the sun’s heat, then circulate heated air through your home. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of active solar heating.

Pros of Solar Heating

Saving energy

Solar can greatly reduce what would otherwise be one of the most costly energy expenses you face.

Tax incentives

There are a variety of tax credits, rebates, and other incentives, both federal and local, offered to people installing methods of renewable energy, including solar, in their home. This can be used to offset the cost of installation. Additionally, solar heat can raise your property value.

Low maintainence

Keeping your solar heating system running requires very little upkeep, and, as a renewable energy source, it costs virtually nothing to use. To learn more about solar options, contact us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions. We’re Orlando’s trusted source for quality HVAC service. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Name”

Cons of Solar Heating

Installation expenses

An active solar system can be very expensive to install in your home, and require quite a bit of work. The money you save on energy bills allow it to pay for itself, but it may take a few years for that to happen.

Low grade energy

Electrical energy can be converted into heat. But if you try to convert heat energy into electricity, the efficiency is much, much lower. Therefore, it’s called low grade energy. If you’re going to spend the money to install a solar system, it might make more sense to get high grade energy in the form of solar panels, which provide not only heat, but electricity as well.