What is it a window or a Trombe wall? Well actually it's both. This passive solar window is designed to capture and storage the suns energy in the water contained within it.
Today Nov. 17,2008 we had a daytime high temperature of 47F with a morning low of about 36F. The temperature in the house this morning was 59F with no other heat source installed as of yet. Throughout the day the window climbed in temperature reaching an afternoon high if 85F with an indoor temperature in the house rising to a comfortable 63F. It is difficult to get a good feel for the temps with the IR thermometer I am using, as it does not show the radiant heat being given of by the windows. After spending the day finishing the exterior siding it was a comfortable feeling to come in out of the cold. Most houses under construction are colder inside than they are outside at this time of the year, and never have I seen one that maintained the comfortable temperatures during construction. The geothermal heat pump will hopefully be installed within the next few weeks, but I am in no hurry to use it. If the windows continue to perform as they have over the past month and the sun continues to shine we will have very little need for any other heat source to heat this home.
Check out the video it shows just how well the window is working, and gives a good explanation as to how the windows is constructed.
