This wonderful hillside home is a great example of early solar ideas that still work - and beautifully. Sunlight that streams into the open dining and living room is collected in the tiled concrete floors for release during the cooler nights. North walls are built into the hillside and have no windows. These earth berms around the home add to the insulation value and help the home stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Good passive solar design was used in the layout of the home - keeping all living areas and most bedrooms facing south. There are no windows in the north face and few in the east or west. High "clerestory" and interior windows provide light to the back rooms and hallway, dappling the floors with patterns of sunlight. The exquisite gardens and lily ponds also have an additional dual function of reflecting low winter sunlight deep into the living spaces and providing evaporative cooling in the summer.

This home is well insulated to above-code standards. A wood stove provides virtually all the back-up heating. In a typical year the homeowners burns 1-1/2 cords of wood.

System Details

System Type: Direct gain (south windows)
Storage: Tiled concrete floors
House: Built in 1979.
Architect: David Deppen w/ Owner

Energy Performance
Saves about 140 therms (about two cords of firewood) or 60% compared to a home built in 1980.

Solar energy savings estimates by Stellar Processes