A solar-powered air conditioner doesn't do one much good during a Vermont winter, but rather than cranking on the heater (or huddling under the heated Hello Kitty mat) just to heat things up in a ...

Dear Jim: We have teenage daughters who take long showers. Our water heating costs are sky high. We are on a tight budget, but want to use some solar water heating. Is there a do-it-yourself system we ...

It took a while to decode the email I received from Carroll Hampleman (you can see why below), but his home made water heater is worth the bother. Mirrors are arranged to reflect and concentrate the ...

We recently featured one way to heat your house with the sun, but DIYer Daniel Strohl has spent three years perfecting his homemade solar garage heater, made out of a wooden box, some vacuum parts, ...

Do you enjoy coming home to a warm home in the dead of winter? Do you leave your furnace running in cold weather even if no one’s home? If you want to keep the house warm for when you return later in ...

Heat from the solar collectors is distributed through a radiant floor heating system using PEX tubing running through aluminium heat spreader plates. A hot water baseboard heating system is another ...

The sun’s energy can be captured by homemade solar hot-air collectors and thermosiphoning panels to provide free heat. The units direct air warmed by the sun through a window or wall opening into the ...

As a former realtor, general contractor and greenhouse operator, Kristi has touched nearly all aspects of homeownership, from the foundation up. Today, Kristi is a full-time investing and real estate ...