Solar Heating Tubes: Generate Your Own Heat

The world of property rental can be tough and challenging. As everyone knows, there are just two ways to keep yourself ahead in the real-estate business. One is to improve your earnings, which generally means increasing the rent; the other is to decrease your operating costs. In today's competitive market, increasing your tenants' rent could very well cost you your tenants, causing your tenants to look elsewhere. The market being what it is, it would be very easy for them to find landlords who are willing to reduce their rental prices. Therefore, the best way to increase your profits would be to minimize your expenses. Solar heating tubes are inexpensive and simple to install, and can reduce your heating costs considerably.

Regardless of whether you own residential, industrial or commercial buildings, your tenants use hot water. Powering your building's heating system is probably one of your biggest expenses. If you want to lower your expenses this is a very good way to go about it. Installing solar heating tubes will help you reduce heating expenses by heating some of your building's water for free using just sunshine. Unlike solar panels, solar heating tubes will work whatever the weather so you can keep on saving money all year round.

Solar heating tubes are basically cylinders designed to take in and store the suns energy. This cylindrical shape makes them more efficient compared to solar panels. Part of the tubes' surface is continually in contact with the sun allowing them to soak up energy all day long, whereas solar panels need direct sunlight to function.

The solar heating tubes produce energy within the cylinder, transferring that heat to an inner blade and within that, a tube of liquid. The fluid super-heats to one hundred seventy degrees Fahrenheit and is then transferred to your heating system. What that means, to put it in the most straightforward way, is that the sun's heat is used to heat your building's water. Solar heating tubes also present you with another way to reduce heating costs; by using that heated water to heat the entire building.

Whether or not you understand the details of how they work, the important thing is that solar heating tubes can help you reduce heating costs. If you can reduce your costs and subsequently your rates, this will give you an edge in a tough market. With most of the civilized world calling for people to switch to green energy, you should give some serious thought to investing in solar heating tubes to cut down your carbon footprint and reduce heating expenses. With a bit of research you might find that the government will pay some of the installation costs.

Of all of the benefits outfitting your buildings with solar heating tubes, conceivably the best is that your tenants will love you for it. You may even find, should you be looking for new tenants, that tenants are willing to pay more to rent buildings that are environmentally friendly.


Craig Axelrod is a principal for Emmy Energy, a New York solar energy operation installing solar heating tubes solar pv systems & green products throughout the North East.