Hi all,

Would appreciate some feedback on the attached PDF.

Its basically an idea for a high level sun room /sun space to capture as much heat during the day to use later.
The location used is the only position that I have and its unfortunate that its at high level.
The previous owners of the house were planning to extend the property but ran out of cash. The external stairs were to be used to access an extension.
How they planned to do this without plunging the rear of the house into darkness I don't know. (Don't plan to build in the hatched area as the tendency here is to build on your boundary wall which is normally a single concrete block think. Double skin and insulation don't make me laugh)

Anyhow, after buying the house we do not have the cash for a major large scale build and are trying to do something smaller
to camouflage and use the structures that are left. (The external stairs and western kitchen - these were an add on to the original house).

The kitchen is a concrete block wall structure with a galvanised steel roof, this to be replaced with a reinforced cast insitu concrete slab. The sun house would then be built on top of this.

House location is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (see attached pic for exact location if interested) at an elevation of 2355m

Thanks
ubdai

Did you ever move on this project? I downloaded your PDF but I wasn't sure what orientation I was seeing. Based on your label of the "western kitchen" is the side view supposed to be from the south (looking northward at the house)? What the temperatures like, summer and winter? You're quite high so I would assume there's a big drop-off at night.

I love the idea of using passive-solar for heating but it would all be for naught if you don't have sufficient insulation. I really think insulation has to come first!

As for your intended design, the barrels of water should all be facing the south so that they are directly exposed to the sun. Where are you relative to the equator? Is the sun going to be hitting both the south and north sides of the sunroom? If not, you don't want windows on the side opposite the sun; build a regular wall (and insulate it). Ideally you would be able to insulate the room once the sun set, e.g. drapes. Also, you might do just as well with concrete for thermal mass, rather than water barrels.

Finally, you want ductwork to draw the coldest air in the building, e.g. near the floor and away from the warm exhaust vents. This will give you the best efficiency in transfering heat from the water and/or concrete into the air.

P.S. I'm not an expert, just another homeowner like you! So take my suggestions with a grain of salt?

Just how much solar heat are you trying to capture.Are you wanting to space heat the home or make hot water.