DAVID OLDHAM

FREE HEAT

How Buildings Can Warm Themselves Using Sunlight, Mass & Earth

For over a century, we have relied on mechanical systems to heat our buildings, burning through fuel and electricity while ignoring the fundamental physics of the sun. But there is a better way. This book offers a comprehensive guide to passive heating, a design philosophy that uses solar geometry, thermal mass, and natural airflow to keep your home warm without the need for boilers or heat pumps. Whether you are planning a self-build, renovating a period property, or looking to reduce your energy bills, this resource breaks down the complex building physics into practical, actionable strategies. From the mechanics of Trombe walls and earth-sheltered envelopes to the smart integration of phase-change materials, you will learn how to build structures that thrive in harmony with their environment. Stop fighting against the cold and start working with the natural forces that have provided warmth to human dwellings for millennia. Are you ready to stop paying for heat and start capturing it from the air and earth around you?

✦Master solar physics to slash your energy bills and eliminate the need for expensive mechanical heating systems.
✦Unlock professional design secrets like Trombe walls and thermal mass to naturally regulate your home temperature.
✦Gain practical, actionable guidance that transforms complex building science into simple, self-build strategies.

If you enjoyed The Passive Solar House by James Kachadorian or The Solar House by Daniel D. Chiras, you will love the practical and forward-thinking approach of this book.

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Chapter 14 delivers an honest assessment of overheating risks, practical limitations, and the problems that passive heating strategies can create if poorly implemented. Chapter 15 addresses integration, explaining how multiple passive strategies can be combined within a coherent whole-house design. A glossary of technical terms is provided at the back of the book for quick reference. Where specific thermal values, Free Heat by David G. Oldham 19 dimensions, or performance figures are quoted, they are drawn from published research, manufacturer data, and established building physics references. However, passive heating performance is inherently site-specific and climate-dependent, and the figures given should be treated as indicative rather than guaranteed. One note on scope. This book addresses space heating only. Passive strategies for domestic hot water, passive cooling, and daylighting are related subjects that deserve their own dedicated treatment. Where they intersect with passive heating, such as the dual heating and cooling potential of earth sheltering or the overheating risks associated with solar gain, they are discussed, but they are not the primary focus. Finally, a word about honesty. Every passive heating strategy in this book has genuine merit, and each has genuine limitations. There is a tendency in sustainable building literature to present passive solutions in uncritically positive terms, glossing over the compromises, costs, and practical difficulties involved. This book does not take that approach. Each strategy is assessed on its merits and its drawbacks, because a designer who understands the limitations of a technique is far more likely to apply it successfully than one who has been sold only the benefits. Buildings that heat themselves are not a utopian fantasy. They are an engineering reality, demonstrated by centuries of vernacular construction and validated by modern building science. But achieving that reality in practice requires Free Heat by David G. Oldham 20 understanding, care, and a willingness to design with nature rather than impose upon it. Free Heat by David G. Oldham 21