Heating and Cooling

A primary motive for going passive solar is to limit use of conventional HVAC systems, especially AC.

I'm fine with certain kinds of heating methods, like old fashioned radiators. But I don't want forced air heat involving ducts and if at all possible would like to keep adequately cool without ductwork.

My mother, bless her, was a clean freak and regularly vacuumed ductwork and kept AC filters changed etc. It's a problem for me to do that kind of cleaning and it's a problem for me to have ductwork and not do that kind of cleaning.

I stopped using the forced air heat in some apartment and bought a space heater and did much better without having air blown through ductwork.

Passive Solar Design trends towards keeping things much much more comfortable generally and involves a lot less forced air which spreads dust and germs and can grow mold in humid climates.

With my respiratory problems, it's vastly better to have no AC and something like radiant heat if that remains in a reasonable temperature range.

I have firsthand experience living that way in old buildings that lacked AC in a climate that rarely got excessively hot.

Because I had no upholstery or cardboard etc, my unit didn't get unbearably hot unless it was a pretty extreme heat wave for the area