Pop Can Solar Air Heater

[anryth]

so what happens when the sun stops shining? like at night... when it really gets cold...

[cgrove225]

@anryth it turns off and i light my wood stove.... This panel is supplemental heating only. The panel has a attic fan temperature switch which turns on when gets hot and off when it's cold.

[jjohn984able]

do you have your box hooked up to a thermostat if so how did you hook it up

[cgrove225]

Go to lowes.com and search for DuctStat Duct Fan Non-ProgrammableThermostat

Item #: 47203 | Model #: DS100

[jjohn984able]

@cgrove225 that is really funny i was just a Menard looking at the ductstat it looks like it would work good but wouldn't it have to go inside you box to read the heat you would think the thing would melt

[Jester12036]

i am making one of these, however i am using Arizona tea cans. much taller and wider. hopefully i can get some good results.

[ncbookz]

what was outside temperature? please are the cans filled with water? or are they just empty?

[reginaron]

wouldn't you lose some hot air to the fan? it looks too close,( to the other duct ) , to me.

Q: why use beverage cans? why not food tins?

Q: is that tinted plastic,plexiglas?

[magicjokerfunshop]

@reginaron

It is best to use soda cans because tin does not conduct heat as well as Aluminium. Tin will work but not as well.

[reginaron]

Thank you

[km28104]

The system we worked with measured about 4x8 and imployed a trough system coated with a specially formulated black paint. The output of the collector was routed to a concrete storage container filled with a ceramic gravel of sorts and temp. was regulated with thermisters and a comparitor ckt. The reversal of air flow was done quite by acident and the result in temperature increase was a nice surprise. The biggest problem we has was cracking 3/4" tempered glass at the output of the collector.

[km28104]

Good design. I worked with an system years ago that used a similar tecnique. We found that you could get a substantial increase in temperature if you forced the air against the natural convection flow. Try reversing the input and out put to see if you get higher temps.

[exaltavista]

sweet!