solar furnace idea

Just an idea for a solar heater that uses baffles that are designed in such a way as to heat the air more before it leaves the unit. Just a thought. What do you think?

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• solar heater
• solar furnace
• solar air heater
• solar design
• diy solar heat
• green technology

[definitionofis]

I think baffles are a mistake for two reasons. When I studied hydrodynamics I learned that internal fluid distribution is not dependant on proximity to the inlets and outlets. It is even throughout the system. So you just slow down the fans if you want a steeper gradient.

Secondly, a steep gradient is less efficient because it loses more heat by conduction through the plexiglass if the differential with outside temperatures is larger. I conclude output temperature should be room temperature.

[jab0805]

@definitionofis My current solar air heater doesn't have baffles. It uses 2 - 12v computer fans. I power them with a battery that is in constant charge from an 18v trickle solar charger. Thank you for the information. Still learning as I go.

[junkyardnut]

More baffles you put in the longer the air travels, the hotter it gets. Fix the outlet smaller than the inlet so that air getting in will be slowed back into your house resulting in hotter air.Maybe you can try reversing the sizes of inlet and outlet holes from smaller to larger at the top.You see if you restrict inlet more than outlet, the hot air will suck in colder air. The thin baffles can be only one inch per row all the way up the board. 4x8 foot board will hold hundreds of feet of passage

[jab0805]

@junkyardnut - Very useful input. Thank you so much for the great ideas.

[gold2hunt]

looking at it i say all ya did rong is put the inlet where the outlet shuld be and turnit so teh inlets on the botum . it shuld make a nice natrl draft then.tryit youl like it.

[Video85Man]

it will work a lot better it you turn it upside down

[Nachthexe1]

Built something very similar back in the 70's called a heat grabber. Used a similar baffle design to form venturis for the heated air to speed up and slow down again . May want to vary the angles of baffles to find max efficiency. Base plate I used aluminum sheet painted black with small cans pop riveted to the backer between the baffles for heat sinks. Worked great.Unit was a window mount. junkyardnut is correct your ratio needs to be at least 1½ to 1 on inlet vs outlet, maybe more.

[shananagans5]

Hey, why don't you use natural gas or oil or something else flamable to heat up some pipes really hot and then use fans to force the air through those pipes real fast and then through the rest of the house. I bet that would work great !!

[junkyardnut]

would suffice. I was wrong as 300 square foot is still inadequate. I am now aiming for 500 sq ft ..

[junkyardnut]

If you live in a 1000 square foot dwelling, you cannot heat the whole dig with a mere 4x8 board no matter how you work around with it. You can concentrate sunlight into it from reflectors, yet you should know that you will still require additional footprint. You can concentrate and concentrate until the solar furnace melts. I prefer a more sensible approach with solar helostats made of simple aliuminium foil on the smoothest surfaces you can find around. I thought that a couple of 4x8 boards

[junkyardnut]

Actually, if you understand the famed Einstein formula E=mc2 in a rudimentary fashion, what it ought to tell you is that Energy output depend on the mass and speed of light or actually heat. As you know .. nuclear is among the smallest mass of energy source of all . Solar is the largest mass of energy which mean you need greater physical appartaus to capture the energy from the Sun than nuclear energy which requires much smaller footprint. I already install 300 square foot of solar reflectors

[rikkiesix]

I think you will need a strong enough fan for this idea. Its promising. It might make more noise because of the stronger fan maybe. Its something you will have to experiment with. Good luck and keep us updated.

Greetings from Belgium.

Erik