Active Solar Air Heater

Small solar air heater built on the cheap to work out details before building a full size model for the house. Southern Maine 02/21/09

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• solar heat
• solar furnace
• solar panel
• solar cans
• hot air
• free heat
• heated tubes
• active solar
• solar
• panel

[michaelrp88]

OK guys. Here is the scoop. I haven't made another panel for the house yet due to one feature I'm not so happy with. The inside of the glass gets dirty over time so I'd suggest a hinged panel thats easy to open yet remain water tight. I just haven't got around to doing it. This litle panel, while not orientated or configured for optimim air flow still helps heat the garage.

Mike - Go as big as you can is my best advice.

[NOBOX7]

so how warm is it in the shed, i mean what was the temp gain

[michaelrp88]

@NOBOX7 Please see the thread below. Thanks for checking this out.

[landslave]

where is the snap disc located? what would be the cfm volume to reach equilibrium in full sun?

[michaelrp88]

@landslave Please see the thread below. Thanks for checking this out.

[2skullscrushing]

i bet you'd get a better ventury style flow if you feed one end, and exited the other.

[michaelrp88]

@2skullscrushing Please see the thread below. Thanks for checking this out.

[MrWombatPPC]

Why not include inside the box a Solar powered fan to pump the air around for free

[MrLeonard55]

Make a video of you building it so others can build one.

[Redshift21]

@michaelrp88 That is an indication that either the cans are leaking air into the case or the case isn't airtight to the outside, either way this will not be good, if you are filtering the air entering the cans then dirt would suggest air entering the case from the outside as air in the cans should be clean, I'm not surprised you weren't getting a lot of gain from your rig, you only have a small panel and a large uninsulated building, you need to insulate : )

[havoc2000]

My name is also Mike, and I also live here in Southern Maine. I'm thinking of building myself a unit like this, only larger and using downspout.I just want to add the free heat to my cellar during the day, and hopefully benefit a bit from it.I'm wondering if you have done anymore of this experimenting, and if so, how it went! Mike :)

[cggage]

Just curious - I have a place in Troy, Maine, and am looking for some supplemental heat. You mentioned you were going to build one for the house. How did that work out? Any comments on whether it worked and was worth it? Thanks!

[allgovsarecriminal]

use one can row to let the air to the other side and the rest of the rows to let it flow back. well maybe i didnt understand your problem but thats what comes into my mind.

[jamieclarke321]

when did youtube become absolutely shit!

[IdahoViewing]

As far as the duct work being on the same end you might try creating a "U" shaped flow that would separate the supply air from the return air. I know this would create more of a flow restriction but it would be interesting to see if it increased the efficiency.