My solar powered heater - Free heat

Free heat for the home? You bet, the sun heats the collectors, once it reaches 80 degrees - the thermostat comes on - the fan runs off my solar electric system. It doesn't heat everything, but it helps supplement the heating bills. CORRECTION: THE DATE IS 26 JANUARY 2010

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[jlpMedia1]

the box puts out the same amount of heat a window would of equal size. it just concentrates the heat of the boxes surface area into a smaller area. I've gotten my version of this solar heater hot enough to boil water. The application for this would only be ideal for cooking food or boiling water. My second solar heater got up to 2000F and parts were <$80...

[MSGDREWRY]

@jlpMedia1 hey, I'd like to see a video on that one! sounds cool

[MrAnthonyRizzo]

Very nicely done! How much of a space does it heat and for how long once the sun goes down? What form of thermal heat sink could you use indoors to extend the heating cycle after dark?

[MSGDREWRY]

@MrAnthonyRizzo this is in a pretty big room so it is to supplement the furnace - not replace it

it will run until the temp in the box drops below 80 degrees - this depends on how cold it is outside

I haven't thought of a heat sink inside but it's a pretty good idea since the temp is so high coming out of the box

maybe duct it thru a box inside the room - but would need an blower in it after the box stops blowing

[GotScout]

Here is an improvement... take waste black pipe... fill it with used motor oil that you get drom next oil change... fill pipes and seal and cap...

Place those in your window box.

Get a small 12V computer fan, use this instead of your 110V duct fan... and run it from a small solar powered panel. Now you get same... but hotter, free no electricity usage, and the oil tubes maintain a higher temperature for longer.

[madwilliamflint]

Curious how hot it was outside that day?

[DrFrankensteam]

I'm interested in building one of these myself, I was wondering what the outside temperature was the day you took the test? And what kind of temps do you get out of it in the winter.

[jlpMedia1]

i got all the gears from a bunch of old dvd players. you will have to do a bit of math but if u want to build it for dirt cheap, it beats spending another $80+ for an electronic solar tracker. copper melts at 1997F so the oil will keep it from melting. u can always just reduce the size of your mirror to limit heat output. i havent figured out the formula yet, but depending on the square footage of the house, will determine the size of the mirror. MIT recently copied this idea of mine and built 1

[jlpMedia1]

@MSGDREWRY a video?? just build it..i used copper pipe, engine oil and mirrored plexiglass. put the plexiglass mirror in a parabolic bowl. put that in the oven so the glass takes that shape, drill a hole in the center. build an oil filled radiator from the pipe and have one of the ends feed through the center of that hole. as for the solar tracker(to change position of the mirror..i took a 12v phone charger and hooked it up to an electric motor that drove a series of worm gears(for torque)

[MrAnthonyRizzo]

@MSGDREWRY Thanks for the info. I’ve seen people use in their greenhouses, 2 liter soda bottles painted black filled with water. The bottles absorb the daytime heat and release it after the sun goes down. I don’t know how many bottles you would need but it is passive and you could avoid the extra electrical load.