Solar Air Heater pt 1

This was built using materials accesable for anyone to get

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• air furnace solar
• solar passive air heater
• solar power
• solar home heater
• solar panel

[lawnngardenguy]

My isnt connected to my duct it simply pulls cold air off the basement floor which feeds thru the solar heat collecter and is fed back into the basement ceiling which inturn warms my livingroom floor

[lawnngardenguy]

Yes it has 3/4 R-board lined in the entire unit,I painted it black for more sun absorbtion ,I figured there wasnt enough rear surface area to reflect due to the piping laid against the r-board,Thats why I didnt bother making the back r-board reflective.

Thanks for asking

[lawnngardenguy]

Back at you buddy,I can see that your mentality level compares with a rock,So keep you uneducated comments to yourself. Loser!!!!!!!!!

[lawnngardenguy]

cold air input temps were approx 50 degrees F coming off of the basement floor,Output temps vary on outside temps and time of day,at peak sun temps returning to my basement at ceiling hieght were around 85-95 F,I have seen temps inside the housing as high as 180 degrees,so at housing temps at 180F the cool air intake was approx 50 F the warm air exhaust temps have been as high as 95 F,Air speed thru the duct also has alot to do with output temps

[lawnngardenguy]

yes thats exactly what I did,Worked like a cold air return that was drawing the air from the inside ,then circulated thru the heater and back into the house,I used a 12 volt pc fan to move the air

[lawnngardenguy]

very well,its amazing how much heat can be captured from the sun on a cold day

[gaiagale]

I would have preferred to hear someone speak about the construction and/or the matereials

thanks for posting though!

[kalemartwho]

horrible choice of music

[apples13able]

I like this style of solar air heater because the air heated does not come in contact with potentially offgassing black paint. I'm building one this morn & my main prob is the double glazed 6'6"x38" window is so heavy, the 2x6 adds weight as well, but I'll try it anyway.@ least I use the glass! Wanted it to be a bit more port, but maybe next one- Metalstuds,plasticglazing..I may compress the duct and maybe add alum as well. Metal tape is our friend! Nice work& thanx for posting & inspiring!!!

[DezinerDiva]

We built one similar for use in Duluth, MN. We did not use a blower and fed directly into our air exchanger. Our heating bills were only $500-$600 a year because of how much heat we got from our panel. The questions I have about your panel are: How and where did you connect in to your furnace ducting? The distance to the furnace from the entry point to the house? How do you close it off in the summer to ensure you are not allowing heat into the ductwork in the summer?

[obelhu]

Hi, I just wanted to know why you've painted the back panel black instead of letting it reflective, it would have reflected the heat more on the black tubing, thus giving more heat to your air...just wondering

[tryin2lhard]

I did not see if you added any insulation to the sides and back of your box, I would think that if you insulated this well, as well was able to put in some water holding tanks to absorb heat that you could still have heat produced even after the sun has set for a few hours.

[lilphil26]

Too bad you couldnt put the box in a vacuum so it would be perfectly insulated! I would like to see the temps you would get with it that way. I might have to make mine under a vacuum if its even possible.

[HudsonKnowsEconomics]

It needs a bigger fan to keep temperatures down.  The higher the temp in the box, the more heat is lost to outside. Higher volume of air at lower temp still gets the same amount of heat into the house. Watts = CFM * (F out - F in) / 3.0

Also, the ducting needs to cover the full surface area for better heat transfer. Otherwise this design is just as good as the aluminum can method. Metal gutters are good size and cheaper. Just make sure air flow over the black surface is at least 7 fps.

[Cararta]

would you please edit colefried81 and his comment off? thanks

[zoze52199]

The speed of the PC fan was just about right,The one thing I would do different is to power the fan with a solar panel,that way the fan would also be controlled by the sun.