These are the video chronicles of my experimental quest to heat a portion of our house using the sun. The idea came to me while driving down the highway: if I could capture heat from the sun in a collector, I could possibly send that heat into my house to help offset my heating bill. Like a lot of great ideas, I soon figured out that there are others already doing this! I found a great Yahoo Group called ‘Simply Solar’ and several web pages that had stories from guys like me trying to accomplish the same thing. One site worth noting is www.builditsolar.com. Thank you to all my new friends who helped me to accelerate this project with the personal accounts of their own projects.
In order to repay my debt to these solar pioneers, I have recorded my progress in 6 short videos. I hope these videos in turn will help others.
Video 1a and 1b: Introduction and basic over view of what I plan to do!
Video 2: Solar Heater Collector Construction
Video 3: About the Screen,Insulation
Video 4: Paint it Black and the Glazing
Video 5: It works!
I have some final tweaks to do but it works! Thanks again to my Yahoo Group and to builditsolar.com!
Shopping list for the electronics and some ducting (all Amazon… gotta love that Amazon Prime):
4″ Inline Blower – 235 CFM – 12 Volt – 1.3 lbs – 5 1/4″ (h) x 4 3/16″ (w) x 6″ (l)
Thermostat Switch – Circuit On At 100°F and Off At 85°F – Large Flange
Fantech RSK 4 Backdraft Damper 4″ Duct
Kintrex SPC0601 7 Amp 100 Watt 12 Volt Solar Power Charge Controller With Digital LED Display
Moeller Injection-Molded Marine Battery Box (One 27, 30 or 31-Series Battery, 13.44″ x 7.75″ x 10.5″)
Everything else was from local home improvement stores.
A couple of sugestions. Build a cover for the collector , and cover it all summer. This will greatly extend the life of all the components. Don’t let a wood colector stagnate.
I cover my factory made hot air collector with large pieces of aluminum taken from old walkin freezer panels. The metal surrond from an old above ground swimming pool would work. Steel, or some were Al. Paint it white. Rivert together some pole barn siding. Just keep the sun off it and keep it cool.
Build some seasonal reflectors to lay in front of the collector. This will increase output by 25% at little cost. Not necessary if the ground is snow covered all year.
Carl
12 Feb 12 at 12:04 pm
Thanks Carl! Great suggestions.
Jon Sooy
12 Feb 12 at 4:00 pm
Hello Jon.
Nicely done project and video log of the process.
How much did this cost to put together? What sort of temps are you seeing entering the family room on sunny days? I think the 100* was on a cloudy day, right? How warm is the family room in the morning compared to late afternoon on a typical sunny day?
Now for the most important question. Is your wife happy with how the project turned out? :-)
Hugh
Hugh
14 Feb 12 at 9:06 am
Hi Hugh,
Thank you for the kind words. I don’t have an official total and I am still tweaking. I’m guessing around $300. So far I have been unlucky with the weather. Cloudy days and rain. Today is the first clear day since that first day and I am stuck at work! I do know that once the fan kicks in and runs for a while, the temperature does drop. I don’t have any stats yet, but will work on that. Yes… the wife is happy!
Jon Sooy
14 Feb 12 at 10:08 am
Hi Jon,
Great job! I love the simplicity of the intake manifold. Have you tested if you have any hotspots? How did you think of that? Did you think of a tapered slot instead of holes? Have you had any sunny days yet to check output temps. I’m also curious about the CFM output with the solar panel.
Greg
Greg
23 Feb 12 at 6:25 am
Hi Greg,
Yes I have had some sunny days and the unit works pretty darn well. I had a 12 volt bilge pump fan but I couldn’t generate enough power to keep it going so I switched to a 110 volt inline fan. I am disappointed with it’s performance and intend on upgrading to something with more cfm’s. Using my IR temp guage the manifold seems to work fantastic. I am actually getting slightly hotter temps on the left and right sides (about 1-3 degrees compared to the center). I certainly didn’t expect that!
Jon
Jon Sooy
23 Feb 12 at 8:30 am