What is a solar hot-air collector?

What is a solar hot-air collector?

— Walker Bloodworth
Greenbrier, Tennessee

A solar hot-air collector can be used to heat your home with renewable energy. The general idea is that as air passes through the solar collector, the sun’s heat naturally raises the temperature of the air.

There are lots of different solar hot-air collector designs, but typically they consist of a shallow box mounted on an exterior wall of a building. The collector has an outer layer of glazing that’s exposed to the sun.

These devices are not the only type of solar heater. In addition to hot-air collectors, there are also hot-water-based solar heaters. One of our favorite DIY enthusiasts has experience with both. Gary Reysa, who runs the website Build It Solar, has written for MOTHER EARTH NEWS about two solar heaters he’s built — one based on heating water, the other a hot-air collector.

For a recent guide to commercial solar hot-air collectors, check out our Buyer’s Guide to Solar Heating. For more DIY options, take a look at this roundup from our archive of Do-It-Yourself Solar Heat Collectors, a collection of links to available articles and plans.

— Megan Phelps, senior associate editor

Comments

anachronism 9/9/2009 6:27:25 PM

(Continued) , LOOK AT THE TEN PICTURES. MY PASSIVE COOLING SYSTEM IS TOTALLY PASSIVE SOLAR AND USES NO MACHINERY/COMPRESSORS/ or any power to create the COOLING for the complete project. This building has the CUBIC VOLUME of 12-2000 sq. foot homes and literally cost less then $2.00 of electrical power to operate the fans motors which "Sucks" the cooling into the project in Vancouver Wash on Mill Plain Blvd. CURIOUS? arclockventuri@gmail.com and I will gladly show HOW to do the above. Anachronism 9-9-09
anachronism 9/9/2009 6:25:31 PM

Mother Earth: Passive Solar Heating/25 years of use and design. IF ANYBODY WOULD DESIRE TO HEAT THEIR HOME/BARN/SHOP? The following is where it started with first effort in 1983.
The original cost of the Burlington project, beyond the original cost of $100 for a used "Hot water flash Boiler" and $100 for used sheet metal ductwork from a "Sea First" bank being remodeled in Bellingham was the purchase of a "Remote" temperature sensor that indicated the "AIR" temperature in the attic and a distance of 24" from the pitch of the roof covered with black composition roofing.
The one question for you is the following: What were the conditions "outside" and on the roof on December 22,1983 in Burlington, Washington? When the system turned "ON" for the first time, the building was 65 degrees inside and I was sweeping the floor. I had turned the hot water furnace off and the remote attic control was set for 65 Degree. I quickly went outside to look at the weather and found "3 inches" of snow on the roof and a temperature of 22 degrees. SO I guess "Solar Heating" and "Passive Solar Cooling" is impossible.
The building size is 95' long by 55' wide and 27' tall with 3 floors with 150 rooms inside. MY monthly cost to heat the "COMPLETE BUILDING" averages $1.00 (per day) in the winter. Look on http://push.pickensplan.com/profile/Anachronism , and go to "photos (10) "and see 5 projects in operation for 25 years. I cool the project in Vancouver Wash for "NO COST" beyond the operational cost of two fans in the back-up gas heating furnace, LOOK AT THE TEN PICTURES. MY PASSIVE COOLING SYSTEM IS TOTALLY PASSIVE SOLAR AND USES NO MACHINERY/COMPRESSORS/ or any power to create the COOLING for the complete project. This building has the CUBIC VOLUME of 12-2000 sq. foot homes and literally cost less then $2.00 of electrical power to oper

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