DIY Solar Heating with the Heat Grabber

(Page 3 of 4)

September/October 1977
By the MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors 
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The operation of the unit is just as simple. When the sun shines, its rays pass through the glass on top of the Heat Grabber, strike the upper surface of the divider (which is painted black), and warm the aluminum foil covering on that divider. As the foil heats up it, in turn, warms the air next to it. And that air, as might be expected, rises up the face of the divider and begins to pour out the opening at the Heat Grabber's top.

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But, of course, that hot air can't move up the face of the divider unless it pulls cool air around the divider's foot to take its place. Which pulls even more cool air in through the lower opening at the collector's top (the only place that cool air can enter the otherwise airtight unit) and down under the central divider.

What we have, then, is a "convective loop" solar room heater that operates automatically on nothing but the sun's energy. Whenever the sun shines, this clever little unit (which, as near as we can tell, seems to be an old Steve Baer design modified by William A. Shurcliff and further refined by some of Mother Earth News' research staff) just sits there happily pumping thousands of Btu's of heat into the house. And when the sun quits shining? The air in the box cools and tries to sink to the collector's foot, which "shuts off" the whole convective loop. (The Heat Grabber, in other words, will spew heat into the room when the sun shines, but it won't pull heat from the room when the sun doesn't shine.)

Heat Grabber Materials

QuantityMaterialOur Unit CostCost of Materials Used
1 sheet1" x 4' x 8' Celeotex Thermax TF-610$10.75$10.75
1/2 sheet +3/4" x 4' x 8' Celotex Thermax TF-610    8.85    4.60
1 tubeLiquid Nails panel adhesive    1.00    1.00
1/2 tubesilicone caulking compound    3.50    1.75
16No. 8 finishing nails (scrounged)    0.00    0.00
3 piecessingle strength glass cut t fit(all inclusive order)  10.49
1/4 rollall-metal aluminum foil duct tape    4.00    1.00
1 quartRustoleum flat black paint    2.59    2.59

Total cost of materials used in construction of window collector: $32.18

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