"SOLAR-RISE" YOUR APARTMENT WITH HEAT GRABBER

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To use the angle slicer, set the blade depth to within 1/32" of the aluminum facing on the far side of the board you're cutting. Then slide the block along a straightedge that's clamped to your work. Complete each V-groove by making a second cut that's angled to meet the first.

The 90° knife works the same way . . . but when you make the second—and final—cuts to complete the glazing rabbets, place a 1/4"-thick lath spacer strip between the foam sheet and the handle guide. That way you'll make a groove measuring 3/8" wide but only 1/8" deep.

Why It Works

Our newest Heat Grabber is nothing more than an open-ended box, faced with glazing and separated into two chambers by a dark-surfaced, insulated divider.

When the sun's rays pass through the fi berglassreinforced plastic face, the black divider absorbs heat and warms the air around it . . . which, naturally, rises by convection and pours into the room through the device's upper opening.

The moving warmth draws cool air—through the lower opening at the mouth of the furnace—into the nonheated chamber, and pulls it around the open end of the divider at the collector's foot to be warmed on its hot side . . . thus completing the cycle.

On the other hand, when the sun isn't shining, the air in the box cools and settles at the bottom of the container, effectively blocking any movement of currents into—or out of—the collector.

With the addition of a fan and an intake flap, the natural convection cycle is merely amplified (at minor operating expense), and the simple solar furnace is converted into a passive/active hybrid that works well in either mode.

Window Heat Grabber Plan

Plans for the The Window Heat Grabber, item number 754 are available for $10, or by calling 800-234-3368.

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