A Solar-Heated Church
(Page 2 of 4)
May/June 1983
By Jim Strothman
You see, during the winter of 1975-76, the church used 4,572 gallons of oil to heat its 96,800 cubic feet of volume. However, after aluminum siding was installed on the buildings, the fuel oil requirements dropped to 3,810 gallons in the winter of 1976-77 and to 3,738 gallons in 1977-78. Then during the winter of 1978-79, when the initial three-unit heater was installed, usage dropped to 2,869 gallons, and — once Solar 11 was in place — oil usage dropped to approximately 1,700 gallons. The Reverend estimates that the collective conservation efforts have resulted in a present savings to the congregation of about $3,500 a year!
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Folks hoping to duplicate the church's collectors should know that the dimensions of the original units — each of which required two glass panels separated by a 1/4-inch air space — were determined by the size of the panes that volunteers were able to obtain. By accepting a local dealer's offer of secondhand 42-by-76-inch sheets of tempered Thermopane (commonly used for sliding glass doors), the church was able to spend only $10 per pane, as compared with a typical retail cost of about $90.
Next, a rectangular frame-made from commonly available 1-by-12-foot lumber was built around each double pane, with notches in the wood to hold the glass securely at the front of the box. Then, a second frame was built around the first and attached to it, so the completed "border" is actually more than 1 1/2 inches thick.
A piece of 1/2-inch plywood serves as the back of the box (or the underside of the frame). However, since that material can deteriorate under high temperatures, the pastor says that if he had to do it over again, he'd likely use metal instead of the plywood, and would also prefer a steel frame.
At this stage, 6-inches of polyisocyanurate foam insulation (with an R-value of almost 50) was placed on top of the bottom (plywood) sheet and formed into an inner lining around all four sides of the unit. (The importance of effective insulation, the preacher says, can't be overemphasized.) Then a 3/16-inch thick aluminum sheet (painted flat black to absorb the sun's rays) was put above the insulation, and the aluminum beer and soda cans (each cut in half around the circumference and painted black) were placed on the aluminum sheet with their open ends facing the sun. (A space of about 1/2-inch was left between the top of the cans and the inside sheet of glass.) Each of the church's units required 476 half-cans. The containers could have been held in position with aluminum nails, but — because they tilted upward and fit snugly against each other — the church workers found that this wasn't necessary.
