Build a Simple Solar Heater
(Page 2 of 7)
December 2006/January 2007
By Gary Reysa
Be sure to install adequate insulation and to control air infiltration. No solar collector—or any other kind of heating system—will heat a drafty, uninsulated area effectively. The walls and roof of my 700-square-foot workshop are insulated to R-19, as good as many houses.
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According to my measurements, the heat output per square foot of panel compares favorably to that of most commercial panels—at less than one-tenth the cost! (See "Heat Gain, Running the Number" near the end of the article for more details.) Our only alternative would have been to heat the workshop with propane. Although a propane heater would have cost a bit less than building the solar collector, paying $2 per gallon for propane over our five-month heating season would have cost $300 to $400 per year. The simple payback period of the collector is a year or two on materials cost. I haven’t needed a backup heater, which is an additional savings.
Sizing the Solar Collector
Usually, the bigger the collector, the better. Most outbuildings suffer high heat losses because of high infiltration rates and inadequate insulation, so the heat a large collector generates can be put to good use. More collector area provides some allowance for partly cloudy and thinly overcast days. With this collector design, overheating usually isn’t a problem. You can easily close off upper vents or add thermal mass, such as water containers. Increased thermal mass also reduces nighttime interior temperature swings.
The added time and material cost is small to build a collector that uses the full south wall versus only part of it. Exceptions to using the full wall include locations with mild climates, well insulated and well sealed buildings, or buildings that are much longer along their east-west axis than their north-south axis. Even if the entire south wall is not available, using a portion still pays off.
Nuts & Bolts
The collector frame is built of common dimension lumber and consists of vertical members, a bottom sill and a top sill. In mine, the six vertical 2-by-6-inch members divide the collector into five 4-foot-wide bays. The bottom sill is a 2-by-6, and a 2-by-8 is used for the top sill. The collector frame components are attached to the building with lag screws driven into them from the inside.
The collector is glazed with clear Suntuf corrugated polycarbonate panels. The manufacturer applies an ultraviolet-resistant coating to the panels’ sun-facing side to extend their life. I used 10 panels, each 26 inches wide by 8 feet high. Pairs of panels are overlapped and joined over a 1-by-1-inch vertical wood strip to make the 4-foot-wide panels for each bay. Two 1-by-1-inch horizontal members provide additional support for the glazing.
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