Build a Simple Solar Heater
(Page 5 of 7)
December 2006/January 2007
By Gary Reysa
You can use the same concept to heat a house or cabin. With some refinement to integrate the vents with the interior wall, the same basic design can provide daytime heat to living spaces. One caveat—the National Mechanical Code prohibits circulation of conditioned air warmer than 120 degrees in wooden stud spaces. While this may not pose a problem for outbuildings, in buildings used for human habitation, consider constructing the collector with metal, rather than wood studs. As an extra measure of safety, wood areas immediately surrounding exit vents also could be flashed with sheet metal.
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In altering the collector design, make sure you don’t violate these guidelines:
- The collector’s depth should be at least 1/15 of its height.
- The absorber must offer low resistance to airflow.
- The vent area should be at least 50 percent of the collector’s horizontal cross-sectional area.
- The air path through the collector should be as shown in the “How It Works” diagram.
Other Ways to Build It
This collector could be built with less material and lower cost if it were integrated with the wall during initial construction. It also could be built on the outer surface of the wall, omitting the exterior siding behind it. This might save up to $2 per square foot. For a more finished appearance, you could install a higher grade of sheathing in the collector area.
For a more integrated approach, the wall stud cavities could be used for the collector itself. Using standard 2-by-6 studs at 24-inch spacing, inlet and exit vents could be incorporated in the inside finished wall, with the absorber screen mounted about halfway back in each stud cavity. The collector side of the inside finished wall could be lined with polyisocyanurate foam board insulation, which withstands high temperatures and provides high R-value at modest cost. The R-value of the insulated collector wall would be comparable to that of a standard wall. The glazing could be mounted on 2-by-2-inch members extending along the top and bottom of the collector, and over each of the vertical studs in the collector area.
The difference in materials cost between such a collector and a conventional wall would be close to zero! With a large collector, diagonal bracing or a shear-resistant inside wall may be required to maintain the wall’s shear strength. Be sure to work out an agreement with your building department on the details.
Other approaches surely are possible. If you work out a good one, I’d love to hear about it. Meantime, here’s to your warmth and comfort!
— Gary Reysa worked for Boeing Aircraft. Since 2000, he has lived in Montana, where cold winters, high heating bills and ample sunlight sparked his interest in solar heating. Send your questions about this article or project to gary@BuildItSolar.com. He has posted many other DIY solar projects at his Web site, www.BuildItSolar.com.
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