The warm summer months never last forever. Soon it’s time to look for a way to bring a little extra warmth into the home and this simple solar heater is a great project to do just that. It’s made of metal cans, steel or aluminum, and can produce a surprisingly strong and consistent airflow upwards of 140F.
Even on a heavy snow day you’re looking at somewhere around 75-85F.
Best of all, this simple project requires just a few common parts and many of them can simply be re-purposed from your regular recycling. Watch the project come together in the fully-detailed video on the NEXT PAGE:
Casandra Marcum I’ve seen this before just need to save it somewhere.
Steven Hook I have it saved I’ll send it to you
I must have missed the part about how the cans were connected into a tube. very cool(or hot) project. I want to do one or nine.
You didn’t show what rhe holes were for, or how warmth is created, & keeps warm once it it blown into a room.
It must be the outside air holes sucking the air into the cans then out by the fan
Someone with these tools and know how could make a bit of money, too. Lots of people with little money are also in need of such things.
In a hot, sunny summer with stagnant circulation, this contraption could catch fire if parts are wood.
NesyNu says:
“You didn’t show what rhe holes were for, or how warmth is created, & keeps warm once it it blown into a room.”
From: http://www.truthandaction.org/diy-metal-can-solar-heater/comment-page-10/#comment-915581
What was the ambient temp while filming?
So, how much heat (BTUs) will it generate on a cold (20) degree day? How much does it cost to run the fan? What about heat loss through vent mechanism at night fall, when zero heat is generated? The heat of the sun would already hit the home and be absorbed. I don’t see the efficiency here.
South facing windows with movable insulation like hurricane shutters to stop heat loss at night can be very efficient. Seasonal shading keeps the windows from overheating a living space in the summer and the insulation can also prove valuable to reject heat on very sunny days in the summer. IMO it is unfortunate so few homeowners and architects pay heed to energy efficiency via passive solar architecture and white paint, shaded porches, ice house roofs, etc.
Neat got to try this
Eric Puente something for you to do.