A simple solar heater that is cheap and easy to make. When there is direct sun on the unit it produces heat like a hair dryer.
According to the creator it produces a stream of air of around 120 degrees.
Some suggested tips for improvement:
– Make sure your black paint is matte so it doesn’t reflect the sun.
– The air moves by convection, however, you could add a small computer fan on the outlet and wire it to a 12 volt solar cell the unit to control the air rate.
– The intake size could be adjusted to control air rate as well. Making the intake smaller will give the air time to heat up while passing through the dryer ducting but it will slow down the rate of air flow. You can run it hot and slower or with more air and not as warm.
– A flat plate could be added between the intake tube and inside wall up to a little pulley inside the house. You could then adjust the air rate like this as well and have an on/off option.
– Add insulation to help maintain heat running through the system. Could prove vital for very cold areas.
We’ve made one of these with empty aluminum cans, we use it to heat our chicken coop
Living in Michigan we don’t get direct sun light for 5 months can’t see it working here
Normal you have two tubes, one that is low to the floor inside the house to pull in cold air. The second tube is placed high to deliver the hot air. The hot air will help push the cold down and create an air flow cycle. This same set up can be done with Aluminum cans which should be more efficient because aluminum heats up quickly to Sun light etc…
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more and smaller pipe grate for a swimming pool heater!
could be the very thing for states that have alot of sunshine
Ok you And Bryan McMillian hook us all up with this 🙂
Ryan D. Not being a ass or anything but your wrong on your house ac putting fresh air in to your house. Your ac and heat just recerculats the air that’s in your house all ready. Nothing comes from the outside unless you have had something special made and installed.
The heaters and A/Cs do recirculate air; however, they are also required to pull in fresh air. Especially in newer houses that are “air tight.”
Yes its true that they recir ulate air. Bu specific models now a days have a mandatory inlet for external air to reduve allergens in the house hold. And any system that has central humidification usesair fromnoutside as well. And large roof based swamp coolers pull in only new air, and dont recirculate air whatsoever.
ForrestG says:
“If you really want to make improvements try these things:
Use aluminum gutters inside the box, paint them black. Aluminum heats faster and you can run more in the same space insuring the air can be heated before exiting.
Use 2 layers of glass on the outside of the box to insulate more heat.
Thanks”
From: http://www.truthandaction.org/simple-solar-furnace-under-50/comment-page-3/#comment-422239
I am going to try this out and see if it will help me with my heating bill this Winter. Thanks for sharing and for all the tips on improving it.