Solar Heater or Solar Furnace for Home Heating

Very nice! Congratulations!

@mauricera Hi, it is reverse to what natural airflow would be but I prefer that as I have a seat close to the floor and the heat passes by my feet and i feel it better. Some call this a cross-flow. I tried both ways and this is my favourite.

Thats a cool setup. Way to beat the dirty utility company.

@ssiaudio thank you, actually I’d like to use it in a Green house when needed. should work ok as an additional heater.

@vpbubbies Right, as I said, I meant glass is free, if you find it being given away, I have had no problem getting patio doors for free, it does not get cheaper than free.
Good tip Window & door company, thanks

@ssiaudio Yes it does, I wanted to know a way to run heater at night. I guess the only way to do it is have a powerful enough solar + inverter system that can run a heater at night. A good size solar panel system can run AC there is no reason it cant run heaters. I guess I will have to try it out to know for sure.

You know what is so wrong about solar installations?? Never install anything on roof or on the exterior walls because they create shadows . This is a minus. All solar installations must be sited away from the house in order to maximize natural exposure to the Sun. Same goes for any trees that cast shadows on your house should be cut down. This is a very important efficiency factor in everything solar. I recently cut down a row of 60 foot tall Italian cypress trees to elminate shadows.

Hey, where did you get the guide from to build this solar air heater?

-20c=-4f 44c = 111.2f 22c=71f

Glass is cheap and found given away by many do it yourself week end home re-modelers, just search craigslist . o r g in your area.
A common two pane window has an r value of 3.0 where glass itself is 1.0 (Not good) you do not want tinted or “solar guard ” type glass, as it is designed to keep the heat OUT. Polycarbonate G.E’s trade name Lexan is great stuff, but I would reserve it for solar electric projects, unless you are well off $ wise.
Nice job, I need to put one together “still”

that is not as good as it sounds. polycarbonate is superior to glass as far as heat transfer, glass transfers heat like sh#t through a tin horn. That’s why they have to double or triple the panes, even the scam of argon inside the layers increases the R value by an insignificant amount. 1/4 inch polycarbonate is the way to go, you can drill it to mount it much easier than glass, It weighs alot less making the construction of the entire unit much lighter and eaiser to install, and overall save $

Just a thought but anyone thinking of making one of these should contact a glass company about 1″ insulated glass. I build commercial buildings and they frequently screw up the sizes of the glass or there is a change in the building that causes them to have extra peices. Frequently they trash them but sometimes they hold on to them for selling at a discount. I bet 1″ insulated glass on the front would boost the temp significantly as long as it didn’t have a coating on it.

I do have to block it for now. Can’t think of a good way to keep the cold out.