Does anyone know a good solar heating solution to use over Winter?
Gets very cold in my house, and want something to take the edge off the cold.
Thanks!
Solar Heating
(11 posts) (5 voices)-
ncl_knight
MemberHi.
I have a solarventi, which pipes warm dry air into the house and makes an appreciable difference. I removed the solar panel from inside the unit to outside, and it makes it work better on cloudy days, but in big rain cloud type days, it doesn't function.
Posted Thursday 5 Jun 2014 @ 12:44:32 am from IP # -
Build your own solar air heater - http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Space_Heating.htm
I made one and on a cold but clear day it easily heats up our kitchen & dining room from say 13-14 C to 18-20 C.
Posted Thursday 5 Jun 2014 @ 8:30:06 am from IP # -
ghostgum
MemberImprove the insulation first, then consider solar heating.
I've got both a Solarventi (installed 4 years ago) and "Solar Air Module" (installed last year). As ncl_knight says, they don't work well on cloudy days. Cloud (water) is a really good absorber of heat. Depending on where you live, you will probably need some additional source of heating to cope with consecutive cold overcast days.
The fog has just lifted in Melbourne and my system is currently putting out about 3kW according to my measurement system. I'm getting more than this through the northern windows. Half an hour ago there was no output at all.
Posted Friday 6 Jun 2014 @ 1:14:04 am from IP # -
I manufacture solar heating systems in Armidale.
Armidale is a cold place with plenty of blue clear skys in winter and the system works well.
I am not sure if I can actually give you the website as I think it is considered spam.
I gave one guy my site address in whirlpool and got sinbinned for tryign to help someone.
I dont mind receiving a PM if you would like the site address.
As with ghostgums solarventi most solar heating systems will not work well in heavy cloud or rain.Posted Saturday 7 Jun 2014 @ 1:06:27 pm from IP # -
Yes I agree with ghostgums thoughts.
Improveing your insulation and draughty doors is a must.
A few dollars worth of foam tape around external doors. A door sausage against the bottom of external doors will give you much better value.
Pelmets over curtains that go down to the floor to stop the air behind the curtains getting cold against the glass and moving downward and creating a cold current of air into your room.
Do one room and take a tempoerature reading between it and the adjacent room. You will be pleseantly surprised and that will spur you on to doing more rooms.Posted Saturday 7 Jun 2014 @ 1:14:39 pm from IP # -
ghostgum
MemberIn my systems, the fan doesn't run in summer. I don't cover either of them. The highest temperature I measured in the collector last summer was about 90 degrees C, but since the fan was off and the damper was closed it didn't heat the house. The collector needs to be designed to survive summer temperatures. If you are making your own, this means you can't use EPS foam as an insulator. builditsolar suggests using PIR foam, which is harder to get in Australia.
Posted Sunday 8 Jun 2014 @ 11:22:19 am from IP # -
Yeh mine got very high in summer but I did have it vented at that time. Now it's all ducted up but maybe I'll just vent it when it's warm again.
I used Foamboard - not sure if this is EPS or PIR?
The twinwall glazing on the front seems to have handled the high temps so far, but I cant imagine extreme high temps are good for it.
Posted Monday 9 Jun 2014 @ 11:04:23 pm from IP # -
Hello Darrynm
I actually have a summer option and I use the existing ducting with zone motors installed to reverse the air flow and suck the hot air at the ceiling out of the room and pass this through the panel to help cool it and send this heated air out through the roofing.
This has two benefits
(1) Helps keep the panel from overheating.
(2) Draws fresh air into the home to ventillate and help cool it depending if the outside air is cooler then the inside temp.
I am working on a rollerblind solution to keep the panel cooler in summer. The blind will be automatically rolled down at start of summer and rolled up at start of winter.
There are cheap simple solutions also a piece of shadecloth tacked down over the panel.Posted Wednesday 11 Jun 2014 @ 5:32:02 am from IP # -
Ghostgums
Yes agree.
I use PIR in my panels.
When i built my prototype I was sold polyurethane panels as PIR and I did not know any better but this did not stand up to the high temperatures.
The PIR can take higher temps.
I now use aluminium sheeting as my internalls instead of PIR just to be safe.Posted Wednesday 11 Jun 2014 @ 5:38:01 am from IP #
