Aluminum Downspout Hot Air Solar Collector Construction
by admin on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 | 25 Comments
Detailed descriptions of the construction of two aluminum downspout hot air solar collectors. The original was built by me, Scott Davis, and it works well, but then Scott Smith built bigger and added some really nice enhancements to collect a lot more solar heat! Scott is pulling 160F air from his down spout collector with lots of air flow and a better than 60% efficiency performance!
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@mark16596 Hi, yes:
1. Go to the Yahoo Groups website (as usual, I can’t post the link).
2. In the “Find a Group” text box, type SimplySolar (without a space). It is the first group that comes up.
@jpp9876 Hi, yes, I have built a two hydronic collectors as well, using CPVC and PEX. Please see my other videos for more details!
Take care,
Scott
Great video, Tried to go to your yahoo-simply solar but it doesn’t exist. I tried a few times and triple checked spelling. Any suggestions please.
@jpp9876 Hi, I have an easy to build design for a hydronic hot water collector here: (as usual, Youtube won’t let me post a link, even to another Youtube video), Please join us on SimplySolar and I can answer your questions in much more detail.
Ever consider running water tubing in the gutters to get hot water from system in summer? , also how about installing gutters tipped at 45 degree angle and installing reflective material between them to get more heat out of them. in Minnesota we have a bit colder winter and maybe shorter days then in Maryland, So it would be good to get a higher temp out of the gutters if possable.
Thank you so much for all the information I am going to build a aluminum downspout solar heater. Can you tell me where you got your Fan and what kind of fan is that?
@thechainrule Hi, I thinkit depends on what you want to do. You can pull the air from the bottom of the upper floor if you like and that will do a good job, but none of the heat will ever get pulled to the lower floor. I have a rancher here so I really don’t have much experience with multiple floors.
Hi Scott, I am a Baltimore city native looking to install something similar to this on the roof of our row home downtown. The actual heat exchanger part looks fairly straightforward but I am concerned with the actual ducting with the inlets and outlets. Do you think it is worth it for me to put my intake where the air is coolest and run it all the way up the building (3 stories) or just make the inlet and outlet on the top floor and hope the air trickles down?
@marz3335 If the snow is less than a foot, the collector gets warm and melts the snow immediately near it pretty quickly. With deeper snow, I need to dig the snow away. Thanks for your kind words on the videos!
@Snailmailtrucker Absolutely, this is a GREAT family activity. It is genuinely exciting to feel the free hot air blowing out a collector you’ve built yourself. My boys share that exhilaration too, so it is super easy to get the family together, spend time in a shared activity and have a lot of fun. Brad, who is 17 now, just mentioned yesterday he is eager to work on some more solar projects together!
@marz3335 I’m not sure what you mean by W valley roof flashing, but there are lots of folks on our Yahoo group, SimplySolar, doing all sorts of experiments. Please join us so that you have the benefit of hearing the experiences of all the testing going on!
@ddw61 Hi David, yes, that is a radon fan. It is designed to fit nicely on 4″ PVC.
Cool (actually hot) stuff Scott and the best part was that you and Brad got to accomplish something long lasting together !
Great job guys !
I also wanted to ask this — it seems this a real hobby of yours and my interest is peaked as well.
Has anyone experimented with “W” valley roof flashing before? Painted black of course, as an absorber? Would the slight angle be of benefit you think?
Another question — I would imagine any type black plastics are out of the question? Even if secured well? THANKS
How do you deal with snow on a collector right on the ground like that? You videos are excellent — very instructive.
Thanks fro posting Scott. You have some great ideas for me to try. One suggestion, post your URLs in the notes so that we can just clock on it. The URLs are quite long and I difficult to copy correctly from the video. Peace!
Thanks Scott for all the great ideas. Is that a radon fan. Thanks again for all your vid’s. David
@hootiemcgrudy2 Hi, that is a Snap Switch. They are only about $6.00, which I got separately. Youtube won’t let me post links here, but if you join SimplySolar I’ll tell you where to find them. The fan is powered by conventional house current. Fans draw very little power. To size your fan, you want about 3 CFM of air per square foot of collector.
What’s the name of the switch you use that automatically turns the fan on and off? What size fans do you use, and do they come in that PVC housing you have connected into the piping, or was that something you got separately? Are the fans solar powered?
@PersonalSecurityZone Thanks Mary Kay! If you have any questions as you build your collector, please join us on the SimplySolar e-mail group and we will be happy to help!
Take care,
Scott
This is great and your presentation is wonderful! The best I have seen! My husband and I are going to build a solar air collector like yours! Thanks again! — Mary Kay
I would mount it up on the roof so it gets better light and could probebly even temperarily replace the furnace during the winter
i saw this first on Build it Solar. Nice video to go with the write up from BIS!
@STARFIRESOLAR They are “off the shelf”, 120V AC blowers that run off regular house current. Youtube won’t let me post links here, but if you join our SimplySolar group, I can send you links to sources for a variety of blowers and other parts we used.
If you go to yahoogroups DotCom (replacing Dot with a .), type in SimplySolar (one word) and click Search, you will find us. We would love to have you join our group!
Cool looking blowers. What voltage and where do you get them.
Also How do I join your email group?