How To Make an Aluminum Can Solar Air Furnace: Part 1/4
Learn the basics to building a lasting, efficient, aluminum can-solar air furnace, step by step. This short video series takes you from establishing a proper frame size to various methods of ‘finishing’ your furnace for both aesthetic and weather proofing purposes. The total cost of this project was about $30.00. The beer cans are recycled, the glass is salvaged from an old solarium, the aluminum cladding , insulation, and the lumber used for the frame work is all salvaged material from a construction site., and the DC fan is salvaged from an old pc. Spray paint and high heat adhesive/tape were the only materials purchased; a complete material list is available in the video. A solar air furnace is a great way to contribute to the thermal mass in any home, providing the sun is shining and the furnace(s) is facing it, and this video is a great tutorial to show both skilled DIYers as well as beginners, how to accomplish it; tho a word of caution to those with little to no experience with power tools – seek the aid of an expert. Of course, creative thinking could also open a door for ‘substitutes’ to power tools 
If you have any questions, leave a comment, send me a message or email me…xXladXx@live.ca
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@lad18913290 Dude your videos are the best and most thorough i’ve seen, and I’ve probably looked at 99% of all videos on DIY solar heaters out there. I’ll be using your videos to make my solar heaters step by step. thank you so much for the effort, great work!!!
Excellent video, great work and love the music! Thank you so much for sharing!
@elgalan010203 whatever you use for a fan, make sure it can withstand high temp’s
@elgalan010203 when the sun comes up, the collectors begin to charge with heat, the solar panel begins to harness energy and the fan automatically turns on. when the sun goes down, the solar panel stops harnessing and the fan shuts off, and what thermal energy is left to escape the furnace in the evening is accomplished via convection.
@elgalan010203 (continued…) the solar panel only produces about 1 watt, but that’s just right for the fan i use. the battery you see in the video is not currently being used – i used it in the video just to test the furnace. because the fan requires the same current the panel produces (DC), and because both the furnace and the panel will only operate when the sun allows them, then a battery is essentially useless. (to continue…)
@elgalan010203 you can use almost any fan that will fit properly and requires the proper current. i used an old 3″ computer fan. it runs on a 12V DC current, drawing less than 0.5 amps. the solar panel is cheap, cost about $30.00 and i bought it at a local hardware store. you could probably find one in a similar place, or through a sports/camping goods retailer – folks around here use them to charge atv and boat batteries. (to continue…)
How can i get the fan how many volts is the batery and solar panel where can get it
@elgalan010203 i will have 3 installed on my 1280square foot bungalow, and that’s overkill. keep in mind that this is a great SECONDARY heat source – even tho this furnace contributes a great amount to thermal mass, another source of heat is still required to maintain room temperature at night (or when there’s cloud cover). but when the sun comes back up, the collector begins to charge – and when the clock on the wall says 12:00pm, all i’ll need until the sun goes back down is the furnace heat.
how many squere feet can heat the heater
how many squere feet can heat the heater
@35Colorado (…cont’d…) to install these while keeping the furnace within safe operating temp’s, and preventing water leaks from poor roof top mounts. i noticed a few months ago that someone on youtube had tried using wide, metal fluorescent light fixtures (minus the guts) for a framework. not sure how he planned on keeping the heat from escaping, but it looked like he had a good idea to start with…something to consider maybe?
@35Colorado just a couple more things: because i live in Canada, and because of the position of my furnaces on the south wall of my house (furnaces are mounted @ 90 deg to horizontal – perfectly plumb), the air and the collectors in the furnaces (not the furnaces themselves) don’t reach much more than 115F in the summer (sun is high, energy focus is not so direct), and 180F in the winter (sun is low in the sky, energy focus is more direct). i find this to be the most efficient way(…to cont…)
@35Colorado to be completely honest, i was more concerned with the heat drawing fumes from the high heat silicone that i used to seal the cans and thermal break – which it did for a time until it fully cured…but now i use foil tape in my furnaces instead. i don’t like the thoughts of anything other than oxygen acting as air in my house any more than anyone else, lol. safety is a fundamental rule with me, and i do all i can to ensure that everything i build, is built on that foundation.
@35Colorado (continued) to put into perspective, if a person took a temp reading of the asphalt shingles on a house on a sunny summer day, which would read well above 250 F, and then correlate that with the excellent chance that there is either plywood or osb on their roof acting as a sheathing beneath the shingles, then i think they’ll find there are no toxic fumes being pumped into their attic. and if there is then the code council had better reconsider it’s evaluation of building materials.
@35Colorado thx, i appreciate your comment! yeah, i considered the effects of using plywood – i even checked NBCC code for heat tolerance for plywood and osb (which it meets btw)…and after two years of operation absolutely nothing undesirable has occurred. based on my experience as a red seal carpenter, resins used in plywood and osb will not break down and be released at that temperature, especially when it is completely sealed and a thermal break is installed. (…to cont…)
Thanks for making the video. I was wodering if you had considered any adverse effects of using plywood as the backing. That type of wood is held together with industrial glues that break down at high tempatures and expell toxic fumes. The inside chamber of your build will reach in excess of 250 degrees (if not hotter) and will surely cause toxins to be pumped into your house…. just a thought. I love the concept, just thinking of a safer way of doing it.
@QuantumBunk illustrations by music? it’s an intro buddy, chill out…has nothing to do with me, i was just hoping it would make the video a little more attractive for those with short attention spans, it lasts for about 90 seconds, and doesn’t define the project…if you had made it past the intro, you would have seen that there is literally NOTHING more i could have done to ‘teach’ (tho i’m not a teacher – just sharing an idea). i apologize for offending you so with my attempts to help people
Perfect example of someone who knows how to do something but has ZERO idea how to effectively communicate it to others!! Overly left hemisphere person!!! I can’t stand illustrations by music!! They are completely bogus and silly!! The only thing it accomplishes is how wonderful YOU are but teaches very little!! I’d rather watch something which less illustrates how wonderful you are but DOES in fact TEACH!!!
@Biervrienden good point, lol
@MrJosiah2004 : Steel cans rust.
@TheFilthyArsonist surprisingly it still pumps heat on cloudy days too – not much, about room temp…but it still works; what more can a person expect from a ‘solar’ air furnace?
boy it’s sure good that most days in the winter have sun, because other wise this wouldn’t work
@SVKmellow thankfully there is no siding on my house yet, so i have the option of mounting my furnaces directly on the south wall, for optimum efficiency.
@SVKmellow (if it circulates at all – the fan will only operate when the sun is shining) will enter the intake vent and rise – maybe – and hit double glazed glass (similar to a window)…the only difference with this window glass is that you can’t see out…if a person were to go with a free standing or roof mounted furnace, then based on my experience it’s no worse than a dryer vent that leads directly to the cold air
@SVKmellow …actually, if you consider it’s construction, it’s no different than a window – full of beer cans. sure, you would be ‘disrupting’ the insulation in the house with a 4″ pipe to make the junction with the furnace – this would cause a total loss of less than 1/2 of a cubic foot of wall insulation – but the furnace itself is well insulated – back and sides (which is more than what can be said for a conventional vinyl window). on cloudy days, the air…