Soda pop beer can Solar heater furnace cansolair panel – Part 3
by admin on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 | 25 Comments
This is part 3, please watch parts 1 & 2 to see how I built this. The testing continues. I have seen alot of you mounting your solar heaters on a flat wall, so I did the same thing. If you angle your box towards the sun you can increase your temp dramatically. The concern I have now is if I tilt the box I could damage my intake and exhaust tubes.
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@alfayed1991 I only feel awsome when it’s sunny out!
you are Awesome!!!
@zsnowshredder You know more than me friend, and I agree re the lenses and the parabolic mirrors, if I ever get one of these made I will post and let you know, so you can see what you made me go and do, A bet the free heat never felt so good. Cheers Have A Good One, Peace – al
@outofthisswirled I have seen the mirrors and lenses your talking about. If you don’t know what your doing, (which I do not) I think they could be a tad dangerous. Todays high was 32 degrees and the shop was 58, which really isn’t to bad. If I wanted to increase the shop temp I will just add a 2nd heater
Hi From sunny NOT england, Nice vids and it looks like you live in a sweet area, I would rig mirrors but also have you considered a frensel lense or maybe some parabolic mirrors, they’re expensive but they kick out crazy heat maybe too much heat. You could also make a large section like a dish angled upwards to hit your heater from all angles all day long shaped like a big C concave pointing slightly upwards and make it out of the mirror plastic you can get roughly 95% reflectivit
@dodoinurpants thats some real good info
dudue thats cool, i been on the tube all day searching all kinds of solar powered stuff and man, i feel like i just been iluminated with a whole new world, i saw a video that says the sun provides the earth in one hour with enough energy to last it a years consumption, isnt that amazing imagine what new age we are going to step into man imagine ben frank would be so proud f us today hu?
You should run thin copper tubing inside the cans containing oil. As it heats through the day It will hold heat for night use. You could at least get 3 hours of minor heat from the tubing.
In my testing i found also that the more air i blow through the box temperature also will drop. Its a fine balance between the two. I’m using a automotive hvac blower motor with multiple speed settings. on over cast days i use the #1 speed setting to keep the heater on before the snap disk shuts down. partly cloudy days #2 setting and full sun #3 and #4 settings. Really cranks it out. Great info thanks for sharing
Shredder, thanks for your time) No fan hooked up yet, just sitting in the sun passivly, my thermometer is installed behind the glass, all be it; at the bottom of the can area, just above the intake area. Had I put it higher it should of read higher temps, (hindsight!), but I still thought it would read something?? I can feel warmer air comming out @ the top, but not “HOT” by any stretch. Im going to drill a small hole & insert another thermometer nearer the top of the can area & see what happens
@vpbubbies Not hitting 100???? Disconect the theromostat and stick a thermometer in the exhaust tube (see video 2) and run it to see what temps you are producing.
How many CFM is your fan?
How much insulation did you use in your box???
Eh Shredder, searching for info: Just finished mine, tested it yesterday but inside didnt get above 100* (My thermostat starts @ 100 – 300 but nothing registered inside) How far from the glass are your cans? Mine = 2″ . Also, is there a major downer to NOT installing any aluminum infront of the top & bottom air chambers? I just left mine covered with the glass with nothing behind it, so one an look through the glass & see the 4″ vent hole in the back. I checked for leaks, None!
@dodoinurpants That is one hell of an idea..i love it.
@sok8888 Styrofoam insulation starts to melt at 212 degees, hottest I have seen the heater get in the “mounted position” is about 150. In addition to that, it’s lined with foil backed tape.(watch vdeo 1 & 2) I would love to see the heater you built with fiberglass.
Hot air melting the foam insulation = cancer.
I would suggest fiberglass, which has higher melting point.
Awesome! How did you connect the cans together?
If you mount the panel to the wall with some very heavy duty hinges at the top part of the panel…you can pull the bottom up and prop it on some sticks. You can even use hydraulics or an electric arm or something with a timer to angle the panel for optimized light absorption.
That’s around 5.8 kW, I think. Not as much heat as a house heater, but maybe 4X the heat of a space heater. Pretty good deal, considering it’s (almost) free!
@mrbr549 Thanks!
Great video, lots of info! I particularly like your attention to details. I’m subbing now.
@ondfritz2 Shop is at 8,100 elevation, you can learn more about our place if you google “wyatt west ranch”
@ondfritz2 Shop is at 8,100 elevation, you can learn more about our place if you google wyatt west ranch
What elevation is your shop at?
@jtalton626 Watch the video one more time. I tested with the 200 cfm fan befor mounting. Watch part 2 video, the box hit 175 degrees with the smaller fan.
I would think the lost 30 degrees came more from the increase in CFM. Your air is being pushed through faster and is not having as much time to heat up. As you stated, a mirror only gained you roughly 13 degrees. Would adding a mirror not be similar to the angle of the sun in performance? Either way, this is a great concept…and I see myself building one in the near future. Just got to start saving cans I suppose.
I have seen some with fans and without. and some using outside air ( obviously not in the winter) going indoors. Wouldnt heating the air cause an automatic airflow? and better to use a ceiling fan to circulate the air inside? can still use the solar panels for electricity. How many people have found decent solar energy storage systems? Also you can probably mount ur mirror on the bottom of the heater. I have seen some use closet mirrors which have backing, for this.