A use for all those beer cans...

PeterC · 2013-02-23T18:45:12+00:00

YouTube Although the holes in the wall need to be bigger than those for water pipes, this has to be the simplest way of non-storage heating that I've seen. My front wall faces SE and often gets sun in the Winter. The solar gain in mid-Nov. - mid-Jan. isn't enough to be worth drawing back the net curtains[1], as there's increased loss, but there is worthwhile energy there and I've been mulling over ways of getting it. Today, there's been gentle snow, overcast (not too dull, but not bright) and the temperature stayed just about on freezing. The well-ventilated loft went from 2.0 deg. to 4.3 deg. during the day, so the force is out there!

Feb 23, 2013 24 Replies

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PeterC 13 years ago

A fan would be needed to get enough heat in - then the plastic flaps might go all floppy if his 100F claim is true.

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PeterC 13 years ago

phew! - at least they're not as I feared: proof of pudding!

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polygonum 13 years ago

Nor am I - but no-one has put a more convincing explanation forward.

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meow2222 13 years ago

panels like this are usually run passively. The light film flap then opens when they get hot, letting the heat in.

plastic film's always floppy

A more efficient design is to use 3 layers of black plastic shading mesh. They're placed in such a way that front panel losses are kept very low. Ali cans are probably better suited to multiple glazing though, which can generate very high temps in summer.

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Andy Champ 13 years ago

Surprisingly effective. Now all I need is some sunshine...

Andy

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