Solar heat for the shop. ^5's Morris!

I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5- ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with the truck and we installed it this week.

Today, minus 7-degrees Celsius. We took down the temporary walls we had built outside of the gaping hole, (for security and heat reasons) and the first sunlight hit the panel just an hour ago.

Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I expected.

If you have a shop/garage with a south wall, and you're in a cold location, run, don't walk to your nearest computer and give Morris a call. If you're up here in Canuckistan (SW Ontario region), hit the info button on my website

formatting link
and I will set it all up for you.

Very happy r

Reply to
Robatoy
Loading thread data ...

I will post some pics in the next week or so, as soon as we trim it out nicely and do a little painting.

Reply to
Robatoy

I will post some pics in the next week or so, as soon as we trim it out nicely and do a little painting.

**************************

I was going to suggest some photo's. Sounds like a win - win situation to me. Any idea yet as to the actual amount of heat generated? Any plans to add more panels?

And Morris, good on ya. Keep up the good work.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

You need a new tape rule - it's 4'x6'. :)

And people keep saying that fusion power is a non-starter...

And now you *know* why fish have scales. ;)

I'd like that - but I'm /still/ encouraging those who have the ability and the tools to build their own...

And that's what it's all about. You've made my day.

Reply to
Morris Dovey

Are the plans on your site?

Reply to
-MIKE-

formatting link

Reply to
DJ Delorie

Not yet - see

formatting link
for the full story on that issue.

Meanwhile, I provide a lot of text/photo/drawing clues on my web site about what works well. I care a great deal that people make a real effort to think through what they do, and I really do hope that enables them to actually improve on what I'm doing.

My design is very much geared toward CNC production. Different tools will lead to at least minor design changes - and I'd prefer to let people work out designs that are a good fit with their capabilities.

There is a wealth of free DIY info at

formatting link
and I encourage you to take a long look at the site.

Reply to
Morris Dovey

Thanks!

Reply to
Morris Dovey

We're metric here...*smirk*

Reply to
Robatoy

te:

That also explains why we needed a 20-pound sledge to get it into the hole.

Reply to
Robatoy

Did the sledge survive?

Reply to
Morris Dovey

ote:

Reply to
Robatoy

Not sure he'd come and install in the UK ;-0

Reply to
Stuart

I would, but you don't need me to do the install. A local construction tradesman wouldn't have any difficulty and would probably involve a lot less red tape.

The bigger obstacle, of course, is the small-quantity shipping costs. At some point it might make sense to set up a production facility on your side of the pond someplace where there's a well-managed timber supply.

Reply to
Morris Dovey

What a coinkidink!

Reply to
Robatoy

Just playing the dark side here, bro... What was your cost on the project?

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your initial investment back from savings in utilities.. Might just be our location, though. Electricity is very inexpensive here.. Now, in the Republik of Kalifornia your savings would be much more..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

"mac davis" wrote

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Reply to
Swingman

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the energy used.

People who like to work with really sharp pencils may want to figure in costs associated with buying, installing, maintaining (etc) the baseline conventional system, but I don't even bother - and I encourage people to keep whatever heating system they already have as a backstop for protracted periods of unusually cold, dark weather.

It'll take Robatoy a while to get enough data to calculate his payback period - but a typical number for rural Iowa when I ran the numbers a year ago appears to be just a bit over two years. A properly installed panel whose exterior wood surfaces are kept painted should last longer than 25 years, so a panel (here) should provide at least 23 years of free heat.

Reply to
Morris Dovey

Morris Dovey wrote: ...

What kind of output would that 4x6 panel yield, Morris?

And, how is the heat distributed and what do you do about the heat load during hot IA or KS summers?

(I'm wondering if an area on the barn would be feasible--do these actually replace wall sections if I read correctly--don't really think I'd want to do that on a moderately historical structure...)

--

Reply to
dpb

A really accurate answer would involve more waffling than I can tolerate (weather patterns, geographic location, snowfall, whatever's in front of the panel, ad nauseum) so I'll give you the short, over-simplified (and somewhat conservative) answer that each two-foot section delivers heat comparable to a milk-house heater on "High" when there's no snow on the ground. If there's clean snow between the panel and the sun, then add

75-90% to account for reflected energy.

Although there isn't one, the panel /acts/ as if it had a moderately hefty blower. For really good heat distribution, it's difficult to beat a ceiling-hugging variable speed ceiling fan turning slowly to prevent heat stratification near the ceiling. On my web page with the shop photos, you can see the ceiling fan right in the middle of the shop - it's used to both prevent stratification and to push warm air down to warm the floor, which is what keeps the shop warm overnight. Without the fan, it'd still be warm during the day (but less evenly so) and it'd be probably 5-10F cooler overnight.

As summer approaches, the vertical panel shuts itself off by reflecting more and more of the sunlight to the ground in front of the panel (DAGS "critical angle" for a technical explanation).

To shut the panels completely off, you could install a cover over the glazing - but none of my customers have yet done this (and they all asked the same question ).

They replace all but the inner surface (drywall or paneling) of the wall. The barn would need to be reasonably "tight" and "well-insulated" for /any/ kind of heating to be worth the money - and you're right about adding a "high tech" look to historical structures...

Reply to
Morris Dovey

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.