A car radiator makes a sturdy, cheap, solar heater. These simple steps will produce a basic design suitable for use as solar water pre-heater.
What materials and tools will I need?
This basic design requires one car radiator, flushed, pressurized to check for leaks and repaired, if necessary. Two rubber radiator hoses and two hose clamps used to attach the radiator in series with the water supply. Finally, black spray paint completes the list of materials. Tools required include a straight screwdriver and a rubber mallet.
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Solar heat panels can be easily and inexpensively made to help reduce the cost of heating your home by using the power of the sun. This project most directly benefits houses with a south facing room as that will be the strongest sunlight available.
Making a solar heat panel can be as simple as modifying old aluminum storm windows to absorb the heat and send it into a room through a vent or through a window. If using a window to bring the warmed air in, you’ll need to ensure that the opening is air tight around the vent. Otherwise the warm air coming in will quickly be replaced by the cold air that is coming in as well.
Using an old aluminum window, a piece of foil backed insulation, and a vent into the room, the window with the foil backed absorbs the heat from the sun and a some fan can draw the warmed air into the room where the vent is placed. Granted, it is a bit more complicated than that, but that is the basic plan. The window catching the rays must be angled to be able to absorb the heat and the vent into the room must be sealed tightly to prevent cold air from also coming in.
With the increase in the interest of having a “green” society, the topic of solar power as a source of heat is a hot one. There are different methods of achieving this, as well as different things to use the solar power on as a heat conductor.
What follows is a synopsis of some of these methods and some insight as to what one might need when interested in using this kind of natural power for heating purposes.
How to Make a Solar Water Heater ?
Depending on the method of solar heating used, here is a list of some things you may need to have when using solar heating of water.
- One or more 100 feet long black garden hoses
- One or more 50 feet long black garden hoses
- Southern exposure. The roof is the preferred place of southern exposure if feasible
- 30 gallon clean black plastic barrel with spigot
- Four 4×6 treated posts, eight feet long in length
- Concrete Mix
- 3X3 sheet of one inch thick plywood
- Four 2 by 4′s, 3 feet in length
- Sixteen carriage bolts with lock washer,washer, and acorn nut
- A post hole digger
- Four 4×6′s, three feet in length
Both methods don’t require all of these things, but we will put this together with the following methods so you can see what material you will need for each.
1° Method
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