Solar Powered Heater

Using the solar heat that falls on your property.

Solar Powered Heat Solutions

The concept of a solar powered heater is rather simple. If you've ever entered a toasty car on a cold but sunny day you've experienced the effects of solar heating principles. As the sun shines into the windows (when the windows are closed) the temperature in the vehicle rises.

Solar powered heaters capture heat in much the same way and move it into a space - home, workshop, studio, etc. - that needs to be heated.

The principle is based on collecting the solar heat in an area that is ideally located (sunny, properly angled, etc.) then directing it into an area where it's needed.

Heating water and space represent almost half of your energy costs and both of these can be easily achieved using inexpensive passive solar principles. That translates into a dramatic reduction in your power bill with a very manageable capital outlay.

Even if you're unable to heat your entire home during every season using solar power exclusively, the benefits are huge to your pocketbook and our environment.

You'll start to realize savings on your heating bill immediately and most solar heaters pay for themselves in 1 to 5 years.

Here you'll find the basic principles and instructions to construct a solar powered heater yourself.

Advantages of a Solar Powered Heater

• Reduces your heating expense.
• No harmful emissions are released into the atmosphere when using solar heat.
• Quiet operation.
• Applying these inexpensive techniques keeps the cost of an off grid system way down.

Limitations of a Solar Space Heater.

• Solar heaters need unrestricted access to the sun to function. A south facing wall or window (north in the southern hemisphere) is best. West is the next best.
• These heaters are able to heat a room adjacent to where they are installed but not a whole home.
• Heat is only available during sunlight hours. Adding passive solar heating concepts will provide more constant temperatures for longer periods of time.
• At present, depending on your location, a solar powered heater may not produce all of the heat you require.
  
  In Canada, for instance, the need for heat can be enormous and in the dead of winter a solar heater would only produce enough heat to supplement a more reliable source.
  
  Combining your solar heater with wood or pellet burning stoves, geothermal, earth heat, furnace, electric space heaters, boiler or whatever, will keep a space warm and cozy through any winter.
  
  Also, an alternate heating source is often used in off grid homes for especially cold days, times where the sun doesn't shine for several days and for early mornings.

Tips for Making the Most of a Solar Powered Heater

• Select or make a model that can do double duty as an awning over a south facing window.
  
  When installed at the proper angle, during the summer when the sun is high overhead and you don't require supplemental heating, the solar heater will shade the window and prevent overheating of the room.
  
  During the winter when the sun hangs low in the sky the sunlight will still be able to enter the room and the solar heater collects heat to distribute into the room.
• A ceiling fan will help to distribute the heat to more evenly warm your space
• Ensure that the model you buy or build takes air from the room you're heating rather than outside. Recycling the pre warmed air from the room is much more efficient than warming the cold, outside air.
• Think about adding solar heaters in a garage, workshop, shed, studio, office space and other spaces that are used primarily during the day.
• The addition of insulating window coverings will help to keep your hard won heat inside. Uncovered windows will allow heat to escape at an alarming rate once the sun sets. Insufficient insulation will render your heating efforts useless.
• Add some thermal mass (concrete, stone, marble, brick, water, etc.) at least 4 inches thick directly in the path of the sun rays as they enter the room. It"ll absorb the heat from the sun during the day and stay warm well into the night. This can be incorporated into your space as flooring, walls even ceilings. More in depth information on thermal mass and appropriate calculations can be found here.
• Clerestory windows and/or skylights can be a beneficial addition when properly used and can decrease the amount of south facing window required to obtain the benefits of solar heat.

If you're looking for cheap solar power options, you can make your own passive solar powered heater with materials you probably have in your garage.

Adding other passive solar principles to your home will make any efforts at solar heating much more effective and will save you thousands of dollars over the coming years.

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