Solar Powered Heater

Tax-free Solar Heat - Naturally

A Solar Powered Heater takes a BIG bite out of your home heating costs. Yes! Natural Solar Powered Heat is available for living spaces via a simple solar collector that heats and circulates AIR!

Solar Powered Home Heat Solutions

Live comfortably in your home - without the earmuffs.

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.

You'll have noticed, also, that black interiors get WAY hotter than beige interiors. That's why solar thermal collectors, like water and air heaters, aren't beige.

Solar powered heaters capture heat in much the same way, and then move it into a space - home, workshop, studio, etc. - for comfortable living.

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 household 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 initial outlay.

Solar Heaters pay for themselves in 2 to 8 years and you'll notice the savings on your heating bill immediately.

SolarSheat builds one of the most respected solar heating units on the market today. They're available online from a number of vendors. Below we've added a link to this product through Amazon because the heaters are offerred at a fair price and because Amazon is one of the most respected dealers online.

And the link is hosted by Northern Tool, another trusted online vendor.

Alternatively, with a minimum of skill and a few dollars you could reach your payback threshold THIS YEAR by making a solar heater at home.

Make Your Own Free Heat

Here you'll find detailed instructions on how to Easily Make Your Own Solar Air Heater in a Single Day.

Damon Flowers provides step-by-step instructions on how to assemble a Solar Air Heater using ordinary items - many of which you probably have in your garage or storage area right now. Here's a little hint; start saving your aluminum soda and beer cans - that's all I'm saying.

Advantages of a Solar Powered Heater

• Free heat.
• Reduces your heating expense.
• No harmful emissions.
• Quiet operation.
• Rapid payback.

Tips for Making the Most of a Solar Powered Heater

• A ceiling fan will help to distribute the heat to more evenly warm your space taking the warm air near the ceiling and circulating it downward into the occupied space.



• Ensure that the model you buy or build takes air from (or is capable of taking 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.

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 another 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.

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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