self sufficient life

Free solar heating

There is a lot of free energy coming our way each and every day, all we have to do is convert it to some usable type of energy. I’m talking about solar energy of course. There are a few ways we can use the energy packed rays that the sun sends down to us.

We all know about solar panels that convert light into electricity, the major problem with them however is that they are quite pricey and not very efficient. We can also use solar power to heat water in a simple to build solar water heater. The hot water can be fed into your central heating system to help heat your house or tap water. This energy will not be completely free, as we need some electricity to run a water pump so the heat will be transported from the collector to where we need it.

But there is another way we can use solar heat to heat up our house and it is completely free after setting up this simple device! All we need is some timber, a corrugated black sheet of roofing sheet and a transparent sheet of plastic or glass.

Start by making a wooden frame and attach it to your outside wall. You will have to use a south facing wall (or north facing if you live in the southern hemisphere) for this to work. Within the wooden frame you have to cut some holes in the wall, so air can circulate between the house and the solar heater. The holes will be placed at the top and bottom of the frame. You can make the whole thing as big or small as you want. Ideally you want to cover your whole south facing wall, the part that doesn’t have any windows that is.

Next the black corrugated sheet of roofing will be screwed against the wall. The black color will help in converting the incoming sunlight into heat. Black works best because it absorbs the complete spectrum of light rather then reflecting some wavelengths like colored objects do. Once the sheet has been heated up by the sun, it will heat up the air around it. It will stay warm for a while when the sun is not directly shining onto it. This makes the solar heater have a somewhat constant heat output even on days with some clouds.

All that is left to do is adding the clear plastic or glass cover. Make sure that there are no gaps between the wood and the cover (or the wood and the wall) or heat can escape and cold wind can enter the solar heater (and your house) That’s all there is to it, you will now get some free heating when the sun shines! How come we don’t need any fans to move the air? This is simple physics: as the air is heated it will expand and move up and through the gaps in the top of the heater. While doing so, it will pull in cold air through the bottom gaps which will be heated up by the black sheet and continue the cycle.