Solar air heater

[FishbonzWV]

I know this is a little premature for posting but I just have to share this find.

We had scrapped a machine at work that had these AL. covers on them.

I had to wait until they went to the scrap yard to get them and they doubled the price they paid for them but, with the cost of AL down they were forty cents a pound.

They are 25 x 55 x 2.5 inches.

I grabbed a can of paint out of the garage and painted one black to see how much of a difference it would make to the heating affect.

It's below freezing now and in about twenty minutes the black one was warm to the touch and the white one was still cold.

Should be easy to finish these off for air heaters. Glue some panel insulation on the back and sides, add some glazing and mount.

Bonz

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

Stove paint is good for painting solar collectors black.  Very good light-absorbing black, no toxic fumes (once dried) even when hot, survives very high temperatures.

[taget]

Nice find, i have been looking for some solar air space heat. didn't think of goin to a scrap yard though.

[FishbonzWV]

Yes, I had a can of flat black high temp BBQ paint left over from another project.

There was just enough to get a light coat on.

It's been raining ever since.

Put up a mill...no wind

Need to paint...rain  :-(

[Jon Miller]

They look brilliant,

I think you are on to a winner with those housings.

Let use know how it goes...

[Mr Fahrenheit]

What do you do in the summer with these units?  Do you just close the vents to the house?

[ghurd]

If you plan on any testing, it would be cool to see the difference between 1 with just the glass, and 1 with a layer (or 2) of painted flat black furnace filters.

I used the $3 6-pack of blue filters.  I believe it showed very marked improvement, but did not have 2 to test at the same time.

It saves a lot of spray paint if 3 are stacked during painting.  Gets less paint on the sidewalk too!

G-