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Solar Heater

Step 1Frame and Fit

Frame and Fit
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Make a box to mount on the wall of building (A south wall, SE and SW also can work.) This should be mounted vertically on a wall; the higher in the sky summer sun won't hit it as directly as the low winter sun. The walls of the box are 2x6 lumber; the angled "roof" of the box is a 2x8. I found it good to prebuild the box on the ground and then mount it to the wall. Make the box based on stud spacing in the walls; I have 24" studs, so my box is 8' wide with vents cut into four sections.

I sized the solar collector based on the numbers from the Mother Earth article where the guy built 160sq ft. of collector for his 700 sq ft building; using that ratio I built a 48 sq ft collector for my 200 sq ft garage.

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2 comments
Feb 24, 2007. 12:48 PMwaratah says:
Note: North wall for southern hemisphere.

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Author:robbtoberfest
Stay-home Dad. I like solar energy, boating and sailing, making stuff, melting stuff, and raising chickens.