DIY Solar Roof Heater - Save Money on Your Heating Bills!
Heating and cooling systems account for over half of a household’s energy bill, and simple, do-it-yourself solar projects can help drastically reduce your heating bills. Relatively inexpensive solar hot-air collectors and thermosiphoning panels capture the sun’s energy and direct air warmed by the sun through a window or wall opening into an adjoining room.
Using your roof as a space heater can also help supply solar heated air to your home. When the roof is heated by the sun, the air underneath is naturally heated, rises, and can be collected to heat your home. Because most metal roofs and some other types of clad roofs have an insulating membrane underneath, harvesting this warm air to heat your living space can be an inexpensive project.
If you’d like to cut your home heating bill this winter, try using your roof as a space heater and follow these directions:
Materials:
-Foil insulation
-Foil ducting
-6” ducted fan
-Hand tacker
-Thermostatic switch
-Profile seal that is the length of the roof
-Optional clear plastic cover
Directions:
1. Find the roof space of your home and make sure that there is an insulation membrane under the roofing sheets. From that point, locate the top two purlins on either side of the roof ridge and clean up any excess insulation. Use a hand tacker to secure the insulation to the purlins along the whole length of the ridge. Your roof should now have insulation running from the gutter to the top of the purlin.
2. Cut strips of insulation wide enough to fix across the underside of the top two purlins and long enough to run the length of the ridge. Using the hand tacker, attach the insulation to the underside of the top two purlins to form a header between them. These will cause the air between the roof sheeting and the insulation to be heated by the sun’s radiation.
3. Fit a suitably sized duct outlet near the center of the ridge and attach it to the underside of the purlins. Seal this to the foil using silicone, and fit a ceiling duct outlet to the ceiling of the area that is to be heated.
4. Fit a ducted fan somewhere between the duct from the ridge and the duct to the ceiling, and measure, cut, and fit two lengths of foil ducting (one to connect your ridge duct to the fan and one to connect the fan to the ceiling duct).
5. Fit a thermostatic switch near the duct at the header and position the sensor bulb inside the header near the duct opening, and secure this bulb to purlin. Wire the fan to the thermostatic switch so that it will only run when the temperature of the air in the header exceeds the control temperature of the area to be heated.
6. Lastly, move this to the outside of the roof and be sure to seal any air gaps between the ridge of the roof and the roof sheeting profile. For best results, cover the top meter of the ridge with a clear plastic cover. Your heater is now complete, ready to use, and will provide many hours of free heat during days where the sun is shining (even if the temperature is cold).
Using your roof as a space heater can also help supply solar heated air to your home. When the roof is heated by the sun, the air underneath is naturally heated, rises, and can be collected to heat your home. Because most metal roofs and some other types of clad roofs have an insulating membrane underneath, harvesting this warm air to heat your living space can be an inexpensive project.
If you’d like to cut your home heating bill this winter, try using your roof as a space heater and follow these directions:
Materials:
-Foil insulation
-Foil ducting
-6” ducted fan
-Hand tacker
-Thermostatic switch
-Profile seal that is the length of the roof
-Optional clear plastic cover
Directions:
1. Find the roof space of your home and make sure that there is an insulation membrane under the roofing sheets. From that point, locate the top two purlins on either side of the roof ridge and clean up any excess insulation. Use a hand tacker to secure the insulation to the purlins along the whole length of the ridge. Your roof should now have insulation running from the gutter to the top of the purlin.
2. Cut strips of insulation wide enough to fix across the underside of the top two purlins and long enough to run the length of the ridge. Using the hand tacker, attach the insulation to the underside of the top two purlins to form a header between them. These will cause the air between the roof sheeting and the insulation to be heated by the sun’s radiation.
3. Fit a suitably sized duct outlet near the center of the ridge and attach it to the underside of the purlins. Seal this to the foil using silicone, and fit a ceiling duct outlet to the ceiling of the area that is to be heated.
4. Fit a ducted fan somewhere between the duct from the ridge and the duct to the ceiling, and measure, cut, and fit two lengths of foil ducting (one to connect your ridge duct to the fan and one to connect the fan to the ceiling duct).
5. Fit a thermostatic switch near the duct at the header and position the sensor bulb inside the header near the duct opening, and secure this bulb to purlin. Wire the fan to the thermostatic switch so that it will only run when the temperature of the air in the header exceeds the control temperature of the area to be heated.
6. Lastly, move this to the outside of the roof and be sure to seal any air gaps between the ridge of the roof and the roof sheeting profile. For best results, cover the top meter of the ridge with a clear plastic cover. Your heater is now complete, ready to use, and will provide many hours of free heat during days where the sun is shining (even if the temperature is cold).
posted by Jeanie at 1:17 PM
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