Hydronic Heating

Posts Tagged ‘sun’

At the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado, the visitors’ centre has a Trombe Wall. The wall is designed for passive solar energy collection. The air in the air gap is heated during the day by sunlight. This in turn heats up the masonry wall. The heat energy is then transferred to the visitors’ centre at night.

What is the method of heat transfer by which heat energy reaches the glass from the Sun?

and

How is the heat energy most likely to be transferred through the air gap? Explain your answer in terms of the density of air.

I’m trying to develop an inexpensive solar cooler for camping.

I’ve made a solar box COOKER before, using nested cardboard boxes painted black, with aluminum foil glued on the inside. The black surface absorbs heat from the sun’s rays, while when the heat is re-emitted inside, the reflective foil tends to keep it in. It is a slow cooker which can develop about 325 degrees F.

Now I am thinking about trying the same idea inverted. I know I won’t be able to freeze things. but if I start with something frozen, could I keep it frozen this way without having to use those pre-frozen plastic containers of blue chemical?

Anybody ever make a cooler like this? anybody know how? Any sites for plans? (not the cooker sites, I already have those.)

Please include ideas for evaporative cooling using wet towels, if that has worked for you in the past. I’m trying to do this no-electricity, no chemicals, no bottle of gas. I want to travel light.

Thanks!

I’m trying to develop an inexpensive solar cooler for camping.

I’ve made a solar box COOKER before, using nested cardboard boxes painted black, with aluminum foil glued on the inside. The black surface absorbs heat from the sun’s rays, while when the heat is re-emitted inside, the reflective foil tends to keep it in. It is a slow cooker which can develop about 325 degrees F.

Now I am thinking about trying the same idea inverted. I know I won’t be able to freeze things. but if I start with something frozen, could I keep it frozen this way without having to use those pre-frozen plastic containers of blue chemical?

Anybody ever make a cooler like this? anybody know how? Any sites for plans? (not the cooker sites, I already have those.)

Please include ideas for evaporative cooling using wet towels, if that has worked for you in the past. I’m trying to do this no-electricity, no chemicals, no bottle of gas. I want to travel light.

Thanks!

I plan on making a solar water heater, for a hydronic heating system. Would it be efficient to take a satellite dish (like a dish network or direct tv), attach small mirrors on the face of it to concentrate the sun’s heat? I would feed flexible copper tubing through the arm, out to where the receiver would normally be, and twist it around a few times and then bring it back through the arm. I would pump water through the tubing, which would would then circulate through the house and back to the concentrator. I would more than likely put more than one of these in series with each other.
the glass covered box would work, but it wouldn’t be as fun to build, but I’m wondering how efficiently the dish idea would work.

I am making a mini model of a home to show passive solar heat, the project needs to sit out in the sun all day. get warm and then stay warm during the night. What are some ways of keeping light in…..my father said use stone so i put marble tiles in, will they stay warm for a long time…im esstimating that the house will get up to nearly 100 degrees and hae direct sunlight for 6 hours. Help
Heat*** not light

I recently purchased a home in Arizona that is designed to use passive solar radiation to heat the floors in winter. The sun comes in the windows at an angle, and heat is stored in the floor by bricks. The bricks are packed tightly in sand, and not mortared in. I find them rough underfoot and difficult to keep clean. If they were tiled over with clay tiles or covered with cement, would the floor maintain the same level of thermal mass?

a) Is it a crazy idea to put a hot water bottle in it at night? Or pour hot water in a bucket at the bottom? (It doesn’t get enough direct sun for passive solar heating.) Should I do it as soon as the sun goes down, or later when I go to bed?

b) Should I insulate the floor? It’s standing on concrete paving stones. Will the thermal mass help or just make it colder?

It’s this kind of greenhouse; small and plastic. I’ve got a fleece cover for it but it’s still too cold at night.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-4-Tier-Mini-Greenhouse/dp/B00080KPA2

Thanks!

In a passive solar house, the sun heats water stored in barrels to a temperature of 41.8 °C. The stored energy is then used to heat the house on cloudy days. Suppose that 2.81 x 108 J of heat are needed to maintain the inside of the house at 20.8 °C. How many barrels (1 barrel = 0.16 m3) of water are needed?