> instructables sid Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop Window Mounted Solar Hot Air Furnace (Aluminum Soffit Based) by on August 30,2012 Window Mounted Solar Hot Air Furnace (Aluminum Soffit Based) ‘Good evening welcome to my ent for he “Oe Gad Contest! present io you a product aimed at lowering your winter heating il and carbon fotpint by generating heat for ee using the power of the sun! Projects that involve warming afr space heating using he sun are pent, However, most f them involve permenty installed fat plate collectors made out of soda cans or alumieum downspout instaling a permanant colactor usually means ailing two large holes tough the side of yout house inorder toute the ductwork. My lector mounts just otsde a window and can be taken down when the heating season is over. The most avasve pat he nstalation isthe removal of he window's fyscreen Furthermore the alunnum soft based absorber plat ls much are effeent han soda pop cans x slumoum downspout you oan harvest re hea or {von sie of colctr. The aluminum soft based calector is more expensive an soda cen cotactor but ass expensive than ah aluminum downspout ealeclot De an added bonus ths collector does na requse slecrty or fan or forced alr of any kind. The current ofr trough he cacti ven solely By natura Convection. As the sun heals the arin the colctor, sas and escapes tough the ouput vent. As 2 consequence, col as drawn no the colecar tough the input ‘ent replace the warmed ai The whole loop coninues without the need for fans. Ifyou want fo make one of tse I suggest you use some beter qualty (more expensive) materia than | id bu for this particular projet, the cost was about $60‘Stop 1: How the Vented Aluminum Soffit Collector Work: ‘ve arawn a dlagram fr you that hope i sel explantory but nevertheless Iwi go trough stating rom the cold a nak. 1) Cold arom th room s drawn in rom ta take venta he bottom ofthe unt. rom ther i ravels nee the cold a plenum unt teaches the chamber at he font of the ni thats exposed tothe sus ays 2) Inside he chamber behind the peyearbonata glazing the sun's ays shine onthe back aluminum Sofft and heatit up. When the cool ar encounters the sof, is Warmed as tea through the perforations. Thi sing as continually replaced by cooler alr being drawn into the cool ante 5)The warmed ar waves though the hat plenum unl ts eased out nto the Yoom trough ihe et at out. ‘The collector unt s mente hang on @ windows withthe intake and exhaust vans inside the house wih the restf iton the ouside ofthe house. The window must be tha single hung type! where the pane of gle slides verealy to open and case the window. The colactr fs bul obe the same width asta window opening. Wen the tolectria hung on te wandowal the window canbe closed down ont the colacto to sort ct “lamp ino place. After some weatherstippig ls added o seal up the ‘Smal gaps, nstalavon is compote Stop 2: The Outer Shell ‘The exact dimensions of is box ae not important, as you wil have to customize this desig oft your oun whow. if you are fortunate enought be abla use a south facing window naar ths ground then all can say isthe bigger, the Deter. The reson for ha sy can use the ground te suppor your colctr and you dan have ory about weight You should also se thicker materials, such as 1/2 inch sheeting stead of he 1/4 inch sheeting l used. But beware, collectors mounted coset the (ound ae at ncreased rik of shading, You should do the sola ata survey (ink here} before bung the colctor My colactoris hung ftom a second floor window. There sno support trom below. Therefore had ot to reduce i's weight a8 muchas I could. | opted ora shell of 14 Inch O38 wih vr ite supporting framing. The only faming are smal 3d" by Si tips of wood thal were pped down tom 1" by 8" boar. The everywhere along the comers whee Iwo sheets of OSB m ‘Te two “L" shaped sides of he colectr are cut cut of OSS in one piece. This is very Important If theses ofthe cofecor were cutout of wo places there would be nothing ta Keepin shape and k would fold ka a book 88 oon as you pcked i up. ‘The whol hing was assembled using wood glue and 18 gauge S/8" brad nats. When the foomboad Insulation was installed later constuction | nals evening cover again with 112" crown stapes tp:thvur Instructables. comiid/Window-Mounted ie-Fumace-Aluminum-SofStop 3: The Foamboard Insulation The insulation used was "polystyrene. Some of you who are reading this who oe familar wih solar collectors may be thinking, ‘WTF is he doing, he should have used polysoayanurata Iam aware that! should have used polio sulaton because te plytyrne has a tendancy to mel thigh lamperatres. However, | scoured the ‘hy fr gaya in search of poly and coud find had to ats for poysyrene ang who kaows, maybe fw wok i, The feamboard was simple to install while more than a Kae an tube of foamboard adhesive. fel Inclined el you that youre supposed to pullhe board of ot the wood after you fat gue tan let tar out fo tva minutes before you stck back on. However, when linulated my basement wth issu years back | purposely ‘dit ar outa few panels ate glued tem and they'e stuck on just ae good ae the est. ‘Aor nsulating | sealed up athe oles with tuck tape In order a prevent dats The ls leur shows what was left over fom one 4 by 8 sheet of foamboard. Iwas cuting 2 like close thre!Step 4: The Divider Between the Hot and Cold Air Plenums The divider spits up the space in he unt to two seperate channels fr aio. lt alows cooler ai trom the take to travel along the back ofthe una chamber where tl be warmed. I also allows warm aio wavl up along the top ofthe un and be exhaustedinto te oom without bang wah cool The dvdr consis of 1/4" OSB wih a spacer on each side. The spacer was made by ripping down 1 by 6 board into 1 1/2"by Sit” sips. The stipe ware glued wih foamboard adhesive tothe nalaton and then secured wih 2" 16 gauge brad naa shot in ftom he outside shel. They run along bath sides ofthe colacor and stop 4 Next twa sheets of OSE were cut tof across the spacers and then glued fit enter he warming chamber, aco, an 112 space wast out allow the coo! Image Notes Image Notes {This gap a where coo ai entre te font chamber {Thi sa view looking down through the col plenum inthe ection of coldImage Notes 1'Coa enters the unt ston the underside of tis plece of O88 2. Goal alr iravle dawn othe botom ofthe warming chamber in the plenum Space under tis sheet of OSB, Step 5: The Aluminum Soffit Absorber Plate Now we get down to business. Now we get down tothe real meat and potatos of is whole thing. The absorber pat Is flat plte-tke thing that absorbs the sun's ray, {ets hat and passes the Neat tothe werking medium flowing Hough i Inout case the worung medium i af butl'can aso be water There ae several ypes of Absorbers that you can use eluding, sol soft in 9 backpass collec, soda pop cans, tuminum downspout, vented Soft and aluminum window screen. hink that ‘ented softs the best choice Because Ifs one of the mos ffclent in ems of how much Nea ou get, i's easy to Bulé and i's cheaper than window sereen and downspout The vented aluminum sft is pockmarked with hundreds of ite holes called perforations. When the sun shines onthe soffit gets hot. Ais drawn through the pevoratons ands warmed upin the process. When yeu as an eccupant ofthe home fels he ee heal on your ska warms You Up and makes you happy inthe process ‘Anyway, the fat step isting the st sto make the spacers, They run the whole langh of he OSB divider and are sloped fom 1/2 inch at he Bot to 3 inches ftthe top. just ook some # by € board, uta langh on fe miter saw, rpped i dwn to 1/2 nches and hen epped that place down on dlagonal The two resulting places shouldbe near ental wih 1/2 inch tlekness on one end and 3 inch thickness onthe ther Nest, thay wer ued in place wi fombaard adhesive snd Secured wih 2 inch 18 gauge brag nals shat nfm the outade sheeting The fst pace of soft was ou to lange and than a 24 ip was bent note tal a he bottom, The ip was made by clamping the soft o my workbench and using the ede of the workbench asa gulde as! went tapping long the plsce with a hammer. When he fst pace of sf nstalled, help covers up thea gap between he soit andthe plenum divider. Two moc pices of soft ar cut and installed. They together hey same way 2 you woul if nsaling them on a house. Each plece has sort of a “tongue” one one edge and “groove” on the other. The glove af the fest place accepts te longue of he second Three places were used in al A10 foot plac fom the hardware store was enough to do ital. About $17 wort, ‘Ato lof th sof was in place, @foamboard cap was made oft Inside the remalning space and ged place with foambeard adhesive. A poco of 114" OSB was cut to over the slyofoam cap leaving an 1 1H” of the botam ofthe cap exposed. Now te absorber plate has en 1 1/4" border on ll four sides. Ths an Important feature forthe instalaton of he payeatonate glazing and he batten ten Finally the whol absorber plate was pala fat black with @ couple cans of spray pal. | should have used the high heat barbecue pant but | couldnt fn anyInstalling the Polycarbonate Glazing fat thing did was make a ame onthe face ofthe clector out of 38° by 112 tips. They are 8" thick to match the ticknass of he twin wal polycarbonate lazng and they are 1/2 wide a coverup the OSB sides white leaving SI of foamboard exposed athe the gazing ‘The glazing was cut with my creular saw wit a special “paste pan” cuting blade twas cut it by 1" smaller than the opening ofthe frame to alow for thermal ‘expansion, hla cuting. ts @ good idea to lave the plate fim on bot ales on inorder to prevent burs fam forming. Make sur you cuts tha thecal re ‘nent verealy. There Is ene side only hat ean be facing the sus rays. tis usualy marked by the Pasi fm that covers tr eutin, peel aay one comer of he fim on the UV protected site, mark the panel wits @pece of masking tape and peel of hereto the fim ‘Ator cuting, ake the blow gun from you ar compressor and bow outa of the dust a {ape or ventistd ape) ch allo he sheoing. Then seal the two ends with dust tape als called vent ‘The potyeabonate glazing can hen be a isi the frame and then secured wih th Batten tm. The baltan tim is 14 by 24” sips ped down from 1 by 6 board Its eutto tt around th peyearbonate gazing name with miterd corners. The batten mls sacued down wh wood gla and bad nals. 14 of exterior caulking fs run around he inside ofthe batten tim Betwoen the trim and the glazingStep 7: The Initial Test wen | got home ftom work lat the next sunny avenng | decided o prop the colctr up inthe sun and see how wal woud do. 1 wa very plas with the nea sto al twas at nthe avening 2 the aun was hanging low a the sky vary fart the west. The callactorecloved very Ite drect sunight bacause of ft flow lying clouds hanging aound the sun Most of he sunight tat reached the catecto’ was parialyfileredtvcugh te thin coud cover. In adilon, was hard to aval the shadows of my naghbor’s shed as well as anestby tee and telephone poe. Needles 1 say condltons were less than deal Neverthe, he ting worked. Even wihoutafanthave was a decent amount of warm airing up out of he exhaust oping of te callactor, Howaver, read that forced ai dramatealy inreases the output of teae collectors so wih th rapidly seting sun | srambled to tea apart an od junk computer o get aut the (very large) ‘cooing fan. gully made up a plac of OSB that was lager than the exaust opening of the colector end dil a hole nthe sam sie a the fan With the sheet of ‘OSE over the exhaust opening andthe fan aver hat drawing al teaugh the cokactor an out the top, twas amazed wih tha results. For a short period oftme thereat, the collector was recieveing fl tect sunlight and | must say the heat was baling ou ofthat hing Ifo ke jst a6 much output (in terms of bo temperature and How rate) as 240 vak freed a secre heater such asthe ones that ar installed in my house fr space heating. in ther words, it felt, Ike nad my hand in rant of ane of those heaters while was running. Before | could get my thermometers out clouded over again. The output temperature dropped my a large margin With the thermometers in pace I measured a steady 12°C atthe intake and 20° C atte exhaust Al with a good ariow; about he same as what comas out ofa cothes dyer vent. Sony, but dont have any way of ‘maasuring and quanting at low yet Asa reaut | ls0 cannot calculate tha power of tha unt arma of tha at that ti collecting hat enargy fom he sun, ‘Ailthat beng said, am confidant that his collector wil provide %100 of he heat required 1o keep a rom warm during a sunny, clear winter day. Given that cost ‘approximately $60 in meters, shoud pay for sa about tees mes each heaing season depending onthe weather ‘As soon a gat his thing mounted the window, wil see how it does wih heating the rom. | actualy expect ito part beter In December than now in Saptamber ‘because the sun st tacks fait high nthe sky and makes 2 rather hgh nldence ange with the vera! callactor. In Dacember, ta low racking sun wl shina almost Straight onto the cotecor. increasing the output Unfortunately wi ot be home whl the sun Is shining onthe coFector unl a while afta the dadine fr this contest. | wil update tis nsructable wah my results the ‘minute get them Image Notes You can see how the suns behind some low lying clouds as well as some oes tnd a ttephone pole Stop 8: Painting Before 1ned ts thing nangng ou my window or ll of my neghbothood i see | wanted tt ook alitle more “nished than an OSB box. So | took black marker and colced inal ofthe pats that would be exposed. Just kidding | used pait bul he paint ob ls so More tet you probably would think that | was wo yeors old an that {id use a black marker. The sary tig st actly looks nal decent rom a cstance of § meters ors. Wen | Bul tha "Window Box Colactor Mk2" wll use nice good-ane-ie sanded plywood and pant really nce ivan put a clear coat on | swearStop 9: Profiling the Bottom to Match the Window and Installing the Sealing Flange Prong eben my wae was noting ae han addy aati nod th pope sae nde be ctr fe ul The pwns ewe be Units the windows rather han stessing the vay tim around he sash af the window The sealing lange ete ng of wood that cls the unin th second pleture. A doubling of fam draft sealing tape wl go around the oui face of te ange. This should erate an sight seal batween the lange and the Inside ram ofthe window Step 10: The Second Test ‘bea tue more beat about he resus of the second est, th coletor out wit he fan unning for about an Rour and checked an every ve minutes or so This tne twas much earn the aternoon than the prevous tet. The sun was hgherin the sky and there was no shadows from the nearby toes and tlephone pole to worry about However the sun was ust barely poking tough the dense cloud cover for moat of he tet. Te rule were ll good. The heat ouput held stand at 20° CCwith a 17°C input and a paty song current oar | made a makeahit steamer ou ofa sales ecept ang taped ito te fant uy and gvea vil of just Row much ls coming cute his thing. tral sa lat fora fan that size Fm very happy withthe rests of this Second test to, What tls mes thet lean sl gt plenty of useable heat aven on a cea, cloudy day. By that | mean a cloudy day without ai, og, or sow. [Atona pont, the colactor did get a las of dct sunlight for few seconds, The output temperature qucky rose to 35°C and ten quick fel agaStop 11: Final Thoughts This project was buld many as a“Proot of Concept” ried to save as much money and tme as |could by buying cheap materials, using rely avatable matrls that right not have been the best choice and taking ite caren my workmanship. I his window box caleclr Seems to bea worthwhile Investment afte aul heating Upgrades ia materials wou include: Using sanded “good onesie" plywood forthe outer shot Using glue and screws instead of glue and brag nail Using potysocyanurte naulaton nstead of poiystyrene Using ft tape inatend of Tuck Tape" fr art sealing Upgrades in quay of workmanship would include: Taking tine wit my cuts instead of sawing the a madman Taking th tet clamp pleces together and wath fr the gue to dry Between stops Sending and ounding tha ouside edges of th shal or mayoe some decorative tim ‘Areal nice pant job wih ¢ wesiherprocing dar coat Wiel | uess hats for now, I want to update this instructable at least every month in an attempt to comple a complete heating season worth of observation and data rm gong to uy to get my hands on one of hose Ite devices that measure afiw to, thn I ean calcula the power eulpul andy to optimize he alow to get the most you the tis instructable | would realy appreciate your vot or the “Of the Grid Cones’ As alway, thankyou for reading, ph |uestions, comments and constuctve crim, Aad pase do your par to make ow eat allt greener. Cheers 2 slay tuned and ple Comments ‘Add Comment vepepr Topcat2021 says: ‘Sep 6.2012. 1246 PM REPLY ‘hate a nice pojat you have made thre | lke te ides of aluminum soft fora callector material. One hing worth considering onthe next modal so “wrap the unin akurinum tin col (he vinylzed aluminum sheet), vay! sing eonvacors use to cap windows, sofia, tc. when istaling vinyl aiding Ona potne. Terenas nana ene nd patance aba wort be eeded oer you beter wate tein anda rot tates he Keep up the good work Dan LancePenney says: ‘Sep 6, 2012. 2:88 PM REPLY ‘That's a great dea. have almost a fll 24” by 100 foot lof the suet over rom when we dd the th on te Rouse. | wonde” could he aluminum and tha foamboard make a song and lightweight shal wihout the need forthe OSB. Thank for your comment. scraptopower says ‘Sep 6.2012. 11:52 Alt REPLY This seat Id make one but our windows open the wrong way bobby sissom says ‘Sep 4, 2012. 6:41 PM REPLY {had one almost exact tke yours that put onthe side of my taller. My output on a cold wintr day avaraged 110 dagrees. Notas much as an elacic heater butmy alecic Restore didnot have te Kick on as much Avery spl improvement would be apiece of laste ld accross the top vent and taped down onthe window side, This wil act a a flp to alow alin but at might wih the fan tumed of wl eal ff the opening asthe ar coos down and westLancePenney says: ‘Sep 8.2012. 1148 AM REPLY HL forgot © mention that this unit should beset damping, because he input and output are both at the top Inthe ight, cool arn the ober wil snk 'o he bottom and have nowhere e escape. Wihout ecurent, ne warm a Hom the foom wil be drawn Ina the calecor. Thanks fr yout coment. grannyjones says: ‘Sep 5, 2012. 5:14 AM REPLY {20d job was teking of doing some hing snr butt was more compllestad nd you dont mind ink Mul ane or wo PropPrintables says ‘Sep 4,2012. 640 PM REPLY CRAB, ont rea woutsove to an natn! (resis nt cel something a vide cul potay of ours) Love feast tp stivor in les.comvd! Window-Mounted-Solat-Hot-Ai-Furnace-Aluminum-Si