I made one of these years ago for my home in NH. It worked really well. I didn't use a fan. I just allowed convection. Even in the winter sun, with many feet of snow on the ground, this worked well. The thing is, you've got to put a door on the inside of your inlet/outlet (the part that comes into the room) so that, at night, it doesn't suck all the warm air out of your home. Cheap and easy to make and supplements the fuel bills really well. For sure, make two.
Well done! It's been a month, have you observed a lower power bill? Do you have any "lessons learned" you can share with us? Can I ask you for a "part 2" video to answer these questions??? Thank you for sharing this experience with us!
The fan is an 80mm polar typhoon series case fan ($5 at Fry's electronics). it's powered by a 12VDC 1.8 watt solar panel (or larger). just hook the fan and the solar panel together. (very simple to do, just twist positive leads or the "red wires" together and then twist the negative leads or the "black wires" together.). fan will run whenever sun is hitting the collector/solar panel.
I'd put a layer of aluminum foil down first, then the cardboard- the shiny side towards the cans. It would reflect some of the heat back. A minor improvement on the insulation but worth a consideration. Also: the intake should be from inside the home, that way the intake air will already be reasonably warm, and the output heat will be even higher. In any case, free heat is always fun.
Grandpa the Grey yes that is what i am building mine for, the more cans the bigger the better, i live in the south, and we get a lot of sun in winter so this should work great for me
coming from a tech/ engineer point of view, I would modify this project to put the fan outside the heat accumulator box to push in the cold air rather than to suck hot air out of the box as this would lend toward longer fan life, no fan overheating and low failure rate. I would accomplish this by mounting the fan inside on the bottom to intake cold air and then locate the side board with the seven 1 inch hloes about 4 inches into the box to form an air plenum. I would maintain the air duct and outlet the same as depicted, so all we're talking about here is one extra board and one extra hole for mounting the fan. Just a suggestion. Be sure to allow for placement of a small air filter over the fan hole to minimize accumulation of dust and dirt on the inside of the box and fan assembly. :) One final note (not that it would make a large difference on a small project), according to a study on Solar Heaters conducted by Penn State U many years ago, paint color makes a difference on the effeciency. They found that dark green works best ... so it's no accident that Mother Nature foliates the trees and shrubs with green leaves for photosynthesis rather than black leaves.
I like the idea of using "tin" cans yet aluminum will heat up faster than steel. Since I live in NE Ohio we don't get enough consistent sun. I made three collectors and a solar pool heater some worker better than others. I will look for some feedback as to how well your design works thru the heating season. Keep us informed!
A few suggestions: 1) paint the dryer ducting black, as well; it will absorb additional heat. Also, cover the duct with insulation once it enters the structure. That will retain more of the heat along the length not exposed to the sun. 2) simply drilling holes in the bottom of the cans results in a lot of baffling between units. Better would be to use cans with crimped tops and bottoms; completely remove the top and bottom from each can; and join them using metallic duct tape 3) as someone else suggested, use aluminum cans or ducting inside the box. It will heat faster and conduct heat more efficiently. How long is the run from box to room? Have you measured the efficiency and heating when the outside, ambient temperature is close to freezing? Nice DIY instructions; somewhat lacking in empirical data to interpret the results.
Nice job and it is something that those less confident or precise can still get a decent result out of. I would have like to have seen you weather proof it a bit more though and perhaps let us know what it can produce heat wise in cold but bright weather or even cold and cloudy weather. Also how large a room could that keep warm with that size panel?
Great video, it seems when it comes to these units everyone has their own ideas... Great to see everyone sharing. My idea would be to use black anodized aluminum heatsink (the kind used for electronics) and a glass pane with an array of small fresnel lenses.... wonder if it's been tried before?
Hey, insulating is a good idea. I figure that it will also allow for the expansion and contraction of the cans. Had you put they tight inside the frame, it may have warped the frame. Good form!
Awesome! Wish I had one (or 3) of these when my furnace went out a few years ago. We had been out shoveling our driveway and walkways for 3 1/2 hours after a blizzard. Of course it was on the Coldest day of the year! Gotta love those Michigan winters....lol Hey it would be great if you could make the instructions in a downloadable pdf. I would make one with an on/off switch. This would be a great back up for power outages too. TFS!
When my furnace stopped for a week last winter I used crock pots full of water without lids and a food dehydrator for a week while the part came in. No pipes froze in Utah and the living area and kitchen stayed warm enough. This is a great idea you have. When living in S. can new heating system was installed in a home I lived in it had huge coils that traveled through the attic capturing warm air and it was brought down into the low vents along our floor. It was much more efficient and the heating bill was much less.
Nice job ! I made mine out of coke cans, but they are probably about the same as far as heat transfer. Teaching others what we know is its own reward :)
It's the same premise as a solar oven: it's the sunlight that is key. Preppernurse1 uses store bought solar bank batteries. Prepperhomestead has a vid on making a solar oven out of a silver sunvisor & a bucket. 🙏
I used some discarded black rain pipes for mine, works a treat. The outlet is aimed at my feet in my office at home. Works really well and don't cost a dime to run YIPEEE!!!
Really enjoyed this video. I made a gigantic heater like this last year on my patio as an experiment using 3" pvc I had. Then tore it down in summer. It worked. Too ugly wasn't portable. Been wondering what to do with empty cat food cans. Suggest foam insullation and tar, roofing paper for the back.Whatever. Very good project.
I would suggest having the fan mounted external with a tube going into the unit because heat destroys electronics over time. Having it external means you can replace it without opening the unit up again so you can leave it alone forever. You should paint the exterior white to remove heat where you don't want it, and then have a aluminum car window style shutter to cover it when not in use. Handles may also be great because if it's hot and you need to move it you can do so without dropping it and cracking the glass while it's warm and easier to crack.
Awesome idea but some improvements might be to use aluminum cans as they transfer heat much faster than steel and to insulate your exhaust pipe to reduce loss of heat before it enters your home. But thanks for sharing!!!
IMHO I think soda cans would be better for a faster more reactive heat, but steel cans may be better for longer term flatter heat due to more thermal mass. Just my speculation but would certainly be interesting to experiment with
This is a GREAT supplemental heater. With the temps it kicks out on sunny days, you could turn your furnace completely off, reserving it for days when there is no sun.
I have not tried this, but it seems to me the design would be more efficient if each can was loosely filled with steel wool to conduct more heat from the can metal surface into the vent system....just a thought.
on the contrary the steel wool would impede the flow of air. how this works is, the air flows at a continuous rate of flow through the heated cans ( the aluminum cans heat rapidly in the sun) . as the air moves from bottom to top of the manifolds the air is heated up very quickly, that's why it is important not to have any air flow restrictions.
Hi there, Here are the dimensions: the frame is made out of a 9 foot long (1x4) piece of wood. (it's actually 3/4" thick by 3 1/2" wide). cut it into 4 pieces. two of the pieces should be 33 3/4" long. and the other two pieces should be 20 1/4". two of the insulation pieces are 32" long and the other two pieces of insulation are about 19" long. they are only 3 1/4" wide.
Saw a fellow using foam board with one side foil. I only have one good arm so can no longer handle anything heavy-I'm going to try that for a box with the steel cans
I think this is a wonderful ideal. We get cold winters and heat with propane which use to be cheap but like every thing else it's got to high. Our temps run in the 30's daytime most of the time. Keep up the good work. Songsingingman
the "plastic" is just standard window screen. it keeps the bugs out. the cans aren't glued together (just stacked). allows the air to climb from one can to another. i used plexi-glas. it's not smoked. it comes with a protective plastic sheet over it. just peel it off when your ready to use collector. that is 32" by 20". home stores sell thin sheets of wood that they will cut to size for you. i'm not sure what type of wood it is. only thing between insulation pieces and the frame is glue. :)
Great idea! Will try it myself in the future. I think it might be better to use a (black) plastic tube to connect the device with the room because you'll lose less heat with it. And try to isolate it with wool or so. (Don't know if it is understandable, English isn't my native language.) ;)
The ideas in the comments are pretty good. To touch on it, I would keep the same design but build the case 2" larger & deeper and line it with small lava rocks. Basically make lava rock insulated panels for the inside.
You could hook one of these up to a close dyer & cycle the drum using a bicycle for drying clothes or make a clothes dryer setup with an old metal drum, 2x4 frame & a pair of rollers hooked to a pulley system ran by a bicycle or small motor powered by a solar panel & battery. Awesome idea, only issue is it wouldn’t work well in my area as it’s cloudy about 75%+ of the fall/winter/spring, but still great for days when its sunny.
If there was a way of putting a smaller can within each can filled with sand it would capture and radiate more heat and for longer. Just a thought. Cool build. Thanks for sharing.
I think you could replace the steel cans with possible temporary blinds. But this really has some great ideas. You probably could replace glass with poly if you really want to go el cheapo.
i'd paint the cans black to absorb more heat, though apart from that, it looks awesome! thank you for putting this up! did you make more for the other room?
I just did some math for you guys ASSUMING an input air temp of 70 deg f and a 100 cfm actual air flow at the output. and you have a 70 deg f temp rise ( this is what is important) Using standard air weight and temp heat parameters you would get aprox 6500 btu/hr from this unit. A 1000 Sq ft house of new construction and well insulated uses a 65k btu furnace in the midwest (Runs 50 % at 0 deg outside temp. You cannot use the published CFM of the fan because the flow is restricted. If you had a manometer on the output tube you could figgure out the actual flow of the air. The unit should get its air from the house and the input and the output pipes should be as short as possibe and be innsulated In a cold climate they will loose more heat than they can pickup from the sun. The thicker the insulation on the box the better it will work. Putting a sheet of aluminum or foil on the back wall on the inside will help the efeciency of the unit. Painting it black will raise the air temp in the space of the box. The heat collection tubes should have an airspace from the glass front and not be touching the back wall unless it can be made to conduct additional heat from it.
It's 10 degrees outside... sun is shining though. I'm sure you turn it off at night.. it was -4 this morning... So you'd probably still need heat for night time.. I'll give this a try.. only a few dollars spent... No loss if it don't work...
I thought of making the same kind of box to help heat my shop, but 4 or 5 feet by 8 feet. Before I poured the concrete floor, I ran 4 inch pvc drain pipe down from inside, then under the wall, and then up about 2 feet outside. I made 2 sets: Intake from outside, and return air supply from inside to my solar heater. But I never did this. Rather than pulling cold outside air into the box, I wanted inside air to blow into the box. And I planned to put the fan inside the shop blowing out into the return line so the motor wouldn't get over-heated from the incoming hot air. Glad to see that he painted the cans black to absorb sunlight, and convert it from light energy to heat energy.
+Mrgruffy44 How is your model working? I'm designing a garage/shop and would like to do something similar. It has to be more efficient to re-heat the interior air than start with the already very cold exterior air.
Great Idea You might consider instead of using a battery operated fan; a passive induction/inward direction rotating fan coupled/"backed" with an opposite driving air forward fan; thus the air drawn in by the heat built up in the box, is then driven with increased force into the box which also serves to draw air faster into the box: Instead of steel cans using matt black painted aluminium cans as they heat up and conduct heat quicker; also using/filling the inside of the aluminium cans those (old used) stainless steel pan scourers which the heated air will easily pass through, better still give them a spray of matt black (NON-TOXIC WHEN HEATED) matt black paint as well, this will increase the amount of heat contained in the box and so being driven through the box. Cheers great video well presented.
perfect for southern california frosts, it's getting way colder than last few years and much earlier. Not as bad as the rest of the country, but with all the sunlight we get this little heater would be perfect and cheap.
Thanks again...I know it's too late to list the dimensions on this vid but I was thinking about future projects. This a great project for me...looks like fun..William
This is a great, great video however I have 2 small questions/suggestions. 1. If the cans are like a radiator is in a car, do you think using an old radiator in lieu of the cans would be a good idea? 2. What do u think would happen if you ran a metal pipe of some (brass/steel) thru them in a snake type way? And maybe put water in the piping (of course then it would have to be sealed with a coupler or something)? Do u think that would produce more heat for a longer period?
I've done one exactly like that it works perfectly during the day but it always stop working at night time. I still have not been able to figure out the problem.
HI!! I love energy DIY projects. One question. If I understand correctly your cans are hollow? If I am correct I have a suggestion, fill them with sand. This will heat a mass that can allow for heating even when the sun has left us for the day. Adding a solar charger and some batteries for the fan and you might be able to get enough to heat a room 24/7 with the right size!! Awesome build and thanks for sharing!
Yes true. However, I would think that someone who can come up with something as cool as this, could easily find a way to incorporate a mass to heat. Maybe instead of passing air through the cans, pass the air around. Heating dense mass has been used for centuries and still to this day. A simple Google search on thermal mass heaters can teach much more than I can. Some simple thought and redesign would pay dividends my friend...
peter, you are 100% correct. In this current configuration air would not flow through the cans if they were filled with sand.My comment was intende for people to think about incorporating a dense heavy material into their solar projects such as these. If you must have the air to flow through the cans, then the mass can be elsewhere. Wherever it may be, it has long been known that dense material will be slow to heat up.... but also slow to let go of heat gained therefore making it a storage medium. Water, sand, rocks, concrete basement floors, all with the correct design can allow for not just immediate heat, but for the storage of heat and release heat when there is no sunlight left for the day. Surely we could come up with something like that right?
Bob Hanker What about wrapping the cans with copper tubing and then filling it with water? As the sun hits it, it'll warm up the water in the tubing, which should not only further heat the air flowing thru the cans, but also retain heat after the sun goes down.
Hi Jeffrey. Yes that is an idea, the only concern I have with water is its expansion rate. In the project like the one in this clip, I would go with a solid medium like sand to avoid water damage. There are some really great projects on TH-cam where ppl use water solar collectors in conjunction with a storage tank to heat their domestic water, and run pex throughout their home for heating. that is awesome, but much more expensive, I seriously think this project would be an economical and easy project that could provide extended heat if improved on. No disrespect to the poster since he spent time making it and posting for all to see his work, and I am thankful for that, but we can always improve right? Otherwise we would still be driving model T Fords :)
What was outside temp to achieve that 140*F? If you use that in winter, you might be bringing in more cold air that hot unless it sucks the air from within your house.
What about putting smaller cans inside of the bigger cans? you would still be able to let air flow through. also adding maybe a second computer fan? would glass rocks (like lava rocks etc) be a good object to add inside the cans? I love this idea! Thank you OP! Trying to add on to your design here.
Apparently it's easier, faster, cheaper and more efficient to use metal bug screen material instead of cans. Makes sense to, thinner metal means more surface area. Nice build anyhow!
I made a small one using this idea 6x6 cans, hung it flat against a big double glazed window indoors so worm air 16c - 60.8F gets drawn in at the bottom and at the top of the cans it can hit 55c/ 60c 130F no fan just convection i've still to test with a fan. I've since seen a test video with sheet metal Roofing and cans side by side getting the same 60c - 130F ive got plenty of roofing it would have been 90% quicker to build, if outside you have to insulate it all, have a worm intake and block it off at night or when it gets cloudy. Minus 20c - 30c here in winter so would have to take great care to super insulate it all if i did that. But so far i'm pleased with the Results.
Hi I am in the process of making one, out of soda cans. I think that instead of making holes in the bottoms of the cans, it is better to equip yourself in a can opener, and simply cut the bottoms off as well (surprisingly, two can openers that I have tried, worked very well on coke cans, too, I was able to remove tops and bottoms with a little practice). These holes you drill don't seem to provide too much of an airflow, methinks.
I made one of these years ago for my home in NH. It worked really well. I didn't use a fan. I just allowed convection. Even in the winter sun, with many feet of snow on the ground, this worked well. The thing is, you've got to put a door on the inside of your inlet/outlet (the part that comes into the room) so that, at night, it doesn't suck all the warm air out of your home. Cheap and easy to make and supplements the fuel bills really well. For sure, make two.
Well done! It's been a month, have you observed a lower power bill? Do you have any "lessons learned" you can share with us? Can I ask you for a "part 2" video to answer these questions??? Thank you for sharing this experience with us!
The fan is an 80mm polar typhoon series case fan ($5 at Fry's electronics). it's powered by a 12VDC 1.8 watt solar panel (or larger). just hook the fan and the solar panel together. (very simple to do, just twist positive leads or the "red wires" together and then twist the negative leads or the "black wires" together.). fan will run whenever sun is hitting the collector/solar panel.
I'd put a layer of aluminum foil down first, then the cardboard- the shiny side towards the cans. It would reflect some of the heat back. A minor improvement on the insulation but worth a consideration. Also: the intake should be from inside the home, that way the intake air will already be reasonably warm, and the output heat will be even higher.
In any case, free heat is always fun.
Great point about taking the air from inside the home. Just make sure it is not placed near Grandmas chair after she has been eating her vegetables!
Congratulations, you are the first person that did not waste time and money putting an inlet fan!!!
nice job
This would make an excellent heater for a greenhouse in winter. Grow fresh vegetables & herbs all year round.
Grandpa the Grey yes that is what i am building mine for, the more cans the bigger the better, i live in the south, and we get a lot of sun in winter so this should work great for me
Just remember it won't always be sunny, plants can die.
that is correct! how the plants will get warmed up during cold nights?
It would save money, but you'd still need some other type of heat and probably artificial light for night time.
coming from a tech/ engineer point of view, I would modify this project to put the fan outside the heat accumulator box to push in the cold air rather than to suck hot air out of the box as this would lend toward longer fan life, no fan overheating and low failure rate. I would accomplish this by mounting the fan inside on the bottom to intake cold air and then locate the side board with the seven 1 inch hloes about 4 inches into the box to form an air plenum. I would maintain the air duct and outlet the same as depicted, so all we're talking about here is one extra board and one extra hole for mounting the fan. Just a suggestion. Be sure to allow for placement of a small air filter over the fan hole to minimize accumulation of dust and dirt on the inside of the box and fan assembly. :) One final note (not that it would make a large difference on a small project), according to a study on Solar Heaters conducted by Penn State U many years ago, paint color makes a difference on the effeciency. They found that dark green works best ... so it's no accident that Mother Nature foliates the trees and shrubs with green leaves for photosynthesis rather than black leaves.
I like the idea of using "tin" cans yet aluminum will heat up faster than steel. Since I live in NE Ohio we don't get enough consistent sun. I made three collectors and a solar pool heater some worker better than others. I will look for some feedback as to how well your design works thru the heating season. Keep us informed!
I'm using an old sliding glass door to build mine. Still saving up cans, but next winter this baby is getting put to work. Nice video.
A few suggestions:
1) paint the dryer ducting black, as well; it will absorb additional heat. Also, cover the duct with insulation once it enters the structure. That will retain more of the heat along the length not exposed to the sun.
2) simply drilling holes in the bottom of the cans results in a lot of baffling between units. Better would be to use cans with crimped tops and bottoms; completely remove the top and bottom from each can; and join them using metallic duct tape
3) as someone else suggested, use aluminum cans or ducting inside the box. It will heat faster and conduct heat more efficiently.
How long is the run from box to room?
Have you measured the efficiency and heating when the outside, ambient temperature is close to freezing?
Nice DIY instructions; somewhat lacking in empirical data to interpret the results.
This just might help me survive the winter, Thank you for your instructions
Nice job and it is something that those less confident or precise can still get a decent result out of. I would have like to have seen you weather proof it a bit more though and perhaps let us know what it can produce heat wise in cold but bright weather or even cold and cloudy weather. Also how large a room could that keep warm with that size panel?
love innovators like this guy
Great video, it seems when it comes to these units everyone has their own ideas... Great to see everyone sharing.
My idea would be to use black anodized aluminum heatsink (the kind used for electronics) and a glass pane with an array of small fresnel lenses.... wonder if it's been tried before?
Hey, insulating is a good idea. I figure that it will also allow for the expansion and contraction of the cans. Had you put they tight inside the frame, it may have warped the frame. Good form!
Awesome! Wish I had one (or 3) of these when my furnace went out a few years ago. We had been out shoveling our driveway and walkways for 3 1/2 hours after a blizzard. Of course it was on the Coldest day of the year! Gotta love those Michigan winters....lol
Hey it would be great if you could make the instructions in a downloadable pdf. I would make one with an on/off switch. This would be a great back up for power outages too. TFS!
Perfect for my out-in the- back garden home workshop, Cheers.
Think it would work in a green house? Or be too hot?
This is awesome, I think also you need a new drill bit ;)
I think it's the drill
It was spinning backwards...
When my furnace stopped for a week last winter I used crock pots full of water without lids and a food dehydrator for a week while the part came in. No pipes froze in Utah and the living area and kitchen stayed warm enough. This is a great idea you have. When living in S. can new heating system was installed in a home I lived in it had huge coils that traveled through the attic capturing warm air and it was brought down into the low vents along our floor. It was much more efficient and the heating bill was much less.
hi. neat idea using the heat in the attic ✔
Perfect temp for making a jerky dehydrator.
Awesome idea - during the winter, if the power goes out, having one or more of these can certainly make the family more comfortable.
Nice job ! I made mine out of coke cans, but they are probably about the same as far as heat transfer. Teaching others what we know is its own reward :)
Great idea on some alternative heat for those cold months.
Survival On Purpose Why would you need heat on summer days when the sun is that strong?
hah. I definitely don't need any heat right now ;-) But solar rays work in the winter too.
+Survival On Purpose It will not work here in Alberta, you wont see the sun Here during winter..
Not at all?
...it hits minus 35 where I live, and even when sunny....I suspect this would not be too effective.
So.... what was the outside temp when you tested this???
259 Fahrenheit.
@Tristan Arnold And cloudy.
It's the same premise as a solar oven: it's the sunlight that is key. Preppernurse1 uses store bought solar bank batteries. Prepperhomestead has a vid on making a solar oven out of a silver sunvisor & a bucket. 🙏
@@JR-zm2yu check old popular mechanics and science 1940..1960 there alot of stuff like this something simular idea for water heater
@@miguelcastaneda7236 THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY AND TIP!! I'LL CK IT OUT. 👍👍🙏
I used some discarded black rain pipes for mine, works a treat. The outlet is aimed at my feet in my office at home. Works really well and don't cost a dime to run YIPEEE!!!
Hey how did it work in the winter ?
This was my thought as well. If it is cold outside, I would think the cans would not conduct heat as well.
Really enjoyed this video. I made a gigantic heater like this last year on my patio as an experiment using 3" pvc I had. Then tore it down in summer. It worked. Too ugly wasn't portable. Been wondering what to do with empty cat food cans. Suggest foam insullation and tar, roofing paper for the back.Whatever. Very good project.
I would suggest having the fan mounted external with a tube going into the unit because heat destroys electronics over time. Having it external means you can replace it without opening the unit up again so you can leave it alone forever. You should paint the exterior white to remove heat where you don't want it, and then have a aluminum car window style shutter to cover it when not in use. Handles may also be great because if it's hot and you need to move it you can do so without dropping it and cracking the glass while it's warm and easier to crack.
Awesome idea but some improvements might be to use aluminum cans as they transfer heat much faster than steel and to insulate your exhaust pipe to reduce loss of heat before it enters your home. But thanks for sharing!!!
your so smart
IMHO I think soda cans would be better for a faster more reactive heat, but steel cans may be better for longer term flatter heat due to more thermal mass. Just my speculation but would certainly be interesting to experiment with
Jerry Pierce you're *
fill the cans up with small river rocks, they retain lots of heat...
or steal wool
+Andrew De Freitas good idea
good idea
or break up some fire bricks
Bad idea. It breaks the design which is that it runs off of the airlflow through the cans.
This is a GREAT supplemental heater. With the temps it kicks out on sunny days, you could turn your furnace completely off, reserving it for days when there is no sun.
I have not tried this, but it seems to me the design would be more efficient if each can was loosely filled with steel wool to conduct more heat from the can metal surface into the vent system....just a thought.
on the contrary the steel wool would impede the flow of air. how this works is, the air flows at a continuous rate of flow through the heated cans ( the aluminum cans heat rapidly in the sun) . as the air moves from bottom to top of the manifolds the air is heated up very quickly, that's why it is important not to have any air flow restrictions.
Robin Goodfellow Now there's an interesting thought! Would be interesting to see a comparison.
It’d take twice the fan
Never would have thought to use a J-box cover to mount a dryer hose to. Good thought!
Awesome. This is the kind of things our children need to be Taught
you bet. i agree 👍
Hi there, Here are the dimensions: the frame is made out of a 9 foot long (1x4) piece of wood. (it's actually 3/4" thick by 3 1/2" wide). cut it into 4 pieces. two of the pieces should be 33 3/4" long. and the other two pieces should be 20 1/4". two of the insulation pieces are 32" long and the other two pieces of insulation are about 19" long. they are only 3 1/4" wide.
Saw a fellow using foam board with one side foil. I only have one good arm so can no longer handle anything heavy-I'm going to try that for a box with the steel cans
I think this is a wonderful ideal. We get cold winters and heat with propane which use to be cheap but like every thing else it's got to high. Our temps run in the 30's daytime most of the time. Keep up the good work.
Songsingingman
the "plastic" is just standard window screen. it keeps the bugs out. the cans aren't glued together (just stacked). allows the air to climb from one can to another. i used plexi-glas. it's not smoked. it comes with a protective plastic sheet over it. just peel it off when your ready to use collector. that is 32" by 20". home stores sell thin sheets of wood that they will cut to size for you. i'm not sure what type of wood it is. only thing between insulation pieces and the frame is glue. :)
Danke für die Bauanleitung und vor allem die Idee. Super...
Great idea! Will try it myself in the future.
I think it might be better to use a (black) plastic tube to connect the device with the room because you'll lose less heat with it. And try to isolate it with wool or so. (Don't know if it is understandable, English isn't my native language.) ;)
plastic contracts at some temps though. may insulate some aluminium dryer duct
thanks, it was a fun build
Would it be better if you cycle the air from inside instead of out side to inside the house?
Love that old ass black and decker drill. Dad had one forever
Do you have information on how the heater would work in 0 F weather?
The ideas in the comments are pretty good. To touch on it, I would keep the same design but build the case 2" larger & deeper and line it with small lava rocks. Basically make lava rock insulated panels for the inside.
@desertsun02 what was the outside temp when you measure the 140 out? Or at least what was net temp gain?
You could hook one of these up to a close dyer & cycle the drum using a bicycle for drying clothes or make a clothes dryer setup with an old metal drum, 2x4 frame & a pair of rollers hooked to a pulley system ran by a bicycle or small motor powered by a solar panel & battery. Awesome idea, only issue is it wouldn’t work well in my area as it’s cloudy about 75%+ of the fall/winter/spring, but still great for days when its sunny.
Jefferdaughter Do you iron your clothes, then? I find that the only downside to hanging.
Paint the cans black with high temp paint for bbq's. Good job bro!
GREAT science project for our kids. Having fun Building 🏫😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
If there was a way of putting a smaller can within each can filled with sand it would capture and radiate more heat and for longer. Just a thought. Cool build. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Cain , for how long have you hated your very own brother ?
+bRad “bRadicalMagic” Nichols slow clap for the allusion
Funny Guy
Thanks for the video and info. Gonna make one to use as a tent heater for late fall- early spring camping-hunting trips. great info
I just Love your videos ..quite inspiring
And well explained.
Thank you for all the super ideas.
On my to-do list!
Nice Harbor Freight Tool drill!
This would be fantastic for my BF's man cave out back. Great work!
Hi thank you very much for the amazing video. What was the temperature when you measured 140 F?
That is cool & creative heat source.
I think you could replace the steel cans with possible temporary blinds. But this really has some great ideas. You probably could replace glass with poly if you really want to go el cheapo.
Air heater and water heater too... I'm collecting soda cans to do this and I already fill half of the box frame that I made.. cant wait..
i'd paint the cans black to absorb more heat, though apart from that, it looks awesome! thank you for putting this up!
did you make more for the other room?
Would there be a problem if you just cut the top and bottoms out of the cans with a can opener instead of drilling all of those holes?
I just did some math for you guys ASSUMING an input air temp of 70 deg f and a 100 cfm actual air flow at the output. and you have a 70 deg f temp rise ( this is what is important) Using standard air weight and temp heat parameters you would get aprox 6500 btu/hr from this unit. A 1000 Sq ft house of new construction and well insulated uses a 65k btu furnace in the midwest (Runs 50 % at 0 deg outside temp. You cannot use the published CFM of the fan because the flow is restricted. If you had a manometer on the output tube you could figgure out the actual flow of the air. The unit should get its air from the house and the input and the output pipes should be as short as possibe and be innsulated In a cold climate they will loose more heat than they can pickup from the sun. The thicker the insulation on the box the better it will work. Putting a sheet of aluminum or foil on the back wall on the inside will help the efeciency of the unit. Painting it black will raise the air temp in the space of the box.
The heat collection tubes should have an airspace from the glass front and not be touching the back wall unless it can be made to conduct additional heat from it.
Good video & walk through, thanks for uploading.
It's 10 degrees outside... sun is shining though. I'm sure you turn it off at night.. it was -4 this morning... So you'd probably still need heat for night time.. I'll give this a try.. only a few dollars spent... No loss if it don't work...
How'd it go?
I thought of making the same kind of box to help heat my shop, but 4 or 5 feet by 8 feet. Before I poured the concrete floor, I ran 4 inch pvc drain pipe down from inside, then under the wall, and then up about 2 feet outside. I made 2 sets: Intake from outside, and return air supply from inside to my solar heater. But I never did this. Rather than pulling cold outside air into the box, I wanted inside air to blow into the box. And I planned to put the fan inside the shop blowing out into the return line so the motor wouldn't get over-heated from the incoming hot air. Glad to see that he painted the cans black to absorb sunlight, and convert it from light energy to heat energy.
+Mrgruffy44 How is your model working? I'm designing a garage/shop and would like to do something similar. It has to be more efficient to re-heat the interior air than start with the already very cold exterior air.
Great Idea
You might consider instead of using a battery operated fan; a passive induction/inward direction rotating fan coupled/"backed" with an opposite driving air forward fan; thus the air drawn in by the heat built up in the box, is then driven with increased force into the box which also serves to draw air faster into the box: Instead of steel cans using matt black painted aluminium cans as they heat up and conduct heat quicker; also using/filling the inside of the aluminium cans those (old used) stainless steel pan scourers which the heated air will easily pass through, better still give them a spray of matt black (NON-TOXIC WHEN HEATED) matt black paint as well, this will increase the amount of heat contained in the box and so being driven through the box.
Cheers great video well presented.
Great idea
thanks 👍
Nice job
Nice job! Looks great! Thanks for sharing
Thanks a lot. One of the best tutorials I've seen. You're AWESOME!!! B Well
Keep up the good work!
Thanks, will do 🙂
Not sure how I got to your channel but I'm glad I did. You've got some very interesting videos. Subscribed!
wow incredible project..thanks for sharing!
perfect for southern california frosts, it's getting way colder than last few years and much earlier. Not as bad as the rest of the country, but with all the sunlight we get this little heater would be perfect and cheap.
Money saver. Thx
Thanks again...I know it's too late to list the dimensions on this vid but I was thinking about future projects. This a great project for me...looks like fun..William
Very clever
This is a great, great video however I have 2 small questions/suggestions.
1. If the cans are like a radiator is in a car, do you think using an old radiator in lieu of the cans would be a good idea?
2. What do u think would happen if you ran a metal pipe of some (brass/steel) thru them in a snake type way? And maybe put water in the piping (of course then it would have to be sealed with a coupler or something)?
Do u think that would produce more heat for a longer period?
If I used one of them emergency thermal blankets as insulation would it increase the heat ?..top idea ! Thanks for sharing
I forgot about this type of heater.....thanks
Well done! What a great idea. Thank you.
good video
I've done one exactly like that it works perfectly during the day but it always stop working at night time. I still have not been able to figure out the problem.
:) because the light rays from Moon are not enough to heat that cans! :)))))
No sun at night to heat it
this video is awesome one question where do you conect the fan to ....
9volt battery or flashlight battery would work or you could use any car battery
Wish I knew about this forever ago, now to get my kid to help (or do) build it.
Awesome
WOW thank you!!!
HI!! I love energy DIY projects. One question. If I understand correctly your cans are hollow? If I am correct I have a suggestion, fill them with sand. This will heat a mass that can allow for heating even when the sun has left us for the day. Adding a solar charger and some batteries for the fan and you might be able to get enough to heat a room 24/7 with the right size!! Awesome build and thanks for sharing!
That would also plug the airflow, which has to go through the cans...inlet at the bottom.
Yes true. However, I would think that someone who can come up with something as cool as this, could easily find a way to incorporate a mass to heat. Maybe instead of passing air through the cans, pass the air around. Heating dense mass has been used for centuries and still to this day. A simple Google search on thermal mass heaters can teach much more than I can. Some simple thought and redesign would pay dividends my friend...
peter, you are 100% correct. In this current configuration air would not flow through the cans if they were filled with sand.My comment was intende for people to think about incorporating a dense heavy material into their solar projects such as these. If you must have the air to flow through the cans, then the mass can be elsewhere. Wherever it may be, it has long been known that dense material will be slow to heat up.... but also slow to let go of heat gained therefore making it a storage medium. Water, sand, rocks, concrete basement floors, all with the correct design can allow for not just immediate heat, but for the storage of heat and release heat when there is no sunlight left for the day. Surely we could come up with something like that right?
Bob Hanker What about wrapping the cans with copper tubing and then filling it with water? As the sun hits it, it'll warm up the water in the tubing, which should not only further heat the air flowing thru the cans, but also retain heat after the sun goes down.
Hi Jeffrey. Yes that is an idea, the only concern I have with water is its expansion rate. In the project like the one in this clip, I would go with a solid medium like sand to avoid water damage. There are some really great projects on TH-cam where ppl use water solar collectors in conjunction with a storage tank to heat their domestic water, and run pex throughout their home for heating. that is awesome, but much more expensive, I seriously think this project would be an economical and easy project that could provide extended heat if improved on. No disrespect to the poster since he spent time making it and posting for all to see his work, and I am thankful for that, but we can always improve right? Otherwise we would still be driving model T Fords :)
Cool idea going to use it to tie in to window a/c with fan setting.
This would work really well in a winter time green house... I wonder if I could use this in my sun room all winter.....
hi. i've had many people say they've used them for a greenhouse ✔
What was outside temp to achieve that 140*F? If you use that in winter, you might be bringing in more cold air that hot unless it sucks the air from within your house.
What about putting smaller cans inside of the bigger cans? you would still be able to let air flow through. also adding maybe a second computer fan? would glass rocks (like lava rocks etc) be a good object to add inside the cans? I love this idea! Thank you OP!
Trying to add on to your design here.
I like. Specially soler systems info.
great. Greetings from Taiwan.
I have to of this and it works really great for air heater and water heater too..
Wow. This is awesome.
Apparently it's easier, faster, cheaper and more efficient to use metal bug screen material instead of cans. Makes sense to, thinner metal means more surface area. Nice build anyhow!
I made a small one using this idea 6x6 cans, hung it flat against a big double glazed window indoors so worm air 16c - 60.8F gets drawn in at the bottom and at the top of the cans it can hit 55c/ 60c 130F no fan just convection i've still to test with a fan.
I've since seen a test video with sheet metal Roofing and cans side by side getting the same 60c - 130F ive got plenty of roofing it would have been 90% quicker to build, if outside you have to insulate it all, have a worm intake and block it off at night or when it gets cloudy. Minus 20c - 30c here in winter so would have to take great care to super insulate it all if i did that.
But so far i'm pleased with the Results.
great video
Hi I am in the process of making one, out of soda cans. I think that instead of making holes in the bottoms of the cans, it is better to equip yourself in a can opener, and simply cut the bottoms off as well (surprisingly, two can openers that I have tried, worked very well on coke cans, too, I was able to remove tops and bottoms with a little practice). These holes you drill don't seem to provide too much of an airflow, methinks.