Subject: Re: Solar air heaters

From: Tom Rentz <[email-masked]>
Date: 10 Oct 1995 00:24:38 GMT

Another good book 

"Low Cost Solar Heaters for Your Home"  By Tom Rentz, a somewhat 
longwinded quinquagenarian primer on solar energy, 1978, Hawkes 
Publishing, SLC, Utah, describes in laymans terms
how to build your own solar heater. Somewhat outdated, but still has a 
lot of good ideas. Should be able to find at libraries in SLC, and there
are a few thousand copies out there somewhere (currently out of print, 
sorry). 

But yes, Robert quotes some good ideas here. And the rock walls in his 
home are a good heat storage device. Now, try this on a home that does 
not have a south facing wall, or where the sun shines only in a certain 
inconvenient location in the yard. This is more of a challenge, but a 
blower or fan can transport the heated air quite well via an insulated 
air duct. 

Storage, that's another problem. Especially if the house is already 
constructed, and it has no thermal mass to take advantage of. However, 
low cost thermal masses are beneath your feet. A little ingenuity and low 
cost insulation can work here.