I just posted this exact posting on another site’s forum (to save time). Thought people here might have something to say about it too.
I’m particularly curious about thoughts on my idea of sealing an attic space and using that to capture solar heat to reduce furnace demand. One thing, people without experience with metal roofing may not realize is that they shed the snow load, so that means that the metal could frequently receive direct sunlight throughout the winter. (And yes, I understand he conventional and traditional thinking and learned experience regarding attic design and ventilation, moisture, mould, dry rot, etc in attics.)
My other posting - verbatim:
I’ve long thought about building a stand-alone solar furnace / box to heat air and then blow it into our cabin. It would only likely take some of the chill off and provide a higher start temperature when I go out to the cabin but anything would help.
Plus I have a fair bit of space to work with so I can think big (beyond get little 3x5 DIY examples that are common.) I could easily fit in something more like 12’wx8’h or larger, maybe even something looking more like a fence (say 30’w x6’ h) but I’d guess that the costs would quickly become excessive considering the infrequent usage of the cabin.
So has anyone played around with these?
Here’s a good article (below) and YouTube has lots of DIY heaters that all look pretty creative and all seem primed for some simple further improvements.
Build a Simple Solar Air Heater - Renewable Energy - MOTHER EARTH NEWS
I’m a retired aircraft engineer, but you don’t need a similar background to tackle this project. In fact, a solar air heater built into new construction or added to an existing building can be an easy and inexpensive heating solution. Following the simple principles and plan outlined here, you can heat your workshop, barn or even your home with free heat from the sun. If it works here in Bozeman, Mont., it’s bound to work wherever you are.
https://www.motherearthnews.com/rene...r-zmaz06djzraw
The best thing about wall mounted heaters is one, it could be designed to also increase or decrease wall temp and therefore alter both winter and summer temperatures in the building.
Also:
MY ATTIC RE-THINK - SOLAR ATTIC HEATER:
For another thread, or maybe this one, would be a discussion of my thought to turning a conventional ventilated attic into a sealed attic cavity as in a typical gable ended cabin to passively heat a cabin, garage, etc. Add lots of insulation and run piping in it like one goes with fluid heated flooring and circulate it down into the living space. . Adding metal roofing to a our cabin and garage got me to rethinking that attic, but unfortunately I added whirley birds to our cabin when the metal went on.
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