Hot Box

[Onoff]

What with turning the oil off here to conserve it, the house is freezing. Warmer outside in the sun! So I got to thinking....

The house is built on a north / south axis so a bit crap for catching the sun. There can be a 20⁰C difference between the lounge and bathroom on the north end.

Sat here in the lounge and where the sun streams through the patio doors it's quite warm.

I got to thinking about the cheapest of cheap ways of capturing some of that heat and pushing it through the house. The pic below is pretty much south facing. Where the hot tub is used to be "glazed" as a bit of a greenhouse / storage area.

https://flic.kr/p/2nfmeLn

If I reglazed the area with say some freebie patio doors, panels etc off of FB marketplace, painted the walls and floor black and sealed it all up, that area should catch the sun and heat up quite well?

I could then either just open the kitchen window and let the heat in or figure some sort of fan / duct arrangement to take the heat where I want it.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

How about a water heater type solar panel...then pump the liquid to the other side of the house. Like the systems used for pre heating hot water cylinders.

An mvhr could work as they tend to balance temperatures ....but quite expensive and retro fitting can be a hassle.

 

[Onoff]

How about a water heater type solar panel

I do have 3 10 tube solar panels to go up sometime. Not though on that seemingly ideal hip end. Planning one day to change that to a gable. Thinking to build a pergola and put them on that.

It'd be good if I could use that to heat hot water as a priority then the excess for space heating.

 

[jsf55]

My cousins husband installed a simple 4" fan and duct working off a thermostat and ''pumped'' the heat from the ceiling through the attic down into his lounge, it was a bungalow like yours.

 

[rtcosic]

Well established method using a Trombe Wall

The challenge is keeping it cool!

 

[gaz1]

there is a cost no matter which method you choose, what you have to choose is whats the best method that gives you the highest heat gained

and this is where issues stand

solar to air has issues
solar to water also has issues including if you use solar water
solar to electric has costs but it can be changed to heating whilst giving the highest output of heat

then you can go down the battery or heat store

 

[DanZac]

Where the hot tub is used to be "glazed" as a bit of a greenhouse / storage area.

Easiest solution would be to sell the hot tub and use the proceeds to buy some heating oil. That should see you through until it warms up a bit.

 

[Kram]

Fit a wood burner to the house, sign up as a log goblin arb tip site. Get free logs, they will be part seasoned.by winter...
Pay me to reduce your trees and get more sunlight on the house

We cant practically fit a log burner indoors but I have wondered if its possible to fit one outside, similar to the chinese disel heaters - such that cold fresh air is blown through a heat exchanger and into the house, with all of the exhaust staying outside.

 

[gaz1]

im going to give you these youtube reference

this requires closing ports at night and opening them again in the morning
air heating

water heating

the issue with water is it needs a certain mix to not freeze or over heat whilst oil can be heated more it dosnt transfer heat as good as water

solar panel to heating element via sand battery

 

[MattF]

Stop being a wuss & live with it?

 

[OJCar]

I do have 3 10 tube solar panels to go up sometime. Not though on that seemingly ideal hip end. Planning one day to change that to a gable. Thinking to build a pergola and put them on that.

It'd be good if I could use that to heat hot water as a priority then the excess for space heating.

You also have the solar water control stuff, I fetched for you xxx years ago.

Even if you mount the tubes on a frame at ground level.
Bang that stuff together to heat a hot water tank located in the cold part of the house.
Hot water tank gives off heat if not well insulated and can provide
<drum roll>
hot water not heated by oil boiler or immersion heater!

Possible Improvements?
If the water tank goes above nnC a pump kicks in to circulate around some radiators.
Use the solar heated water as pre-heated water thro the oil boiler to reduce the amount of oil burnt to heat the radiators.

 

[addjunkie]

Emigrate somewhere warmer…I hear there are some good buys to be gad in the middle east!

 

[DanZac]

If you buy a container load of thermos flasks from somewhere hot. Then they should still be full of hot air when they get here.

Then it'll just be a case of opening them up to let the hot air out where you need it.

Once used simply send them back for a refill.

If you need any other helpful tips or ideas just shout.

 

[Onoff]

You also have the solar water control stuff, I fetched for you xxx years ago.

July 2022 to be exact...

 

[northwest]

How about a water heater type solar panel...then pump the liquid to the other side of the house. Like the systems used for pre heating hot water cylinders.

Many years ago (thirty or so at least) I knew a guy who made his own panels, a couple surplus patio doors some 4" x 2" and a couple copper water cylinders a LOT of bars of solder, 15mm copper pipe a sackfull of fittings and set to one week and made his own panels. I have to confess I was a bit sceptical but he made them up and made a decent job of soldering all the pipe to the rolled out and flattened copper cylinders. He then thought through the layout to forgo any sort of pump and the system was amazing, I was really impressed with it and a convert from that day.
My new place will absolutely have a few solar panels like this and electricity generating panels, mostly for my comfort in the workshop.

 

[Onoff]

Many years ago (thirty or so at least) I knew a guy who made his own panels

Been there and done it on a small scale with a 2'x2' panel made entirely from scrap materials. Absolutely stunning results. Quite genuinely I posted on a sadly now defunct US solar forum and they coined an acronym for it. Seems I achieved something unique with what I dreamt up.

I was getting something like 50⁰C above ambient.

https://flic.kr/p/RFvmd2

Meant to scale it up but of course me being me never did.

Then someone offered me 3 "proper" 10 tube panels, then I got bored and never pursued either...

 

[OJCar]

Many years ago (thirty or so at least) I knew a guy who made his own panels,

In 1984 I met a chap called Stan, who lived at Helsby, quite a character.
He had made solar water panels and plumbed them into his house's water system.
In summer his three sons could each get a shower from the hot water it produced.

When we got the house we have in Scotland, the main roof is due south.
I wanted to fit a solar water set up,
but then the amount of fees (Planing Permission, Feu Superior Permission & Building Control ) ... I gave up.
(Rules have changed now but it is too late for me to bother with that house).

Hopefully we will manage to have solar H\W and Power at the next house.

@Onoff How about Heat Recovery in your house?
Some flue piping from near the ceiling in the hot part of the house, fans, outlet of the flue low down in the cold part.
Computer fans? Lightweight Duct? as a try out?

 

[Onoff]

@Onoff How about Heat Recovery in your house?

There is no "hot part" in the house during a cold but sunny winter's day. Just a patch of floor extending about a metre into the lounge, just inside the ancient Everest sliding patio doors.

Heat loss here is insane. There's some suspended floors with air bricks, some single skin solid walls. The dormer extension upstairs is just a 24'x24' plasterboard tent. Wind washing along the long, mainly shaded east and west elevations and short (always in shadow) north face finds any hole in the building fabric and either finds it's way in or drags away escaping heat.

The ideal would be a knock down rebuild, reorientate the house so as on an east west plane, small windows at the rear, big ones facing south. Then cover the now massive south facing roof in PV and ST panels.

You're talking less about heat recovery but heat transfer.

 

[OJCar]

You're talking less about heat recovery but heat transfer.

First check the insurance.
Then...

 

[Blobber]

The ideal would be a knock down rebuild

Sounds like another thread needs starting