Electric heater

[Jude]

anyone know a site for how to make an electric heater, preferably powered by solar energy? any help is appreciated

[Pawn Power]

Well, I think to get electricity from solar power one would need solar cells which convert light energy into electricity. These are rather expensive.

However, if you just want heat from solar power there are a number of ways you could go about it. One way is to get platic tubing and attach it to a piece of ply wood running it up and down in a way to get as much surface area of the tubing as possible on the wood. Then you need to either to paint the tubes black or cover them in black tar paper (better to absorbe sun light). You would want to put this contraption somewhere that it can be exposed to as much sun light as possible (probably your roof). The tubing can then be be run into the house and either used as radiant heating (under the floor) or perhaps through hot water radiators. Get the idea?

This would be some work and I don't if this would be that effective for heating but I heard it works well for hot water for showers, sinks, etc.

[Jude]

what about using electricity to heat up some kind of coil? like a toaster does... but to heat a room

i found nothing like this on the internet, but maybe i just wasn't looking right

[Pawn Power]

Originally posted by [email protected] 05, 2007 12:44 pm
what about using electricity to heat up some kind of coil? like a toaster does... but to heat a room

i found nothing like this on the internet, but maybe i just wasn't looking right
Again, how do you get electricity to heat up a wire coil from light energy?

Sun light can hear up water which can be used to run a coil of hot pipe but that does not involve electrical power.

[Jude]

Again, how do you get electricity to heat up a wire coil from light energy?

Umm... people do it all the time with solar panels.

light, heat, pressure and magnetic force can all be converted into electric energy. Solar panels is one way to convert light energy to electric energy.

I just need to know a way to create a source of heat for those in the northern, cold areas of the US and Canada that doesn't involve huge gas or electric bills to Uncle Sam.

[lvleph]

I think making a solar electric heater would be a waste, because you could just make a solar heater. Now if you are looking to run an electric heater from battery power, which is charged by the sun... That is a different story.

An electric heater is just a collection of wires, in which electricity is run through and it causes heat. I would say the best way to make an electric heater would be to scavenge toasters. Each toaster has 2 heating elements that can be connected together in series. You could connect a few toasters together to produce a larger heating element. The thing that you need to figure out is how much power each heating element needs. I am unsure if a toaster converts the power from your house (AC) to DC power. If then the process of building your battery powered heater is much simpler. Batteries produce DC power, so you don't need to convert to AC. If the toaster uses AC power, then you are going to have to build yourself an DC to AC converter, or scavenge one from some sort of car accessory. When you do all this you have to keep in mind what kind of power you are going to need. And you will have to figure out how much power your battery can supply.

If you have any specific questions, once you have a game plan and more information, I would be glad to help. And then we can post a how to.

[lvleph]

The biggest issue I see, with using solar for heat in the far north, is that during winter there is not much light. But, maybe you are not talking about that far north. In which case, wood gasification, or pellet stoves are a good means of heating ones home. However, if one wants a more environmentally friendly means of heating one's home then solar heaters are a decent way to do that.

The following are good resources.
site 1 (http://www.jrwhipple.com/sr/solheater.html)
site 2 (http://builditsolar.com/)

These type of issues I have done a lot of study one, personally.
Some of my interests in this area are:
Solar Heaters
Solar Water Heaters (http://www.discoversolarenergy.com/DIY/thermal.htm)
Solar Cooking (http://www.sunspot.org.uk/ed/)
Solar Energy
Cob Homes (http://www.daycreek.com/dc/HTML/DC_cob.htm)
Composting Toilets/Latrines (http://www.compostingtoilet.org/)
Composting
Grey Water (http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/)

[Jude]

Lets start from a singular point...

Solar panels (cells) are in high demand, but unfortunately most of the people who need them cannot afford them. Does anyone know a way to construct a solar cell from scratch from (for the most part) easily obtainable and inexpensive materials?

[lvleph]

Good luck on that one. You would be better off making your own wind turbine. You could make a wind belt (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224763.html?series=37). It is really simple, and very cool.

More Specific Info. (http://www.reuk.co.uk/Windbelt-Cheap-Micro-Wind-Generator.htm)

[crimsonzephyr]

Originally posted by [email protected] 07, 2007 12:40 pm
Good luck on that one. You would be better off making your own wind turbine. You could make a wind belt (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224763.html?series=37). It is really simple, and very cool.

More Specific Info. (http://www.reuk.co.uk/Windbelt-Cheap-Micro-Wind-Generator.htm)
is it just me or does that seem a bit uhh...hard?

[Dr Mindbender]

Originally posted by [email protected] 04, 2007 10:31 pm
anyone know a site for how to make an electric heater, preferably powered by solar energy? any help is appreciated
maybe i'm missing something here but if you lived in a climate where a solar powered appliance was actually practical why the fuck would you want an electric heater of all things?

[Jude]

its cold as hell, even when its sunny...