Cheap and Easy Solar Heater

Converting electricity into heat is one of the most expensive uses of energy. If you’re not convinced, look at the power usage of electric appliances like microwaves, space heaters, water heaters, ovens, or coffee pots. The difference can be seen between your electric bill from a cold month, when you have to continually run your central heating, and during summer months, when the ambient temperature does not need to be heated.
If you live off-grid, you tend to be far more aware of what it takes to create electricity; you can literally watch your batteries’ voltage drop lower and lower when using an inefficient appliance. However, if you are tied into the grid, you should almost be extra vigilant as regards your power usage. Not only do you have to pay for it each month, but also the power plants that produce your electricity are rarely sustainable or environmentally conscious.
When considering the issue of heat, there are several green options, the best of which is the sun. Solar thermal energy can be harnessed in many ways to heat your water, food, or home. For the purpose of this article, we will be concentrating on an active thermal space heater to heat a room or

Beer Can Solar Space Heater

I saw a smaller version of this instructable a while back: here. At the time I was volunteering with a local animal rescue center. We had just installed a new 20' x 40' wooden barn as an indoor recreational area for the animals, but as the shelter was off grid there was difficulty heating such a large space. I decided to upscale the idea and see if it would work for us.
For this instructable you will need:

Battery operated heater

Description.
Here is a simple heater circuit that can be operated from a 12V battery. The first part of the circuit is an astable multivibrator build around the two transistors Q1 and Q2 .The ON time of transistor Q2 is set to 0.5 S. The ON time of transistor Q1 can be varied by using the POT R2.The output pulses at the collector of Q2 is used to drive the Darlington power transistor Q3(TIP122).The transistor Q3 drives the heating elements L1 to L3.The net heat produced can be varied by  selecting the desired combination of heating elements at the output circuit sing switches S1 and S2.The net heat can be also varied by varying the duty cycle of the triggering pulse using POT R2.

Circuit diagram with Parts list.

Batch Solar Water Heater

Aim: To build a solar batch water heater using some old materials and some new. The idea behind this heater is to use as many old materials as possible, keeping them out of landfills and to use new materials as efficiently as possible. For this reason the box has been designed to use exactly two sheets of plywood without any waste. This also gives the box a trapezoid shape, making it stronger and angling the sides to reflect light onto the bottom of the tank. This was a lucky accidental feature;-)
I think this is a very simple design most people are capable of making with fairly basic tools, cheaply and without advanced carpentry skills. it is a effective heater - I have seen the water on top reach 150F on a hot spring day.
I have built a few of these and am still working on improving the design. I will log in and update this as I have more pictures and info. If these are not completely clear directions, well, this is my first instructable, so it will only

How To Build A Homemade Water Heater

 

I will show you how to build a cheap and easy water heater to use for camping, hunting cabins, or anywhere that hot water isn't readily available.  I have also include pictures of my finished product.  I travel a lot in my motor home and don't like using LP Gas so I tinkered with some materials and came up with this.  All in-home water heaters use a lot of energy but the one I built uses less than 1200 watts (10 amps).   I wouldn't recommend using this in a house unless you modify the directions as standard houses use water pressure (town water or well).  When I camp out, I take a 1500 watt power inverter and hook to my car battery to heat my water.  I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a shower tent and used cpvc to run into tent and put a valve and a shower head on and it's ready to go.

40w 12v peltier air heater - energy efficient

In this i had used the heating effect of peltier .. many of us have knowledge about the electronic device peltier. it is basically made by the P-N juctions inside which makes the temprature difference when electricity is passed through it.
i had used TEC1-12706 which have 127 PN couples in it and can withstand till 6A current..
configuration of 12706 peltier are used nicely to produce freezing point temprature becoz of temprature difference it produce .


sorry for nazi english ...

DIY Solar Air Heater Boxes

You can build a well sized solar air box that will help heat your house for around a hundred dollars or so depending on the materials you have at hand. It's not complicated but you will need basic construction skills and some time to work through the job.

Step 1: Size the Box

The first thing to do is figure out where you want to place the box or boxes you build. I have found out that bigger is better when it comes to solar air heater boxes.

Find the best and biggest not shaded south facing area you can.

Prepare whatever

Air Cooler/Heater

Too hot or too cold? Make it just right (and make Goldilocks proud) by building this dual-purpose device.

Down here in Arizona, we've got some pretty hot summers, at around 120 degrees. And inside, it gets up to about 88, which is a bit hot for my taste, especially when I've got my computer on- then it's even worse.
Or, if you live somewhere cold and wish your room was warmer at night, just flip a switch and your wish will be granted with this air cooling and heating machine.

And it's cool looking too!

Step 1: Materials

Oh man. This project requires a bunch of stuff, but you probably have most of them lying around from old broken things.
You do keep old things you don't use any more in a parts closet, right? Good.

-2 80mm computer case fans: I used one of a normal thickness and one half-sized one with more blades. You'll see why later.
-A transformer: I got mine from an old speaker set that I converted to run on batteries. It steps

DIY 50 cent Water Heater

I live in a rural area outside Bangalore, where I see people struggling to boil water daily for bathing. People are cutting a lot of trees in order to get wood, this is also very time consuming for the family and generates a lot of harmful smoke in homes. An electric heater costs more than 400 rupees, which isn't affordable. Hence, I made this $0.5 water heater which boil the water very quickly, and is pollution free.

Step 1: Take all the components

Materials:

"The Solar Baby" Solar Oven, cooker

       Another Solar Oven made mostly of recycled material. It is gimbled so cooking pot stays level while oven rotates. Lightweight and breaks down into 2 pieces for storage.

Step 1: "Solar Baby" Solar Oven

   The Solar Baby (named by Aunt Phylly) is a small solar oven made of recycled materials. It reaches 325 degrees in the winter Arizona sun. All measurements are determined by the size glass that you find. Tempered glass is recomended as it gets very hot. You can build this bigger, I had one that would cook a whole chicken in 2 hrs.

Step 2:

    For this oven I found an 8x10 picture frame for 99 cents at Goodwill. The wood from a remodel we walked by. Had to buy hinges and latches from a recycle store. 2 big popcorn cans, fiberglass insulation from a construction site. Aluminum paint roller tray grate 1.99 at walmart, metal coat hanger, Alumimum foil. Most of the work was done with a dremel tool and saber saw. 1/2 the outside length determines the radius of the outside dremel cut. another cut 3/4 inch inside for the inside tin. Build the stand 1/2 inch wider than the curved oven. Elmers glue for the aluminum foil ends

Step 3:

   The reflectors are 1/8 plywood set at a 60 degree angle. Beveled edged for a good Gorrilla Glue seam. Glued on aluminum foil. Glued the reflectors to picture frame. Used 2 removable pin hinges and 2 latches between wood picture frame and curved box.

Step 4:

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    The reflectors hinge foward to load the oven and can be removed and stored inverted over the top of the cooker. The pin in the side adjusts the cooker to the sun angle. 305 degrees in January. I used coat hanger wire to suspend a grill cut from the paint roller grill and double nutted them to the pivit bolts so the grill stays level when the reflectors and oven rotate . Hope this helps you get started on a fun and useful project. If you like this project I am entered in the Shopbot contest and would like any votes i can get. Thanks for looking.