It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it sure is cold. In some places, it’s so cold that an extended power outage could be deadly. Hopefully, you’ve prepared your home for winter and have several ways to heat your home without power, but there is one way to heat your home that doesn’t require any fuel or firewood: a solar furnace.
A solar furnace could keep a single room nice and warm on a sunny day. This would be great if the power went out as you wouldn’t have to use any of your fuel. Just be sure to put it on the south side of your house.
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In this video, TheGulley shows off a solar furnace that he built for less than $50.
Here’s what you need:
- Two window panes.
- 3×5 foot sheet of black pastic.
- Two pieces of lumber around 2×10 inches and 3 feet long.
- Two pieces of lumber around 2×10 inches and 5 feet long.
- Another piece of lumber as long as the width of your window.
- ABS or PVC pipes and elbows.
- A standard dryer hose.
- Black spray paint.
Here’s how to build it:
- Build the frame using all the 3 and 5-foot pieces of lumber.
- Attach the sheet of black plastic to one side of the frame.
- Cut a hole in one end of the frame large enough for the pipe.
- Connect the pipes from the end of the frame into a nearby window.
- Attach the dryer hose to the other side of the hole and have it wind back and forth so it all fits inside the frame.
- Spray paint the dryer hose black.
- Attach the window panes.
- Cut holes in the fifth piece of lumber. One hole is for the exhaust pipe coming from the heater. The other hole is for the intake to draw air out of the house.
- Shut window against that piece of lumber and put the exhaust and intake pipes in place.
Be sure to watch the video below to see exactly how he did it.
Won’t work. Box with hose should be insulated. Opening the window means big space to outside between window sashes. As air passes through pvc will cool to cold tempetures. Single glass on hose box won’t keep cold out of box.
So How do you prevent cold air from coming in when the sun goes down and the temps drop into the teens or lower??
Stuff a sock into the outlet in the room…..
The heat in the chamber outside creates a draw or draft as the pipe heats up. When the chamber cools to room temp you no longer have air moving in the system. All you need to do is cap the ABS pipe or stuff a towel in it to avoid cooling the air in the house.