A few notes on this project. First of all, I was building a box style solar heater that you see on many other sites on the web. And then it struck me--most people can't, or won't build something like this. So I put aside that project for the moment and set about to try to figure out something that fit three criteria:

1) It should take an average person less than an hour to build a basic version.

2) It should cost $25 or less.

3) The building of it should be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Taking the idea of using cardboard that I saw in several places on the web, I thought about how to get it to work more practically. It seemed to me that the cardbaord needed to a) stay inside to keep from getting wet like it did on some sites and b) should avoid having to have a box setting build for it as many sites call for, because then we'd be back to the problem of most people not being willing to do it. This should be something a family could do as a fun project together to learn about solar energy and save a few bucks. Finally it occurred to me one day--the old-fashioned style window ALREADY IS a solar box, and ALREADY HAS a "ventilation system built into it--the sliding window panes--one up and one down, perfect for cold air in and hot air out.

By the way, this cold air in the bottom pane opening and hot air in the top pane opening also reverses--when it is not yet hot enough in the window, perhaps in the morning, if you open the top and bottom window panes you will notice you get hit with a blast of cold air out the bottom--you are now air conditioning your room!!! Warm air from your room is coming in the top window pane and then getting cooled by the cold of the window box, and then returning into the room at the bottom chilled. THIS IS GOOD NEWS. It means that you never have to wonder if the sun is hot/direct enough to work. If you open the window and get hit with this cold air you know it is not hot enough--close up and try again in a little while when the sun is stronger.

So once I finally figured out my system and it appeared to work, I set about trying to show it to people for feedback and to try to get people interested in trying this, with the the hope that it would be a help to people and the environment. So if you try it, please write at the addres below and let me know. I have already been getting feedback, and I enjoy hearing about how it goes. Keep the emails coming. I recently decided to put Google ads on the pages to try to pay some of the yearly expense on this site. Hope it is not too annoying.

On my test results page I keep track of the temperatures of the room that the solar window heater is in (sealed off) and the temperature in the middle of our open one-story house. This data is compared against the data of taking these two temperatures without the cardboard or solar reflector. The reason being is that this south-facing room/window is being hit by the sun, while most of the house is not. So one would expect that this room would naturally be slightly warmer than the rest of the rooms at this time (which results seem to show is true). Although I have just begun to run these tests, because there are rare days when all the requirements align--I have to be home around noon and have a free 20 minutes, and it has to be remain mostly sunny for those 20 minutes. So far the results look good, but I don't have enough information yet to declare it a total success.

A few things I considered when building the actual cardboard portion to keep it as environmentally friendly as possible:

**GETTING THE CARDBOARD**

I am told you can usually get good cardboard at your local recycling center. I haven't tried this, though. I usually take it out of the dumpsters of companies that don't recycle to keep them out of the landfill. I get my best cardboard out of a local rental store dumpster. They get appliances in almost daily, and just throw all the cardbaord out. I stop by frequently and take all the big sturdy pieces.

**BUYING THE PAINT**

Many people are tempted to do these kind of projects with spray paint, etc, that they have lying around the house. While this is tempting, I think it is important to consider that this paint will be heated to temperatures of 100 F or more regularly, and so I think it is important to think about your health. From what I understand, when you smell paint, such as when it is heated, that smell is related to its volatile organic compounds (VOC) coming off of it--which are cancerous. So I would suggest buying a low or no VOC paint when you get your paint at the store. Because some of this paint air will be heated and come into the house. I tried using spray paint the first time I did this, and every time my solar window heater got warm the room would fill with the noxious smell of spraypaint.

You can buy low VOC paints at most stores now. Each can of paint has a marking somewhere on it to tell you its level, just look for the VOC abbreviation somewhere. I would suggest something under 50 VOC, the lower the better. Adding black color (pigment) to your paint adds VOC typically, about 10 g/l VOC. So if your paint says 35 VOC and you have it turned from white to black it will not be about 45 VOC.

MORE TO COME SOON REGARDING SOLAR REFLECTOR BUILDING...

Solar Test Results for Window Heater

Solar Window Heater Main Page

Questions? Suggestions?

No Health Care for Congress