Morris Dovey wrote:
Say What? wrote:

| Great idea but why not dispense with the fancy colors and go with
| "flat black?" That way you could park the barrel outside the shop
| on the wall with the southern exposure and plumb it through the
| wall, using the barrel as a solar collector? With your DC and
| filter back inside the shop you could be re-heating all that air
| instead of just moving it around. g

Thanks, but (seriously) flat black paint isn't adequate for efficient
absorption of solar radiation.

Interesting. What is the most efficient finish for absorption? I'm
seriously confused at this point (not an uncommon problem, I assure you,
but it boggles the mind that flat black on a surface would not suck in
the most heat.

Now, I realize (at least I THINK I do) that the design of collectors is
certainly more complex and efficient than a black object absorbing heat
and moving air inside the collector moving it around but color-wise,
what works better in any given setup?