I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

Today, minus 7-degrees Celsius. We took down the temporary walls we
had built outside of the gaping hole, (for security and heat reasons)
and the first sunlight hit the panel just an hour ago.

Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.

If you have a shop/garage with a south wall, and you're in a cold
location, run, don't walk to your nearest computer and give Morris a
call.
If you're up here in Canuckistan (SW Ontario region), hit the info
button on my website www.topworks.ca and I will set it all up for you.

Very happy r

On Dec 5, 11:29*am, Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

Today, minus 7-degrees Celsius. We took down the temporary walls we
had built outside of the gaping hole, (for security and heat reasons)
and the first sunlight hit the panel just an hour ago.

Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.

If you have a shop/garage with a south wall, and you're in a cold
location, run, don't walk to your nearest computer and give Morris a
call.
If you're up here in Canuckistan (SW Ontario region), hit the info
button on my websitewww.topworks.caand I will set it all up for you.

Very happy r

I will post some pics in the next week or so, as soon as we trim it
out nicely and do a little painting.

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...
On Dec 5, 11:29 am, Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

Today, minus 7-degrees Celsius. We took down the temporary walls we
had built outside of the gaping hole, (for security and heat reasons)
and the first sunlight hit the panel just an hour ago.

Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.

If you have a shop/garage with a south wall, and you're in a cold
location, run, don't walk to your nearest computer and give Morris a
call.
If you're up here in Canuckistan (SW Ontario region), hit the info
button on my websitewww.topworks.caand I will set it all up for you.

Very happy r

I will post some pics in the next week or so, as soon as we trim it
out nicely and do a little painting.
**************************

I was going to suggest some photo's. Sounds like a win - win situation to
me. Any idea yet as to the actual amount of heat generated? Any plans to
add more panels?

And Morris, good on ya. Keep up the good work.

On Dec 5, 11:33*am, Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 5, 11:29*am, Robatoy wrote:



I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

Today, minus 7-degrees Celsius. We took down the temporary walls we
had built outside of the gaping hole, (for security and heat reasons)
and the first sunlight hit the panel just an hour ago.

Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.


This afternoon, it was 28F outside, Direct, full sunlight on the
panel. I thumbtacked a strip of paper over the 'exhaust' and merrily
wiggled in the stream of warm air.
Film at 11

G

Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

You need a new tape rule - it's 4'x6'.

Today, minus 7-degrees Celsius. We took down the temporary walls we
had built outside of the gaping hole, (for security and heat reasons)
and the first sunlight hit the panel just an hour ago.

And people keep saying that fusion power is a non-starter...

Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.

And now you *know* why fish have scales.

If you have a shop/garage with a south wall, and you're in a cold
location, run, don't walk to your nearest computer and give Morris a
call.

I'd like that - but I'm /still/ encouraging those who have the ability
and the tools to build their own...

If you're up here in Canuckistan (SW Ontario region), hit the info
button on my website www.topworks.ca and I will set it all up for you.

Very happy r

And that's what it's all about. You've made my day.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:
I'd like that - but I'm /still/ encouraging those who have the ability
and the tools to build their own...


Are the plans on your site?


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

-MIKE- wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:
I'd like that - but I'm /still/ encouraging those who have the ability
and the tools to build their own...

Are the plans on your site?

Not yet - see http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/Journey.html for the full story
on that issue.

Meanwhile, I provide a lot of text/photo/drawing clues on my web site
about what works well. I care a great deal that people make a real
effort to think through what they do, and I really do hope that enables
them to actually improve on what I'm doing.

My design is very much geared toward CNC production. Different tools
will lead to at least minor design changes - and I'd prefer to let
people work out designs that are a good fit with their capabilities.

There is a wealth of free DIY info at http://www.builditsolar.com and I
encourage you to take a long look at the site.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

On Dec 5, 12:44*pm, Morris Dovey wrote:


My design is very much geared toward CNC production.

What a coinkidink!

Morris Dovey writes:
And people keep saying that fusion power is a non-starter...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-app...encemath/abd4/

DJ Delorie wrote:
Morris Dovey writes:
And people keep saying that fusion power is a non-starter...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-app...encemath/abd4/

I might have to get one of those.

Thanks!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

On Dec 5, 12:11*pm, Morris Dovey wrote:
Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

You need a new tape rule - it's 4'x6'.

We're metric here...*smirk*

On Dec 5, 1:02*pm, Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 5, 12:11*pm, Morris Dovey wrote: Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.

That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.

You need a new tape rule - it's 4'x6'.

We're metric here...*smirk*

That also explains why we needed a 20-pound sledge to get it into the
hole.

Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 5, 1:02 pm, Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 5, 12:11 pm, Morris Dovey wrote: Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.
That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.
You need a new tape rule - it's 4'x6'.
We're metric here...*smirk*

That also explains why we needed a 20-pound sledge to get it into the
hole.

Did the sledge survive?

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

On Dec 5, 1:56*pm, Morris Dovey wrote:
Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 5, 1:02 pm, Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 5, 12:11 pm, Morris Dovey wrote: Robatoy wrote:
I had to knock down a wall in order to get my CNC in. My back door was
only 48" wide, so, with with jack posts and air-hammers we got the job
done.
That particular wall is facing South. I had been intrigued by Morris
Dovey's work for quite some time and after a few very informative and
friendly e-mails and phone conversations, Morris shipped one 4-ft x 5-
ft panel on a skid to Port Huron MI. My guys picked it up there with
the truck and we installed it this week.
You need a new tape rule - it's 4'x6'.
We're metric here...*smirk*

That also explains why we needed a 20-pound sledge to get it into the
hole.

Did the sledge survive?

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USAhttp://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

It melted... fusion power and all that stuff...

On Fri, 5 Dec 2008 08:29:05 -0800 (PST), Robatoy
wrote:


Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.

Just playing the dark side here, bro... What was your cost on the project?

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your initial
investment back from savings in utilities..
Might just be our location, though. Electricity is very inexpensive here..
Now, in the Republik of Kalifornia your savings would be much more..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in
savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Swingman wrote:
"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in
savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.

People who like to work with really sharp pencils may want to figure in
costs associated with buying, installing, maintaining (etc) the baseline
conventional system, but I don't even bother - and I encourage people to
keep whatever heating system they already have as a backstop for
protracted periods of unusually cold, dark weather.

It'll take Robatoy a while to get enough data to calculate his payback
period - but a typical number for rural Iowa when I ran the numbers a
year ago appears to be just a bit over two years. A properly installed
panel whose exterior wood surfaces are kept painted should last longer
than 25 years, so a panel (here) should provide at least 23 years of
free heat.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:
....

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.
....
What kind of output would that 4x6 panel yield, Morris?

And, how is the heat distributed and what do you do about the heat load
during hot IA or KS summers?

(I'm wondering if an area on the barn would be feasible--do these
actually replace wall sections if I read correctly--don't really think
I'd want to do that on a moderately historical structure...)

--

dpb wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:
...

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.
...
What kind of output would that 4x6 panel yield, Morris?

A really accurate answer would involve more waffling than I can tolerate
(weather patterns, geographic location, snowfall, whatever's in front of
the panel, ad nauseum) so I'll give you the short, over-simplified (and
somewhat conservative) answer that each two-foot section delivers heat
comparable to a milk-house heater on "High" when there's no snow on the
ground. If there's clean snow between the panel and the sun, then add
75-90% to account for reflected energy.

And, how is the heat distributed and what do you do about the heat load
during hot IA or KS summers?

Although there isn't one, the panel /acts/ as if it had a moderately
hefty blower. For really good heat distribution, it's difficult to beat
a ceiling-hugging variable speed ceiling fan turning slowly to prevent
heat stratification near the ceiling. On my web page with the shop
photos, you can see the ceiling fan right in the middle of the shop -
it's used to both prevent stratification and to push warm air down to
warm the floor, which is what keeps the shop warm overnight. Without the
fan, it'd still be warm during the day (but less evenly so) and it'd be
probably 5-10F cooler overnight.

As summer approaches, the vertical panel shuts itself off by reflecting
more and more of the sunlight to the ground in front of the panel (DAGS
"critical angle" for a technical explanation).

To shut the panels completely off, you could install a cover over the
glazing - but none of my customers have yet done this (and they all
asked the same question g).

(I'm wondering if an area on the barn would be feasible--do these
actually replace wall sections if I read correctly--don't really think
I'd want to do that on a moderately historical structure...)

They replace all but the inner surface (drywall or paneling) of the
wall. The barn would need to be reasonably "tight" and "well-insulated"
for /any/ kind of heating to be worth the money - and you're right about
adding a "high tech" look to historical structures...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:

Swingman wrote:
"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in
savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.

People who like to work with really sharp pencils may want to figure in
costs associated with buying, installing, maintaining (etc) the baseline
conventional system, but I don't even bother - and I encourage people to
keep whatever heating system they already have as a backstop for
protracted periods of unusually cold, dark weather.

It'll take Robatoy a while to get enough data to calculate his payback
period - but a typical number for rural Iowa when I ran the numbers a
year ago appears to be just a bit over two years. A properly installed
panel whose exterior wood surfaces are kept painted should last longer
than 25 years, so a panel (here) should provide at least 23 years of
free heat.


That looks like a winning cost trade. Thus far, all of the other
alternatives like solar electric don't come even close. I did a trade
earlier this year and couldn't get the system to even pay for itself over
the advertised 25 year life span. That took into account any credits and
rebates available and included paying cash for the system (i.e., no
interest cost) and not assuming any lost investment value on the cash.
What was really ironic was that the company selling the solar system was
willing to issue a 30 year note on a system for which they were advertising
a 25 year life.


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

Mark & Juanita wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:

That looks like a winning cost trade. Thus far, all of the other
alternatives like solar electric don't come even close. I did a trade
earlier this year and couldn't get the system to even pay for itself over
the advertised 25 year life span. That took into account any credits and
rebates available and included paying cash for the system (i.e., no
interest cost) and not assuming any lost investment value on the cash.
What was really ironic was that the company selling the solar system was
willing to issue a 30 year note on a system for which they were advertising
a 25 year life.

Solar thermal can be awesomely efficient and solar photovoltaics offered
on the consumer market (as opposed to those made for aerospace
applications) have energy conversion efficiencies of only 10-15%.

I've been working to develop a couple of fluidynes (Stirling cycle heat
engines) capable of converting sunlight directly to mechanical energy.
These have a theoretical maximum efficiency of only about 55% - and I
don't expect to do better than 25-30% with my design but, still, they'll
be a lot more efficient than using PV panel to charge a battery which is
then used to run a motor (with losses at each conversion).

OTOH, direct solar doesn't work very well at night...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

On Dec 6, 12:57*pm, Mark & Juanita wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:
Swingman wrote:
"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in
savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.

People who like to work with really sharp pencils may want to figure in
costs associated with buying, installing, maintaining (etc) the baseline
conventional system, but I don't even bother - and I encourage people to
keep whatever heating system they already have as a backstop for
protracted periods of unusually cold, dark weather.

It'll take Robatoy a while to get enough data to calculate his payback
period - but a typical number for rural Iowa when I ran the numbers a
year ago appears to be just a bit over two years. A properly installed
panel whose exterior wood surfaces are kept painted should last longer
than 25 years, so a panel (here) should provide at least 23 years of
free heat.

* That looks like a winning cost trade. *Thus far, all of the other
alternatives like solar electric don't come even close. *I did a trade
earlier this year and couldn't get the system to even pay for itself over
the advertised 25 year life span. That took into account any credits and
rebates available and included paying cash for the system (i.e., no
interest cost) and not assuming any lost investment value on the cash.
What was really ironic was that the company selling the solar system was
willing to issue a 30 year note on a system for which they were advertising
a 25 year life.

--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

I would say you got in concert with a goof troop of a AE company or
you made some grave miscalculations. The data out there is pretty well
established as to payback of well designed and well located AE
systems. While in many areas they can be markedly less cost effective
none I have seen have a 30 year payback even in states with no
rebates. I would have to think something in your calculations was
incorrect or your system was overblown, poorly designed, etc. This
wouldnt surprise me in the least as when capitalist greed gets
involved installers usually pork up the system and install.

Most simple calculators available on line that take into consideration
generating 75% of your residential power and a modest 6% annual
increase in energy costs will show that an average house with a $75/mo
electric bill will save some 30,000-40,000 dollars over the 20 year
life of a 9-11k system. In many states this system will cost 3-4k out
of pocket and less if you can do any of the install yourself.

Of course all calculations are speculative in that none of is know
where the cost of energy is going in the next 25 years. If we can keep
scaring OPEC over the loss of their cash cow we may be able to hold
their feet to the fire keeping petro low. Have heard two or three
times on the news here lately that some project if this low stays low
we could again see 1.00 gasoline though it would of course be
unsustainable. These low costs will, and are there to, thwart AE in
any form. It is actually quite sad when we need to be forced to
innovate.

Mark

Morris Dovey wrote:
Swingman wrote:
"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except
in savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.

People who like to work with really sharp pencils may want to figure in
costs associated with buying, installing, maintaining (etc) the baseline
conventional system, but I don't even bother - and I encourage people to
keep whatever heating system they already have as a backstop for
protracted periods of unusually cold, dark weather.

It'll take Robatoy a while to get enough data to calculate his payback
period - but a typical number for rural Iowa when I ran the numbers a
year ago appears to be just a bit over two years. A properly installed
panel whose exterior wood surfaces are kept painted should last longer
than 25 years, so a panel (here) should provide at least 23 years of
free heat.

Morris,

What kind of glass do you/they use on these panels? It seems to me that it could
not be window glass because of the heat.

Chris

Chris wrote:

What kind of glass do you/they use on these panels? It seems to me that
it could not be window glass because of the heat.

I use a twinwall polycarbonate - not because of the heat but because
it's a good insulator and because it's much less vulnerable to breakage
than glass.

Neither Heat nor temperature is a problem. The panels are designed so
that any increase in input results in a faster airflow (more heat energy
at same temperature). The normal operating temperature at sea level is
in the neighborhood of 110F increasing to about 125F at 5,000' above sea
level.

The polycarbonate glazing is good to about 800F and it'll survive an 80
mph hardball pitch, so it's well suited for the job. A cross section
slice would look like a ladder.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:
Swingman wrote:
"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except
in savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Yuppers. The payback period is figured by dividing the cost of the
panels by the averaged annual conventional heating cost. The
conventional cost varies from place to place and current cost of the
energy used.

I'm guessing that the payback period for passive heating panels might be
a bit shorter for a lot of the 1+ million home and business owners in
New England who're without power today...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 09:17:35 -0600, "Swingman" wrote:

"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in
savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Exactly....
Sort of like changing out the windows for double pane or putting dark tint on
the widows that get sun..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Dec 7, 11:45*am, mac davis wrote:
On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 09:17:35 -0600, "Swingman" wrote:
"mac davis" wrote

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your
initial
investment back from savings in utilities..

IIRC, this is passive solar heat ... no electricity involved, except in
savings providing it was used to formerly heat the space.

Exactly....
Sort of like changing out the windows for double pane or putting dark tint on
the widows that get sun..



All things passive appeal to my passive nature.

On Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:56:03 -0800, mac davis
wrote:

On Fri, 5 Dec 2008 08:29:05 -0800 (PST), Robatoy
wrote:


Amazing.....Just absolutely amazing. Free heat!! And way more than I
expected.

Just playing the dark side here, bro... What was your cost on the project?

They do a lot of solar here in Baja, but it takes years to get your initial
investment back from savings in utilities..
Might just be our location, though. Electricity is very inexpensive here..
Now, in the Republik of Kalifornia your savings would be much more..



What happens with this thing in the heat of summer? More free heat?

wrote:

What happens with this thing in the heat of summer? More free heat?

Good question. It's designed to turn itself off as summer approaches.
The angle angle at which sunlight strikes the glazing - see the
explanation at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/Astro/Seasons.html - provides
seasonal control. You can get more information still by doing a Google
search on "critical angle".

It's also possible to shut the panel off completely in any season by
covering the glazing.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:
wrote:

What happens with this thing in the heat of summer? More free heat?

Good question. It's designed to turn itself off as summer approaches.
The angle angle at which sunlight strikes the glazing - see the
explanation at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/Astro/Seasons.html - provides
seasonal control. You can get more information still by doing a Google
search on "critical angle".

It's also possible to shut the panel off completely in any season by
covering the glazing.

Before electricity became common in south Georgia, our neighbor had a
refrigerator that ran on propane. After college I worked in a huge
drug store in Tennessee whose air conditioner used a gas burner
instead of a compressor. Has anyone ever made a room cooling system
that used solar heat to drive the ammonia cycle and passive convection
instead of a fan to spread the cooler air? A lot of our electricity in
the south is used for cooling, but I've never heard this discussed.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

A man with a briefcase can steal more
money than any man with a gun.

Gerald Ross wrote:

Before electricity became common in south Georgia, our neighbor had a
refrigerator that ran on propane. After college I worked in a huge drug
store in Tennessee whose air conditioner used a gas burner instead of a
compressor. Has anyone ever made a room cooling system that used solar
heat to drive the ammonia cycle and passive convection instead of a fan
to spread the cooler air? A lot of our electricity in the south is used
for cooling, but I've never heard this discussed.

It's theoretically possible, but loaded with so many practical problems
that the problem will probably be solved in some other way.

As resources have permitted, I've been working another approach which
seems promising - and talk about the approach (without providing much
detail) in the web page at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/Journey.html

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Stuart wrote:
In article
,
Robatoy wrote:
If you have a shop/garage with a south wall, and you're in a cold
location, run, don't walk to your nearest computer and give Morris a
call.

Not sure he'd come and install in the UK ;-0

I would, but you don't need me to do the install. A local construction
tradesman wouldn't have any difficulty and would probably involve a lot
less red tape.

The bigger obstacle, of course, is the small-quantity shipping costs. At
some point it might make sense to set up a production facility on your
side of the pond someplace where there's a well-managed timber supply.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/