Solar Window Heater South Facing Savings
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Writen by Sam Streubel
I recently discovered an inexpensive, eco friendly product to supplement your home heating system. It incorporates the simple concept of a hot air thermo siphon into a compact, but efficient, solar powered forced hot air room heater.
Solar window heaters are designed to be installed in the south facing rooms of your house or apartment.
Since it's powered by the sun, and heats with hot air, the only mechanical or moving part is a simple fan that draws room temperature air into, and through the panel, then exhausts the heated air back into the room.
The basic solar window heater is 20" x 32" x 3.5" and framed in clear pine. Think of it as a box with an aluminum panel (collector) behind a sheet of air tight Plexiglas on the outside, and a sheet of thin plywood on the inside to trap the collected heat.
Within the box are two baffles configured to look like a maze. This allows for a continuous stream of air to be heated as it is drawn through the box by the fan.
The aluminum collector panel is finished in flat black to maximize heat absorption from the sun. On a day with full sun, the panel will heat to 140 170 degrees.
A newer version of the solar window heater replaces the aluminum panel with high quality copper, also finished in flat black.
Located inside the panel is a thermostat switch. When the temperature of the heated air reaches 120 degrees, the switch automatically turns on the fan. When the air temperature cools to 90 degrees or less, the fan shuts itself off.
The small, efficient fan will move 102 cubic feet of air per minute or about 6,000 cubic feet per hour.
The basic model sells for around $150.00, and the copper lined model goes for $10 more.
Custom fabrication quotes are also available for different window sizes.
Alternative-Heating-Info.com provides unique information for geothermal heating and cooling, outdoor furnaces, corn boilers, radiant heat, solar heating systems, fireplace inserts, and pellet burning stoves. |
posted by Abigail SHERMAN @ 8:00 PM,
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Diy Bathroom Plumbing
Writen by Carl Shupert
Have been thinking about remodeling your bathroom? Wondering if it's a project you can handle yourself? Why not start with DIY bathroom plumbing and before you know it you'll be redoing the entire bathroom all by yourself.
You've got to start with a plan. What is it you want to do with your bathroom? DO you want to complete strip it out? Change out the fixtures? Or do you want to give it just a partial facelift? Once you decide you need to move fore ward to budget. For this article lets assume you are going to redo the entire bathroom from top to bottom.
A budget of $4000 wouldn't be unrealistic. Here's a rough list of what you might need to buy. Realize that the investment of $4000 is going to increase the value of your home substantially more.
Shower kit and door $800
Tub $450
Shower faucet $200
Vanity & Top $800
Faucet for Vanity $100
Toilet $200
Water Resistant Drywall $50
Floor Tile $200
Grout $20
Pre-hung door $80
Light Fixture $100
Mirror $100
Paint and Wallpaper $100
Rough Plumbing $800
Total $4000
If you are going to need some serious movement of existing sewer and water lines then you'll need to hire a plumber and that will be an additional cost however if all the new pieces are going in the same place as the old ones lived you should be able to avert this cost. It's very room dependent.
When it comes to starting your project safety needs to come first. That means you need to take all the precautions - wearing gloves, goggles for your eyes, a mask, or any other safety equipment that is necessary. Now lets get started:
1. Spread out the builder's paper to help trap all the demolition material. It's not 100% but it sure does help keep things in one place.
2. If you are tearing out walls now is the time to get busy. Nothing neat here just fly at it.
3. Next you will need to pull the fixtures - tub, sink, and toilet. Dismantle it all!
4. Once you have everything stripped out of the room it's time to do your cleanup.
5. The sub floor will be the first to go in and then any replacement dry wall.
6. Once that's been taken care of it is time to start the fixture installations. The tub and shower installation can be a big one so you may need some additional help.
7. After all the fixtures are in place you'll have the finishing touches such as lighting, flooring, and paint and wall paper.
How much plumbing changes you will need to make will depend on what is occurring in your bathroom. If fixtures are in the same place as the old ones your biggest plumbing job will be hooking up the new taps and the toilet. But if you moved things around you may have to redo some basic plumbing. You can attempt this yourself if you like or hire an experienced plumber. There are some great books and online resources that can help you complete this.
DIY bathroom plumbing doesn't have to be that difficult as long as you follow the directions. And with so many terrific resources around finding step by step help shouldn't be difficult at all. And won't you feel great when that bathroom is finished and you can take full credit for the transformation?
Carl has been a professional plumber in a company he owns for more than 10 years not only is he experience in unclogging just about anything but also an expert in installing plumbing fixtures and installing new water lines. Carl will give you some helpful tips on plumbing installation when you visit http://www.alliedesolutions.com |
posted by Abigail SHERMAN @ 8:00 PM,
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