Solar Air Heater I purchased from www.solarairsystems.comIt's been awhile since I paid over $4.00 a gallon for gas (actually 7 month’s now). To fill my homes oil tank at a cost of $1,000.00 in August, that hurt too. After all that nonsense this summer I was determined to find an alternative method to heat my home. Solar electric panels would have cost me about $28,000.00 for a system that could only support half of the required electricity needed. Solar water heaters cost $6,000-$8,000.
In October last year I decided to do what everyone else is doing to “go green”.
I spent countless hours searching the internet, Google images and websites looking at all types of energy saving devices from insulation to windmills. I stumbled across a picture of a solar air heater that looked unusual in comparison to other models I've seen. I clicked on the link and I was brought to a web site called solarairsystems.com. My interest was peaked. I wanted to find out more about what they were offering as it was unclear just how their system could work. There was no phone number listed but there was a "contact us" form. After a couple of days I received a phone call from their sales department and spoke to Ron. I had a list of questions and he told me that the owner was better qualified to answer some of my questions and that Mr. Doherty would call me back.
Within and hour he called. The owner also holds the patent for this new technology. He told me the United States Patent office just granted him a patent on October 14, 2008. He also explained that there haven’t been any new patents’ issued for solar air heaters for a long time. His innovative “step-wise” heating technology is much more efficient than a flat-plate collector. Flat plate collectors have been around since the 60’s.
We also spoke about the many obstacles facing the consumers when thinking about “going green”. "Initial cost is the biggest deterrent to change", he said. He also mentioned that one of his systems (Model 1536) is fabricated specifically for the do-it-yourselfer in mind. “Who wants to try and install a $2,300.00, 5 foot x 7 foot solar air heater that is cumbersome, heavy, and expensive to ship? Keeping the cost affordable to encourage change is what our company is all about”.
After about an hour of going back and forth about how the system works and his long discussion about solar irradiance, I asked him if he would be willing to send me a unit to look at. He told me he would do better than that. “I’ll send you a unit with a temperature indicator so you can see just how hot it gets”, he said.
The following week I received a huge box from my mail carrier and I told her all about my discovery. Her initial interest was like mine (doubtful). Anyway, the box weighed about 30-40 pounds. Packaged very well and I have to say I was very surprised at the quality of the unit when I opened the box. Wow, it’s a finished product! It’s not like the other home built solar air heaters that are on the internet.
I placed the unit on my sunroom table and took a few pictures for everyone to see (see below). I admired the finish and inspected the designed and fabrication. The conclusion I came to was “I’m impressed” now let’s see if this works.
After waiting for the weekend I lucked out Sunday with a beautiful clear blue sky and lots of sun. I arranged to set up the Model 1536 after I tackled my “honey-do-list”. Whatever, I said…It’s 10:30 AM and the list can wait.
I placed the solar air heater against my porch railing (due south) direct exposure to the sun. I looked at the digital thermometer and the inside temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit (the unit was in my garage overnight). The outside temperature was 33 degrees. As soon as I backed away, the temperature rose from 46 degrees to 68.4 in 6 minutes. It jumped to 112 degrees in 14 minutes. I just can’t tell you how amazed I was when the temperature hit 147 degrees in just 22 minutes. Every minute I was saying to myself its going to stop. It didn’t. The temperature rose to 157.9 degree in 33 minutes.
Wow again….I yelled to the wife. She said what about your list?
Well, my enthusiasm was diminished by my never ending weekend “honey do” project list. (That I don’t write by the way). But I’m purchasing an array of 6 units tomorrow from solarairsystems.com and suggest you do your part to “go green” too. I’m keeping the unit they shipped (left hand starter) and purchasing the right hand starter unit with 4 center units. After holding one of the units in my hands and reading the install manual it should only take me about 4 hours to complete the installation. Guess what just got added to the top of my list? I’ll add more photos in a few weeks. FYI –The people at solarairsystems.com are very responsive and professional. Refreshing to say the least!
In October last year I decided to do what everyone else is doing to “go green”.
I spent countless hours searching the internet, Google images and websites looking at all types of energy saving devices from insulation to windmills. I stumbled across a picture of a solar air heater that looked unusual in comparison to other models I've seen. I clicked on the link and I was brought to a web site called solarairsystems.com. My interest was peaked. I wanted to find out more about what they were offering as it was unclear just how their system could work. There was no phone number listed but there was a "contact us" form. After a couple of days I received a phone call from their sales department and spoke to Ron. I had a list of questions and he told me that the owner was better qualified to answer some of my questions and that Mr. Doherty would call me back.
Within and hour he called. The owner also holds the patent for this new technology. He told me the United States Patent office just granted him a patent on October 14, 2008. He also explained that there haven’t been any new patents’ issued for solar air heaters for a long time. His innovative “step-wise” heating technology is much more efficient than a flat-plate collector. Flat plate collectors have been around since the 60’s.
We also spoke about the many obstacles facing the consumers when thinking about “going green”. "Initial cost is the biggest deterrent to change", he said. He also mentioned that one of his systems (Model 1536) is fabricated specifically for the do-it-yourselfer in mind. “Who wants to try and install a $2,300.00, 5 foot x 7 foot solar air heater that is cumbersome, heavy, and expensive to ship? Keeping the cost affordable to encourage change is what our company is all about”.
After about an hour of going back and forth about how the system works and his long discussion about solar irradiance, I asked him if he would be willing to send me a unit to look at. He told me he would do better than that. “I’ll send you a unit with a temperature indicator so you can see just how hot it gets”, he said.
The following week I received a huge box from my mail carrier and I told her all about my discovery. Her initial interest was like mine (doubtful). Anyway, the box weighed about 30-40 pounds. Packaged very well and I have to say I was very surprised at the quality of the unit when I opened the box. Wow, it’s a finished product! It’s not like the other home built solar air heaters that are on the internet.
I placed the unit on my sunroom table and took a few pictures for everyone to see (see below). I admired the finish and inspected the designed and fabrication. The conclusion I came to was “I’m impressed” now let’s see if this works.
After waiting for the weekend I lucked out Sunday with a beautiful clear blue sky and lots of sun. I arranged to set up the Model 1536 after I tackled my “honey-do-list”. Whatever, I said…It’s 10:30 AM and the list can wait.
I placed the solar air heater against my porch railing (due south) direct exposure to the sun. I looked at the digital thermometer and the inside temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit (the unit was in my garage overnight). The outside temperature was 33 degrees. As soon as I backed away, the temperature rose from 46 degrees to 68.4 in 6 minutes. It jumped to 112 degrees in 14 minutes. I just can’t tell you how amazed I was when the temperature hit 147 degrees in just 22 minutes. Every minute I was saying to myself its going to stop. It didn’t. The temperature rose to 157.9 degree in 33 minutes.
Wow again….I yelled to the wife. She said what about your list?
Well, my enthusiasm was diminished by my never ending weekend “honey do” project list. (That I don’t write by the way). But I’m purchasing an array of 6 units tomorrow from solarairsystems.com and suggest you do your part to “go green” too. I’m keeping the unit they shipped (left hand starter) and purchasing the right hand starter unit with 4 center units. After holding one of the units in my hands and reading the install manual it should only take me about 4 hours to complete the installation. Guess what just got added to the top of my list? I’ll add more photos in a few weeks. FYI –The people at solarairsystems.com are very responsive and professional. Refreshing to say the least!
Thanks for the info....would like to see pictures of your system when you finish.
ReplyDeletevery interesting. i'd love to know how much money you save because of this thing. might have to check it out. where do you live anyway?
ReplyDelete