Passive heating projects

Does anyone have any links saved up they would like to share regarding passive solar heating. I want to make a simple heater to warm my room during the day. I'm thinking of doing the black plastic + reflector in the window thing that Steven Harris spoke about on TSP a while back. I was also kicking around a beer can heater as well. Any links would be much appreciated.

Links, compiled

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Space_Heating.htm

Thanks,
Dave

I like the buildit solar the best. There are so many projects there! We built a cat sun porch that heats our whole barn. And we built an enclosed sun porch on the front of our house that heats the front part of the house except when it gets really cold. Maybe someone else will post some links. I would love to see some too. Have a good day.

I am currently using a vertically mounted, south facing, passive, hot air panel. I'm still in the experimental phases, but it will keep my house warm for about nine hours when the sun is shining. I think it would make a good food dehydrator or clothes dryer. I have a nice little album with descriptions on my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4926519559697.2202053.1199640354&type=3
Steve Gibson

Here's a good solar food dryer link which could also be modified to space heat existing homes.

http://tec.appstate.edu/sites/default/files/HPImprovingSolarFoodDryers.pdf

I closed in my front porch with used windows bought through the charity, Habitat for Humanity
This front porch is rapidly becoming my favorite room in the house and on a sunny winter day, it will heat the whole front of the house.


I also built a passively heated greenhouse with used windows,etc. through Habitat.


I highly recommend checking out Habitat or similar charities in your area for cheap building supplies.

+1 for Habitat ReStore

Also a good source for stainless flue pipe (for RMH's), used fire bricks, and lots of other stuff as long as you can imagine alternate uses. Like they sell TONS of shower doors for a couple bucks each--which happen to be panes of TEMPERED (safe for overhead) glass just the right size for cold frames or roof sections of small greenhouses or skylights in wofatis.

R Scott wrote:+1 for Habitat ReStore

Also a good source for stainless flue pipe (for RMH's), used fire bricks, and lots of other stuff as long as you can imagine alternate uses. Like they sell TONS of shower doors for a couple bucks each--which happen to be panes of TEMPERED (safe for overhead) glass just the right size for cold frames or roof sections of small greenhouses or skylights in wofatis.

Yeah, people that visit my house get a laugh out of the shower door, complete with towel bar, used as a window on my front porch.
I bought a whole pallet of used glass bricks at habitat a few weeks ago.
I hadn't thought of using shower doors for greenhouse roof panels though, that's a great idea, thanks!

Greetings folks, finally had some extra time to come visit and meet some folks.
This my first post, had some technical difficulties getting registered.

Not sure if this will help anyone, but here is a "Passive Heating Project" I have been working on building and sharing what I have learned along the way.
Our home is a conventional framed home with a perfect Southern Exposure, just crying out to take advantage of the setting.
I have had a dozen or so years to think this through....let me know your thoughts?

A Post and Beam Passive Solar Room Addition designed for extreme climates, hot or cold.
Most Passive Heating designs suffer in the summer as they overheat, in the winter when its cloudy, they are hard to heat.
So I came up with this design and made it easy to build. The roof and structure are super insulated, in the winter when the sun is low in the sky, the heat gain is enough to not only heat the room but also the home.
In the summer the room shades the southern side of the home, proper ventilation and shading should keep the room cool.

Were still under construction and have a way to go yet, but I have posted enough videos on You Tube to give most folks the general idea.
Although we never saw minus zero often this winter, so far so good. I am very happy with the results.
We have managed to convert our ordinary stick framed home into one that utilizes the solar exposure for free heat.
The view out the windows is so nice I have decided to make this my new office.

The design allows two sides to be assembled together to make a free standing solar room greenhouse. I hope to build that next year after I finish what I have started here.
This all started as a place to grow some non GMO Pesticide free food. But our Book Keeper has had a greenhouse for 20 yrs talked me out of it.
My wife is chemically sensitive and has asthma, too much chance of a mold or mildew problem transferring from the growing area to the home, let alone the millions of bugs.
Pesticides are not an option, so we'll build the passive solar greenhouse in a more suitable location away from the house.

Hope these Tubes are helpful to anyone contemplating doing something similar.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodyChain/videos?query=Greenhouse[/youtube]