Technical > Home Improvement > Need ideas on how to install solar air heat device on roof.

Need ideas on how to install solar air heat device on roof.

Wow... i read the whole page you linked... looks like a pretty cool (or hot.. heh) idea. Dunno about a roof mount, you would need to face it southerly, and if your picture is north/south situated already, you dont have a good place to mount it..

hmmmm i have a very nice southern exposure area on my house, might have to give this a go..

tnx for the link!

-j
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if it aint broke, tweak it!!
currently on FiOS (kick aZZ!)

Yea it is a very interesting topic.
The picture is actually oriented with north to the left, south to the right of the picture, but either way, not the best mounting areas...

reply to smithfly114
Before starting anything big do a survey of the sun exposure. In some instances it may be clear (you have maximum sun exposure around noon) but in others you'll have to figure which side gives you the best return. Depending on location, maximum gain may be around 11AM or 2PM. The angle is also very important...
I have solar collectors for my pool, turned out that the best gain was on a side that was getting most sun during 10AM-1PM vs a side that was getting sun from 11AM to 5PM (in my location the heat from the sun during summer tends to go down after 11AM or so as clouds start forming)

reply to smithfly114
Your problem is with your home being so close to the other neighbors you have to mount your device on the roof, or vertically on the wall.
The other problem is your location in the US..
Most of the people who are taking advantage of these solar heat collectors are in the northern part of the US.
With the collectors low to the ground, they are piped directly into the basement, which allows the hot air to rise to the above floors.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but as far as I can tell, you do not have a basement.
So give us a few more details about your house.
Basement?
Where is your HVAC located?
How much sun does the southern walls receive?

With that type of roof construction, I would be really apprehensive about attaching a structure to it.
You might need to put it on standoffs and have it installed on the side as high as possible.

I have seen this done by a (maybe) Canadian company, however it looked like it was a mom & pop operation, that used soda/beer cans for the heat collection.

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Getting it Done.

reply to smithfly114
About every fourth house on my street still has these. Most have been removed. These were actually "built in" to the roof. They do work, somewhat. They aren't going to heat the entire house.

They were installed in the 70's. Apparently, the salesman was really good at his job, because a lot of people in the neighborhood got them. Note that they definitely were not original.

Most were removed because they leaked water in the rain and snow, and cold air at night.
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...because I care.

reply to smithfly114
This may not directly help you, but I have been thinking about putting them directly on my South wall. I would cut a hole into the top of the living room wall near the ceiling, and take air from either the basement or the bottom of the living room wall.

These guys are running them horizontally, but I thought vertically would be easier on my house. Any chance you could do the same?

Thanks for the website, I have not seen that before.

reply to Daarken
This is true.
I do not have a basement, and there is not enough sunlight that hits the south wall to put it there.

I am starting to think this might not be practical for my house.

Either way, vertically or horizontally it would have to be on the roof, the neighbors house to the south blocks too much sunlight to put the collectors on the south wall.

You could have a roofer come and put two plumbing vent stacks with boots through the roof. If you decide to take the solar collector off, it would look like two plumbing stacks.

reply to smithfly114
There was a story on the local news tonight about a municipality blocking the installation of solar panels on a house. You might want to make sure there are no restrictions in your area. All it takes is one complaining neighbor.
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...because I care.