The sun simply shines on the collector surface, warming the air above, which rises, forcing a warm breeze into the room. Cooler air is drawn in from the floor area and the cycle continues.
I used a discarded sliding glass door, which has a LOT of surface area and kept the room toasty. Some construction descriptions can be found at;
http://covenantacres.com/SolarHeater.html
While mine was larger, they can end up looking something like;
Don't expect one of these to heat your whole house: there are number of factors that determine your heating requirement, from ambient temperature, floor space, insulation, windows, and infiltration, for starters. Having multiple window heaters simply adds to your comfort.
This can also be used in the summer/fall for a food dehydrator.
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:19 am Post subject: Re: [Heating] Solar window heater plans
Its good that you posted this.
Ive got six 2x8 panels going on the south side of my place the end of this month.Not that particular design,but in principle its the same.
I think the geographical location plays a big part as to the success of these systems also.
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12559 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:33 am Post subject: Re: [Heating] Solar window heater plans
My husband just finished making me a food dehydrator similar to this, and it easily achieves temps of 100 - 120 degrees F. _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12559 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:49 pm Post subject: Re: [Heating] Solar window heater plans
skyemoor wrote:
Ludi wrote:
My husband just finished making me a food dehydrator similar to this, and it easily achieves temps of 100 - 120 degrees F.
Any use of it during this last harvest cycle? Any lessons-learned?
Yes, we need to increase airflow quite a bit, because air tends to stagnate at the top of the dryer cabinet, so my husband is adding some small PV-operated fans. I also need to learn not to overload the screens, which prevents sufficient air movement. I lost some food to mold, unfortunately. But when it worked, it worked really well. Oh, cutting the food very thin is also important. _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Joined: Sep 16, 2004 Posts: 4454 Location: Southwest WI
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:13 pm Post subject: Re: {Food] Storage – Pickling/Drying/Smoking
Next year i want to dehydrate a crapload of cherry tomatoes. What would i need to do this? Anyone ever done this before? Ive heard its an excellent topping on homemade pizzas. I always get way too many cherries and don't know what to do with them. I might be better off just buying an electric dehydrater?
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:33 pm Post subject: Re: {Food] Storage – Pickling/Drying/Smoking
I have never tried dehydrating tomatoes, but whenever I get lots of plums or apples I dry some in the oven. +50C, oven door open, on a wax paper, the kind for wrapping sandwishes in, on baking ....plate?. ..sheet? (that you put cookies on)
Apples I peel and slice, 5-10mm thick. Plums I open and take the pit out, spread out the halves.
When the fruit have shrink I add more. Usually the stuff in done in 2 days.
Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 1185 Location: western Wisconsin
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 6:58 pm Post subject: Re: {Food] Storage – Pickling/Drying/Smoking
We have found that cherry tomatoes as well as larger ones need to be sliced before drying, that the whole cherry tomato doesn't dry well enough if it isn't sliced in half--starts to mold etc before drying. We have good luck with the smaller paste tomatoes sliced lengthwise, or regular tomatoes cut in thinner slices before drying. I also like to use dried tomatoes to thicken sauces, etc., and sometimes I run them through the blender before adding to a sauce, or even after adding to part of the sauce.
Give it a try, though, and see how it works for you.
The nice thing is that once they are dried and put in a tight jar (we use the French-style canning jars available new with glass lid, wire bail to hold lid tight, and rubber gasket seal--jars often available cheap at garage sales), they require no more energy for storage, and last for years.
Joined: Aug 14, 2005 Posts: 382 Location: Mississippi Delta
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:56 am Post subject: Re: {Food] Storage – Pickling/Drying/Smoking
WisJim wrote:
The nice thing is that once they are dried and put in a tight jar (we use the French-style canning jars available new with glass lid, wire bail to hold lid tight, and rubber gasket seal--jars often available cheap at garage sales), they require no more energy for storage, and last for years.
Or you can use peanut butter or mayonaise jars with this device, which was invented by Alan Dong for storing dried grains and seeds. I saw him demonstrate it at a harvest fair a few years ago, and it seemed to work very well.
He also has a dehydrator there, but it uses a heater.
Joined: Oct 23, 2004 Posts: 488 Location: Canada/Quebec Province
Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: {Food] Storage – Pickling/Drying/Smoking
Here some infos gathered in a thread of the "Psychology" forum !
I don't take credits for all of it,bigs thx to seldom_seen for his great insights !
About Pemmican :
It is a millenia Amerindian proven recipe ! ~50% of crushed dryed meat (usually beef or deer but NOT PORK IN ANY WAY) , another ~ 50% of fat and some dryed berries not necessarily directly added,can be added after since it conserve well ! Make some bars and keep them in sealed plastics and there you go .
0.7 to 0.9 kg of Pemmican give 10 000 calories !!!!! When you think that most people today only use 2900 calories ...
The amerindians added what was under hand with it..wild onions,mint, and young sprouts ,name it !
Mackenzie occasionally boiled it with the tops of wild parsnips. Admiral Peary sometimes added a few raisins but he and his men ate it cold -- one-half pound twice a day. He wrote that it was the only food for Eskimo dogs on a long Polar journey and: "Of all foods I am acquainted with, pemmican is the only one that, under appropriate conditions, a man can eat twice a day for three hundred and sixty-five days in the year and
have the last mouthful taste as good as the first.... It is the most satisfying food I know. " Other than pemmican, he carried only tea,
condensed milk and hardtack.
seldom_seen wrote:
In traditional Plains culture, the women made pemmican, a mixture of dried, powdered buffalo meat, melted buffalo fat and berries. Packed away in tightly sewn skin bags, the pemmican remains edible for years.
I have made some pemmican, but instead of using tallow for the bonding agent I used almond butter. Not the real deal, but delicious all the same. I hope to make some real pemmican though at some point. I really think that pemmican is the ultimate food based on its nutritional value (you could subsist your entire life on it if you had to) and its ability to store.
More infos on Pemmican :
I found a website where it warn that the digestive system of people of today will need some time to adapt to the high fat content of pemmican..
When the Numis Polar Challenge team arrive at their start point, our bodies will not be as 'in tune' with the environment as Scott's party were, also the needs of our bodies will also be different and it will take some time for Scott's high fat diet to be acceptable to our digestive systems without us physically rejecting it.
It is planned therefore that for the first 10 days or so the food intake will be a mix of modern and old. The Huntley & Palmer biscuits will be eaten, as will processed cheese (something Scott also used) as well as lots of sugar and coco. The main meal however will be modern freeze dried food such as Chilli con Carne or chicken stew.
After that period when the body is more needy and likely to accept the high fat content, the plan is to switch to the old style food of butter, pemmican, coco and sugar. We may need to have some cookery lessons!!!!
I also found that a..well..small book for kids, on polar explorers, might show how to make pemmican !
Making a Viking compass
Building a model igloo
Using a cross-staff to measure latitude
Creating a barometer and forecasting the weather
Making pemmican, an Inuit snack
Publishing a newspaper like William Parry's Winter Chronicle
Dunno what to think about this one..it's a book for kids after all ...
It actually show in details and with pictures how to make pemmican with materials found at home,without expensive dehydrator..you only need your oven and a grinder !
My only concern is about the autor saying he did also used bacon fat,witch you don't want to use if you want to conserve for a while...
Personal :
Other than that,finding ancien ways to preserve food are a good thing ! Canning and freezing are nice,but they both need high technology (metal working,spare parts,lids,compressor and more than anything else,electricity!) ! So,to me,dehydrating and using primitive conservation is the way to go since they can be done under low tech situation ..
Actually,my short term plan is to dry meat/fruits/vegetables a lot,buy some various canned food,even if become more and more advocate of paleolitic food ,i'll buy bags of brown flour,dry milk,honey and pasta..Add some pemmican in the picture and i'm sure i can build a good reserve of food..
More important than anything else,i'll learn to make it myself !
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