Hi all,
It's looking like I will be buying a yard in the next few months.
I'm planing to build a Dutch barn type building to store some equipment in, out if the weather.
They'll also be a porta cabin type site office/welfare unit, in the yard.
What I've been thinking about is heating for the site office.
I was thinking of having some solar water heating panels on the roof of the big building, as this will be south facing.
And just hook these up to several radiators in the site office, in a closed loop with a central heating pump to circulate the water.
This is mainly to just keep it aired out, and maybe just a small electric blow heater for when it's really cold.
I was just wondering what I can expect from these panels in the dead of winter, if the water is circulating full time, will this alone keep the office
at a reasonable temperature?
The office won't be used full time, it is actually just somewhere to have a wash room, and to sit and have a mug of tea.
I'm planning to make my own panels, unless I can find some 2nd hand ones on the bay of e.
Any advice would be great.
Cheers Frank.
http://www.dimplex.co.uk/products/renewable_solutions/solar_water_heating/faq.htm
..
The problem is you will only get hot water when the sun is out 
That's not when you need the heating...
Wikipeda suggests a direct air system might be a lo-cost solution:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_collector
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_air_heat
i.e. large black plate under double glazing??? With a fan to move the air..
Again it's will work best only in the summer (;
Dan
[Edited on 21/10/13 by Bluemoon]
I know that, I'm just trying to keep the office from freezing up in the winter, during the summer, I was going to drain the system and leave it off, it'll be well insulated, as I've been offered an old freezer body to convert, so all the walls will be about 5-6 thick solid foam insulation, and I'm only planning to have 1 window and a single door.
We use them at work but for hot water- lots of hand washing round our place so it makes sense. Next is some nice PV cells- we're only open during the daytime so most of the time when the lights are on the sun is shining (even if its only shining above the clouds!).....
Unfortunately it is not likely to work. With a pump running all the time its more likely that you will take the cold from outside and bring it inside
creating nice rad panels of condensation.
A standard solar panel system circuit only works and pumps when the panels hit a temperature to provide useful heat - If there is enough useful heat
on the roof then the building will be typically warm enough anyway. i.e not going to happen in winter.
What happens when it snows, when you most want heating?
quote:
Originally posted by big-vee-twin
What happens when it snows, when you most want heating?
quote:
Originally posted by Andy S
quote:
Originally posted by big-vee-twin
What happens when it snows, when you most want heating?
You turn on the electric fan heater and wish you had saved the money wasted on the solar system to help pay the electric bill
If it's well insulated & you just want general background heat would a cheap(ish) inverter heat pump not be adequate, you can get them from around £400 & they cost a lot less than an standard electric heater to run (around 1/2 to 1/3 depending how cold it is outside)