How you heatin?
Maybe a bit early for some but winter is coming and I always wonder how full timers heat there rigs. The past few years I have been work camping /volunteering and have had electricity provided. This y...
Forum Discussion
Perhaps one could mount their solar panels into a shallow box, ducted to their rv, to harvest all that heat building up behind their solar panels, and blow it into the rv for free solar heating. It would just be another take on this idea:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PopCanVsScreen/PopCanVsScreen.htm
I would think the heat collector would work somewhat like a heat sink. So, using a low draw 12v fan, one could use this set-up all year round; for heating in winter, or simply cooling the back of the panels in summer. Using dampers, one could direct the air flow either in and out of the rv, or simply back out into the environment.
Perhaps an even better set-up would be to run water lines in and out of the heat collector box, and hydronically heat the undercarriage of the rig. The hot water (radiant) heating would continue well past sundown, and heating with water is more efficient. In summer, one could use a small heater core and 12v fan as a heat exchanger to remove the heat from the water.
Results, free solar heating, and more efficient solar.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PopCanVsScreen/PopCanVsScreen.htm
I would think the heat collector would work somewhat like a heat sink. So, using a low draw 12v fan, one could use this set-up all year round; for heating in winter, or simply cooling the back of the panels in summer. Using dampers, one could direct the air flow either in and out of the rv, or simply back out into the environment.
Perhaps an even better set-up would be to run water lines in and out of the heat collector box, and hydronically heat the undercarriage of the rig. The hot water (radiant) heating would continue well past sundown, and heating with water is more efficient. In summer, one could use a small heater core and 12v fan as a heat exchanger to remove the heat from the water.
Results, free solar heating, and more efficient solar.
