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solar air heaters

kavade

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Dec 25, 2021
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I have searched these forums looking for opinions on the efficacy of air heaters but haven't been able to find anything.
In short, do these things work? Not as a complete source of heat, but as an efficient supplement perhaps? I live in the mountains above
San Diego and we get a lot of sun. The house faces south and gives me a good deal of winter sun/warmth, but when it falls into the 30s
or 20s at night my propane wall furnace gets going. I have a tenant moving in upstairs and he wants to use a ventless propane heater instead of the wall furnace up there but that idea makes me nervous . I would much prefer a solar solution to his expected heating needs. (My two cats keep me warm on winter nights, and they run on Friskies, but my new tenant doesn't have a cat!)
 
(My two cats keep me warm on winter nights, and they run on Friskies, but my new tenant doesn't have a cat!)
Well first step is to get a new tenant, that one is obviously broken! ;)

The solar heaters, I.E cans-in-a-box or plexi-box-with-fan type heaters are pretty good, when they're in full sun. However, they actually LOSE heat out of the house once the sun goes down so they're pretty useless most of the time.

If the money is available, look into a stand alone heat pump unit to take care of all the climate needs. If the propane heater is due to budgetary constraints then make sure it's a catalyzing heater rated for indoor use and he has a CO meter with it before he fires it up. Those indoor rated catalyzing propane heaters are surprisingly safe.

My personal favorite option, and since you sound like you're not afraid of power tools, would be to install a diesel parking heater and some ductwork to heat the place. I have 2 at my cabin and they're AMAZING! Being 12v and the fact that the combustion and breathing air are completely separated make them very solar friendly and safe. But that's just me. ? I'd be happy to send pictures and/or cleaning guides I made up for my cabin if you pursue that line.
 
Well first step is to get a new tenant, that one is obviously broken! ;)

The solar heaters, I.E cans-in-a-box or plexi-box-with-fan type heaters are pretty good, when they're in full sun. However, they actually LOSE heat out of the house once the sun goes down so they're pretty useless most of the time.

If the money is available, look into a stand alone heat pump unit to take care of all the climate needs. If the propane heater is due to budgetary constraints then make sure it's a catalyzing heater rated for indoor use and he has a CO meter with it before he fires it up. Those indoor rated catalyzing propane heaters are surprisingly safe.

My personal favorite option, and since you sound like you're not afraid of power tools, would be to install a diesel parking heater and some ductwork to heat the place. I have 2 at my cabin and they're AMAZING! Being 12v and the fact that the combustion and breathing air are completely separated make them very solar friendly and safe. But that's just me. ? I'd be happy to send pictures and/or cleaning guides I made up for my cabin if you pursue that line.
Thanks for the input, Rednecktek. I had wondered about night time and air heaters, so you answered that question mark for me. I have thought about a heat pump, and I guess I'll go think about it some more and think a little harder too. And you're probably right, I should just get another tenant!
 
Those stand alone heat pumps unfortunately only have a COP of about 2.5-3 or half what a basic mini-split can achieve, but that's still 1500w heater output for about 500w of electricity which is LOTS better than many other options.
 
I’m not sure the portable heat pumps will work for San Diego in the mountains. The inverter portable one I was looking at does not want to work much a tad 40F, which I need around San Francisco. So it’s gotta be mini split for me…

I think a DIY mini split with precharged lineset may not be that bad. Those are considered disposable though (once they break, get a new one). You need an external wall (ideally) for the drain line to go out and the lineset to go in. If you don’t have an exterior wall, the lineset doesn’t care that much, but then you need a condensate pump.

Also I didnt think ventless was allowed in california?? Even if yours is grandfathered, that’s a potential liability.
 
I’m not sure the portable heat pumps will work for San Diego in the mountains. The inverter portable one I was looking at does not want to work much a tad 40F, which I need around San Francisco. So it’s gotta be mini split for me…

I think a DIY mini split with precharged lineset may not be that bad. Those are considered disposable though (once they break, get a new one). You need an external wall (ideally) for the drain line to go out and the lineset to go in. If you don’t have an exterior wall, the lineset doesn’t care that much, but then you need a condensate pump.

Also I didnt think ventless was allowed in california?? Even if yours is grandfathered, that’s a potential liability.
Yes, I had thought they were banned in CA also, but it seems not. I looked at the government energy site and read their take on these things and they say, Yeah, they are safe IF.... There were a lot of IFs. I'll have to look into the different suggestions I got here in this post because the ventless does strike me as a liability problem. Thank you to all who replied and contributed suggestions. I'm all ears for any ideas folks have.
 
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