Another step towards energy independence

Got the click switch for my solar warm air collector the other day and took the time this afternoon to do the install. First I had to cut two 8" holes through the south wall of my pole barn to insert the duct work from the collector through. This was accomplished with only one wire being cut in two:banghead, luckily it was for a never used light so I simply changed the switch to an outlet and eliminated the wire going to the light. I got my buddy to help me set the panel into place and fastened it to the wall of the barn with L brackets. Next was prepping the fan to run through the click switch, but that was fairly easy to figure out. By the time I got to the wiring stage I had lost my sunshine so the only way to test if this switch was going to do what I wanted it to do was to plug the fan into an extension cord and hold the switch over the flame from my turkey cooker and see if the fan turned on. I'm happy to say that everything worked perfectly. I have the switch placed in the panel and the fan mounted onto the duct and the only thing left is to do a little sealing of the holes, box in around the fan and install two register covers on the wall. I have this same set up on my shack at the lake and Sunday when I was there wiring in the switch the air coming out of the collector was 95 degrees so I'm thinking that on sunny days the fan will be pumping warm air into my barn all day. I should have done this project years ago, I've had the collectors setting here for at least 5 years, but it took my insurance company making me take out my wood stove to get the motivation.

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Originally Posted by spartannation

it took my insurance company making me take out my wood stove to get the motivation.

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Yours too eh?

I asked my insurance company 10 years ago if there was a problem with me having a wood furnace in my shop....the following 8 years no problem, then one day I get a notice to remove my wood furnace or I will no longer be insured......:banghead

I now heat with propane.

Good for you Jerry, glad it worked out!

They also told me I "should" split and stack a pile of firewood I had in the yard. They said it made my house look trashy. I'm a patient person but this one almost put me over the edge. As far as the stove in the barn they said no solid fuel stoves which covers pellet stoves, too. They said a propane heater was OK as long as it was 18" off the floor. They said gas fumes would collect at the floor and the fire in the wood stove would blow my barn up. I said won't the gas fumes escape when I open the door to put wood in the stove and if I don't open the door the fire goes out, therefore no explosion. I got nowhere with this logic. I even offered to raise the wood stove 18" off the floor. The fact that I now heat with propane and solar tells you how far that suggestion got me.

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Originally Posted by spartannation

They also told me I "should" split and stack a pile of firewood I had in the yard. They said it made my house look trashy. I'm a patient person but this one almost put me over the edge.

As far as the stove in the barn they said no solid fuel stoves which covers pellet stoves, too. .

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That is absolutely none of their business about the appearance of your house.....given that line of thought must be my neighbor doesn't have insurance because their place looks like it is right out of the tv show "Hoarders". I think I would have politely but tactfully told them the appearance of my abode is of no concern unless you are giving me a discount for tidiness!

My insurance person came out two weeks later to "physically" make sure I had disconnected the stove from the pipes.

They had no problem with the corn/pellet furnace in my house

So, whats your next step? A big wind turbine in your front yard....?

This is all for now. I have the house set up nicely, solar warm air collectors, wood stove, tankless water heater. Before my daughter moved back in with me I could go over 5 years on 100 gallons of propane. Now she insists on the house at 70 so I had set a bigger tank and fill every other month. Maybe I can figure out a way to produce power from the long hair I pull out of the drains. Hmmm, something to ponder. And don't get me started on insurance companies, this is a family friendly site.

insurance is why I use an outside wood boiler to heat both my home and my garage.
uses a bit more wood than an inside woodstove, but no bugs or wood smoke to deal with.
crazy to me that you can have a fireplace in your home....but not a woodstove?
some will allow a woodstove...for a fee of course!

Another way for "The Man" to keep us down.

One of those circle type things. Trees fall in the woods and you need to clean them up to avoid forest and grass fire hazards (U.S Forest Service information), so you bring the wood to your yard to cut split and stack. Some one (insurance person) tells you to clean up your area because your house looks trashy (Zoning, county, or township issue NOT insurance). So, you clean up the wood, split it and stack it next to your house. Fire Marshal comes and says that it is too close to your house and it needs to be moved a number of feet away to prevent fuel for a potential fire. So, you move the wood away from the house. In the mean time, they tell you (insurance) that you cannot burn said wood because it creates a fire hazard? Isn't that what burning is all about? Fire! So, now you have a bunch of wood not sitting in the woods causing a potential forest fire issue, not in your yard pissing off an insurance agent, county, township, or zoning person, not next to the house to please the fire marshal, and not in your wood stove to ensure you don't burn anything? Sound about right!!!

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Originally Posted by wicklundrh

Another way for "The Man" to keep us down.

One of those circle type things. Trees fall in the woods and you need to clean them up to avoid forest and grass fire hazards (U.S Forest Service information), so you bring the wood to your yard to cut split and stack. Some one (insurance person) tells you to clean up your area because your house looks trashy (Zoning, county, or township issue NOT insurance). So, you clean up the wood, split it and stack it next to your house. Fire Marshal comes and says that it is too close to your house and it needs to be moved a number of feet away to prevent fuel for a potential fire. So, you move the wood away from the house. In the mean time, they tell you (insurance) that you cannot burn said wood because it creates a fire hazard? Isn't that what burning is all about? Fire! So, now you have a bunch of wood not sitting in the woods causing a potential forest fire issue, not in your yard pissing off an insurance agent, county, township, or zoning person, not next to the house to please the fire marshal, and not in your wood stove to ensure you don't burn anything? Sound about right!!!

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Nailed it! :Rofl

I went with Geothermal a few years back. Heats my hot water heaters as well. Has it's advantages. Also disadvantages as well. I am however interested in this solar heat you are talking about. Thinking about it for my barn/work shop as well.

Once we get some sunshine I'll let you know how it works. I'm heating a 24x40x9. i got the panels from my sister when we reroofed her house, not sure where you would buy them new. I do, however, know where you can get the click switch. And your circle of life theory, dead on the money. I think both you and Steve are trying to get me fired up all over again. Dang insurance companies.

I figured the solar heat in Michigan was tough. need sunny days , in winter when the sun shines it is usually ZERO . Spring an Fall might take the chill off . Summer should work great ! Like the ol' air cooled VW Bug an Chevy Corvair, heaters worked great in the summer. ALL IN FUN , I hope it works out. wait till the insurance company figures the heat from the collectors might catch the side of the barn on fire.

You would be surprised how much heat you get off from one 4x10 panel. Sunday morning it was 16 degrees out and the air going through the panel was going in at 50 and coming out at 95. this was when the sun was still hitting the panel at an angle. Put a little snow on the ground and it gets even better.