Solar Air Heating – Product and Installation Summary

Last fall, we wrote about our evaluation, purchase and installation of the CanSolair Solar Max 240 solar air heater.

Solar air heaters are products which use the direct sun light to generate heat for the home, cottage or any type of building.

As they generate heat, the only form of energy they consume is a minor amount of electricity to run the internal fan to take the cool air from inside the home, push it out to the solar air heater on the south facing wall or roof, cause it to be heated within the solar air heater and then push it back now heated into the home.

And, some of these products use a small solar panel to run the internal fan.

We had many, many visitors to our site, DailyHomeRenoTips.com, throughout the publishing of this series of articles last fall.

So, we thought we would provide on one page all of the links to all of the articles. Since autumn is upon us, now is the time to be planning and ordering such units if you are hoping to have it installed before the snow comes.

And, if you have used a commercially available solar air heater, we would like to hear from your on your experiences, so do drop us a line to Dan@DailyHomeRenoTips.com.

Remember, I am not a professional contractor; I am merely an average home owner writing about our home renovation, maintenance and energy & clean water conservation experiences to help others. Do your own research and analysis as you would before you spend any money on your home.

And now, for the listing of articles in our series on Solar Air Heaters:

Part 1 – Another Type of Solar Energy

Part 2 – Usage Considerations

Part 3 – Solar Max 240 vs SolarSheat

Part 4 – Solar Max 240 vs SolarSheat Conclusion

Part 5 – The Order

Part 6 – Unpacking The Solar Max 240 Components

Part 7 – The Solar Max Unit Itself

Part 8 - The Installation Plan

Part 9 – Installation Begins

Part 10 – Installation Continues

Part 11 – Wall Depth Does Matter

Part 12 – Extending The Blower Duct

Part 13 – Bigger is Better

Part 14 – Using Speaker Wire Temporarily

Part 15 – Outside Installation

Part 16 – Outside Installation Completed

Part 17 – Interior Installation Continues

Part 18 – Interior Installation Completed, Almost

Part 19 – Installation Completed

Part 20 – In-Take Component Temperature When Unit Not On

Part 21 – Temperature Rise Discussion

Part 22 – Norwegian Sprice Not My Friend

Part 23 – The Tree Comes Down

Part 24 – Sun’s Position Impacting Shade

Part 25 – Summer Unit Coverage

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Comments

Jared says:

February 28, 2010 at 2:52 pm

Looks like a nice installation job. I am curious how well this heater is performing for you. I thought about buying one of these but due to the high price tag I opted to build one myself. This also allowed me to customize the size and integrated it into the design of my house. I finished the interior venting recently and it has been operating wonderfully. Now I just would like to figure out a way to measure it’s efficiency. For those interested, I have posted all of the details here: http://practicallyoffthegrid.com/category/solar-air-heating/

- derrick says:
  
  July 7, 2011 at 1:58 am
  
  hi who made the unit in your picks? how many sq feet can it really heat? how much did the unit cost you?
  
  - Dan says:
    
    July 7, 2011 at 6:41 pm
    
    Hi Derrick,
    Our unit was made by CanSolair out of Nfld.
    
    I forget their actual estimates, but here is their URL where you can find more information about the unit:
    
    http://cansolair.com/
    
    According to the web site “MSRP $2749.00 + shipping and taxes where applicable”
    
    I hope this helps,
    Dan
    
david lewis says:

March 7, 2010 at 1:33 am

i have a cansolair on my house in charlottetown, pe, canada. last winter it saved me almost 1000 litres of heating oil.

Dan says:

March 7, 2010 at 1:37 am

Hi David,

Wow, that’s terrific.

I still don’t get Natural Resources Canada’s refusal to include suppor for Canadian products like these for residences in their ecoENERGY residential retrofit program.

Dan

david lewis says:

May 15, 2010 at 2:31 pm

i suppose if it was made in new france it would have the federal governments support.

derrick says:

July 7, 2011 at 1:32 am

wow that sounds great whats the cost of instillation? also where is the best place to install roof or side wall?

Dan says:

July 7, 2011 at 6:32 pm

Hi Derrick,
There was only about $100 installation cost for the small parts, including the insulated flexible duct, etc.

It is IMO easier to install on a wall, yet it will likely receive more direct sunlight on a south facing roof.

Dan