# solar heating for a shed



## Jim Bunton (Mar 16, 2004)

Looking to try and combine a green house/ solar collector on the south side of a shed to heat the inside of the shed. The area in question is a one end of the shed measuring 800 sq. ft. with 13' ceiling. I was wondering if any one here is familiar with Mears solar heating system? www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/MearsSolarHeatedHome.pdf

This looks like it should work and would be relatively easy to build, but I was hoping to find some one that knew more about it I could maybe ask some questions. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Jim


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi,
The Mears home system seems a bit complex for heating a shed.

I wonder if you would not be OK with just using the concrete slab floor for heating and heat storage. Insulate under the slab and around the edges, run PEX tubes through the slab, and then circulate the warmed water from the solar collectors directly through the slab? I have heard from people who have done this and been pretty satisfied with the results. 

This would be a closed loop system, so you would need an expansion tank, fill valves, etc., but all in all a pretty simple system. Be sure to insulate under and around the slab and to insulate the shed walls and ceilings.

David Mears is at Rutgers in the horticultural area -- you can google to get his email address. He will answer email questions.

Gary


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## Jim Bunton (Mar 16, 2004)

SolarGary said:


> Hi,
> The Mears home system seems a bit complex for heating a shed.
> 
> I wonder if you would not be OK with just using the concrete slab floor for heating and heat storage. Insulate under the slab and around the edges, run PEX tubes through the slab, and then circulate the warmed water from the solar collectors directly through the slab? I have heard from people who have done this and been pretty satisfied with the results.
> ...


Thank you for your response. Are you suggesting I could eliminate the stone and water under the concrete and get similar if less dramatic results with just solar collectors? Would the green house still be a help? I would probably build it to stretch the growing season if nothing else. Thank you for the heads up on Mr. Mears.

Jim


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi,
Right -- the concrete slab would store some heat and reduce the day to night temperature swings. It would not provide as much storage as the gravel and water arrangement in the Mears house, but it would help.

I asked David about his house once, and he said that if he were doing it all again, he would insulate and seal better, and forgo the gravel and water with the liner -- he thinks that insulation levels have gotten to the point where the wet gravel heat storage is overkill, and something that provides less storage would be OK -- but, I don't think that he actually had run any numbers on this -- it was just his gut feel.

The greenhouse to heat air would definitely help -- or, a solar air collector like the one I use: http:
//www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/solar_barn_project.htm

So, you would end up with some solar water heating collectors with the hot water from them circulating through the floor -- this would help with the nightime temperature drop. And, some solar air collectors (maybe in the form of a greenhouse) -- which are simpler and cheaper to build to provide more heat during the day.

You might even be able to combine the two:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolAirColWithDHW/AlAirCol.htm


There are a lot more ideas here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Space_Heating.htm#Passive

Another interesting option would be to use the kind of system that Nathan used:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Sunspace/LowCostHtStorageNathan.pdf

Gary


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