# Solar and wind just for heat



## Bungiex88 (Jan 2, 2016)

Always thought it would be a good idea to help out the oil and coal furnaces with some electric heaters throughout the house run solely on wind and solar. Has anyone done this and if so what did you use and how well does it work and is it worth it. I'm in an old simple 2 storyfull attic and basement farmhouse. The house holds heat pretty good but just always pondered the idea. I live in central pa and winters can get cold and very windy.


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## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

Electric Heating (resistance) is most inefficient and a solar battery system killer. It's takes a LOT of Watts to create heat and that is an extreme drain on batteries. Would be cheaper & more effective to look at Solar Heating Panels.

Have a look at $2K Solar Space + Water Heating -- One Simple DIY System and this Video on [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6QOZGgbj-g"]Home built passive solar air heater[/ame] which is also fully outlined on Build It Solar.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Solar Thermal is the way to go if you want heat. It can be 50% efficient or higher where PV is less than 20%. Builditsolar.com has lots of different ideas on how to do this. I built a solar air heater on my garage using his window screen collector idea.

WWW


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## MattB4 (Jan 3, 2016)

The problem with using either solar panels or a wind turbine is the high cost of the unit versus the amount of power you would get to use in heating. Electrical heating is not inefficient in spite of it oft being repeated. In fact it is 100% efficient at changing watts to BTU's. What is inefficient is how you generate the electricity to begin with. 

Say you buy 2kw worth of panels to run a space heater (1.5kw potable). Your cost is going to be around $5,000 all installed. For that you will get maybe enough to run that space heater for 5 hours a day. That is 7.5kWH or about $1 worth of electricity from the power company. It will not be enough to heat a home and it will not work when the sun is not shinning. 

Wind is not much better since it is also a low power density source like solar. It also has expensive initial costs and has the additional problem of frequent repair/maintenance. It does have the advantage over solar that it will work at night.


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## Bungiex88 (Jan 2, 2016)

Thanx for the comments and video. Sounds like I'd just be better off buying coal. I'm not a tree hugger but a penny pincher and the heat I can get off burning the black gold and for how cheap it is I'll stick to coal, wood, and oil.


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## kcota2000 (Apr 2, 2016)

Hi I'm brand new here. I'm looking at all that I can find to power my 2 cumberland custom cabins being delivered (hopefully) this Thursday. They are going to be put right on a ridge/cliff area on 5 acres right next to a reservoir used for recreation and world class fishing, ATVing, boating etc. It is off grid, power available with cost, septic tanks upon approval, and access to water delivery for cisterns. I am going to be renting them out nightly, weekly but have next to no start up costs. I want to make them off grid, because I see it is most efficient. Anyway I realize I'm on a tangent but I am currently also looking at wind turbine power and found this. What are your thoughts? too pricey? 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sunforce...658295?cm_mmc=socialmedia|fbdpa|VM|Y|DTRH|CTA


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## kcota2000 (Apr 2, 2016)

There are not any tall trees around, or wind breakers of any sort. Also I wonder about having a box fan that requires 65 watts, to go on when there is no wind to create wind? Like a self perpetuating cycle. Thoughts?


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## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

The Sunforce / Coleman kits are way overpriced for what they are. The advantage is they are Plug & Play but the price for low performance is a kicker. There are "kits" designed for cabin', rv's and boats available from many sources that are more suitable if you are installing on a "permanent" basis. In fact, RV/Marine folks have come up with really good complete kits with one big advantage, they are designed to be independent/self sufficient. They most often also include an Inverter/Charger that allows "shore power" / generator power to feed in and properly charge your batteries if/when needed.

Wind Power sounds great and if you have the correct type of location it can work well. Unfortunately what many people think of as good for wind, actually isn't. Here is an excellent article that is worth a good read. http://www.solacity.com/smallwindtruth.htm

For a similar price to that Coleman Turbine, you can get a complete 200 Watt RV Solar kit (minus batteries of course) on E-Bay 200w-200-Watt-2-100w-Solar-Panel-Plug-n-Power-Space-Flex-Kit-12v-Battery-


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

kcota2000 said:


> There are not any tall trees around, or wind breakers of any sort. Also I wonder about having a box fan that requires 65 watts, to go on when there is no wind to create wind? Like a self perpetuating cycle. Thoughts?


Energy conversion is low on most systems. Imagine an electric motor turning a generator, directly connected. There would likely be a loss of energy of at least 50%. As a general guess, a 65 watt (tiny) fan isn't going to push a wind turbine enough to generate 5 watts. 

The title implies using solar generated electricity and wind energy to run heaters. A single tiny heater draws at least 1200 watts. String 5 or six together to get enough heat for a cool spring morning and the huge amount of batteries and numbers of wind turbines will set you back.


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## red-beard (Jan 10, 2016)

kcota2000 said:


> Hi I'm brand new here. I'm looking at all that I can find to power my 2 cumberland custom cabins being delivered (hopefully) this Thursday. They are going to be put right on a ridge/cliff area on 5 acres right next to a reservoir used for recreation and world class fishing, ATVing, boating etc. It is off grid, power available with cost, septic tanks upon approval, and access to water delivery for cisterns. I am going to be renting them out nightly, weekly but have next to no start up costs. I want to make them off grid, because I see it is most efficient. Anyway I realize I'm on a tangent but I am currently also looking at wind turbine power and found this. What are your thoughts? too pricey?
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sunforce...658295?cm_mmc=socialmedia|fbdpa|VM|Y|DTRH|CTA


If you need serious power, for an off-grid cabin, we make complete assembled systems. PM me if you're interested. Www.mi-grid.com


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## red-beard (Jan 10, 2016)

To the OP, you would be better off with passive solar or a thermal system.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

First I would focus on insulation and lots of it. Then once that is done your demand is less and your house is more comfortable. After that I would look at solar for directly producing hot air instead of electricity to produce heat. It's simpler and you should get a lot more heat for your buck. Plus you can build it all yourself.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

For $200. you can get a solar panel that puts out a maximum of 200 watts. That amount won't heat a chicken brooder overnight. 
A single portable space heater is 1800 watts. Add the panels and inverter and batteries and you can take the chill off a bedroom for a few hours for around 3 grand.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

kcota2000 said:


> Hi I'm brand new here. I'm looking at all that I can find to power my 2 cumberland custom cabins being delivered (hopefully) this Thursday. They are going to be put right on a ridge/cliff area on 5 acres right next to a reservoir used for recreation and world class fishing, ATVing, boating etc. It is off grid, power available with cost, septic tanks upon approval, and access to water delivery for cisterns. I am going to be renting them out nightly, weekly but have next to no start up costs. I want to make them off grid, because I see it is most efficient. Anyway I realize I'm on a tangent but I am currently also looking at wind turbine power and found this. What are your thoughts? too pricey?
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sunforce...658295?cm_mmc=socialmedia|fbdpa|VM|Y|DTRH|CTA


For heat, why not use wood? Another alternative is propane.


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## WoodsDweller (Jun 15, 2016)

You mean you've never heard that old Eric Clapton song "Propane"?

If you wanna homestead and live off the grid, propane. 

Cook that goose, just don't turn it loose, propane. 

It will light, it will light, it will light......propane. 

---- good song.


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