THE HONEST 7-YEAR TEST / DOES IT STILL WORK?

Comments · 1.7K

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  @TheOldJarhead · 7 months ago · pinned

  Check out my followup video here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IHJbloiTs8">https://youtu.be/5IHJbloiTs8</a>

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• DI

  @DigD97 · 11 months ago

  Gonna have trouble finding 300 pop cans. However if I could use beer cans. I can probably have them ready in a few hours.😂

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• HA

  @haroldgreen1425 · 11 months ago

  I&apos;d like to make a couple of suggestions. I built my beer can heater six or seven years back and I don&apos;t believe it cost me even $100. First off there&apos;s no wood other than the two boards that feed air in and out of the cans. The box itself is two layers of foil faced foam board. Never had an issue with it not being able to handle the temps. Now it&apos;s not a flat box. Up at the top it turns down at an angle that matches the suns elevation in winter. The top portion fits into a window so it draws inside air that is heated and blows back into the room with no electricity needed. The box is built as a thermoplane. It has a raised bottom that is around three inches above the bottom and topped by a sheet of foil faced foam. Air flows out of the house, down the lower chamber and then through the rows of cans and convection blows the air back into the house. The cans are all drilled out on both ends and then glued together in a row using liquid nails. The cover is corrugated greenhouse plastic. All caulked and sealed with metal tape. In my area it provides heat from around 10am to 4pm. It raises inside air temp around fifty degrees each pass and can easily heat almost a thousand square feet of my home. I have a simple plug made of foam board that fits in the opening of the piece coming through the window. I put a temp sensor inside the output portion and when the temp drops to the inside the house temp I put the plug in place and leave it there until the temp rises enough to provide heat the next day. The heater is around eight feet long with an additional two feet that goes into a window rather like a window ac unit. A piece of foam on each side and a gasket across the window on top so the the window is closed down to the unit. All together it might weigh less than ten pounds. So far it&apos;s held up to wind, rain, even hail and still worked fine.

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• ST

  @sturgisandsun · 10 months ago

  I made mine out of aluminum dryer duct (a bit easier than cutting and connecting all the pop cans) painted with SolKote. Built the insulated box and snaked ductwork up and down about 26’ in length, into a manifold with 6” inlet and outlet. <br>I added some backdraft dampers to the air supplying ductwork to enable a winter heat mode, and then switch the blower to exhaust excess heat in summer mode.<br>I made 3- 4’x8’ solar heaters, placing them within a rooftop enclosure. Used insulated 8” ductwork for intake and exhaust grills to heat three areas of the house. First winter use saved 400 gallons of fuel oil, about 1/3 of yearly volume. Been saving every year since!

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• FO

  @Foundandfixed-u6p · 11 months ago

  I remember when the Mother Earth News was rich in this kind of info . I don&apos;t find them all that useful anymore. I had about 100 old issues from the 70s that I gave to a young couple who bought some land and wanted to live more independently. They were amazed at all the information they got. Good to see people getting interested in this kind of thing. Being screwed by the cost of energy and over regulation has a way of waking up people who can think outside the box.

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• BO

  @bobbear · 11 months ago

  I am an old retired HVAC specialist, and have been using these and other similar products since 1970, so please pay attention to this old man&apos;s advice. &nbsp;One is I don&apos;t use any kind of foam product, and only a few these of high temp silicone on these devices. For insulated board that is both fire and melt proof I use 1&quot; shielded Duct Board, it is a ridged fiberglass bat type panel with aluminum facing both sides. &nbsp;You can use a straight edge and a utility knife to cut it to shape and as long as it stays dry it will last a lifetime. It has a high reflective surface so it doesn&apos;t require paint, you Want it to be reflective to get more coverage around the tubes. I also use a metal header board and 4&quot; spiral steel piping, a commercial grade of ducting, and weld these to the sheet metal headers before painting the assembly and installing it in the box. &nbsp;I prefer a fiberglass of sheet steel box over wood because that is heat and moisture proof, but wood works just as well. leave a small space between the tubes, let the air circulate around the box, with at least 3/4&quot; space between the poly or glass cover, and I prefer two 1/4&quot; thick pieces of HDPE clear sheeting, pricy but it is hail proof and two layers give it more insulation value in front. &nbsp;Use a good quality rubber seal when applying the clear covers to the box to prevent air leaks. Another option is a silicone product called Fire Stop that comes in a regular tube works well and is permanent. Two 48&quot; x 96&quot; boxes on your roof will heat the average home with a good commercial grade circulation fan (not a PC box fan) and attach internal box temp sensor switches and a room thermostat with a 10 amp rely to switch on the circulation fan, as well as one commercial grade 6&quot; motorized damper to close when a second low temperature temp switch and relay circuit register it cold at night.<br><br>These grade boxes in metal and commercial grade (not pop cans) tubing and insulation, etc., will run around $1,200 per box but will last a lifetime with little maintenance.

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• RO

  @robinburkey2466 · 11 months ago

  Years ago the mother earth news built a similar solar heater. &nbsp;They just fastened a piece of plastic sheet over the exhaust. &nbsp;You need to have the exhaust outlets open straight up and down. &nbsp;In your case, maybe use a 90 to make that happen. &nbsp;The plastic is so light that it opens with convection but prevents backflow. &nbsp;Thankyou for posting. &nbsp;Very informative

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  @696969640 · 7 months ago

  i built one 2010 still works great today 2026 febuary working as we speak saved me 1000s and im in canada north

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  @dougbartlett6713 · 11 months ago

  I had a friend build one and instead of using cans he alternated channels from roof material at slight angles all the way through the heater so that air had to chase its way through as it warmed up . He trimmed the ends of each piece of flashing roofing material to allow hot air to make it around the channel and go into the next channel he pushes it through it’s beautiful during the final chase out was maximum heat. Really a pretty awesome set up

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• AL

  @albayer-b2s · 11 months ago

  This is the first time I&apos;ve seen someone give a &apos;review&apos; of their can solar unit after years of using it. &nbsp;I have often thought of making one of these but wasn&apos;t sure if the time and money invested would be worth it. &nbsp;I think I&apos;ll try it- I don&apos;t have great solar in the winter for the barn I want to heat, but this may have some positive effect and add to the space heater I&apos;m thinking of using. Thanks for this video.

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• 1Q

  @1QKGLH · 11 months ago

  $700?!?!? I built one but instead of using pop cans, I used three passes of aluminum window screen at an angle inside the box. Front top corner to bottom rear corner. LOTS of surface area, and it&apos;s already black. Simple dryer flap to prevent back flow, and a free door wall from facebook marketplace. That nets you two, double pane insulated glass panels so you can build two of them.<br>The window screen has more surface area than the cans, and doesn&apos;t restrict air flow. That set up comes in at less than 1/2 of your cost.

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  @401ksolar · 11 months ago

  I have one that has been heating ever since 2009, however it has a single sheet of aluminum covering the entire inside of the 4&apos;x8&apos; box, it has 8&quot; start collars at the top and bottom, my fan is connected to the bottom inlet because there is too much heat at the top for a fan motor, it is powered by a 45 watt pv panel, the top vent is large enough for my coffee pot.

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