Steve Last Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Does anyone have any knowledge of whether there is a feasible way of using solar panels to keep the background temperature of an empty house raised a few degrees? We have a village house in 84 Vaucluse which gets very cold in winter when unoccupied, but there is plenty of winter sunshine. We also haved a roof section which is invisible from the ground and could take up to 40 sq metres of panels. It would be ideal to be able to use some of the solar energy to keep the basic house from getting so cold that it takes a week to get it back up to tolerable temperature. I know solar can't really be used for central heating but this would be to supplement our current woodstove and electric panels. We have considered putting in a full oil CH system but it seems a bit daft when the cost of oil is going through the roof so to speak, not to mention the environmemtal issues. Unfortunately we have no land to even consider a geothermal system which a friend has just installed in a new house in Scotland and seems to be very effective.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owens88 Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 This sounds attractive then I thought about it again. Now I am thinking as I type so bear with me.You would not be doing any 'concentration' effect , merely re-locating energy which is already falling on your roof to the interior of your house. I am not sure whether that makes it easier or valueless.In the meantime there have been some useful postings about systems which capture heat from the air (I presume wall mounted like aircon). Might that be useful ?Good luckJohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 One thought – not related to the technical but rather thecommercial aspects. From my experienceof renewable energy systems, the installation professionals have to guaranteethat the system will operate properly for 10 years. Thus, I expect they would require a very precise writtenrequirement from you that the system is not required to “heat the house” –basically something that will “let them off the hook” when you sell the houseand the next owner finds out that the solar heating does not heat the houseeffectively (and thus the ensuing arguments with the installer) !!Of course this does not affect things if you are looking toinstall yourself or to get an installer to work e.g. on “time and materials”.Also, if the system is not designed to “heat the house” thenyou may not be eligible for the tax credit (if you are a French “tax payer”).I’m sure these are not “stopping points” but may need to beborne in mind. When I had the peopleround to look and renewable energy heating they were very cautious aboutfinding a system that would work and were finding loads of “issues” (e.g. highwater table, prone to mist in winter, etc.) and thus ended up after a few hoursbeing “totally unsure”.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianpmills Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I think the installations costs would be quite high. Would an electric radiator or two left on the frost free setting so the job? Alternatively, an aerothermie unit would have the benefit of also providing summer air-conditioning, so better justifying the installation cost?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex H Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 To give you some idea of the cost, I have had a quote for solar panels for water heating - 2 x 2.2sq metre = €4,650 installed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Last Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 Thanks for the comments, I see there are now a couple of other threads on this subject so will think on! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
condorman Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi Steve, reckon you could doo this, 40sqm of pannels would be expensive, would you reely need something that big??? you could connect them to under floor heating pipes, and have it all controled by a thermostat... pannels heat up.. stat switches on solar powered pump.. warmed water pumped round floor all day, sun goes pump stops or stat switches off, floor pad takes a long time to cool down. what does theee think? You can make your own quality pannels for about 150 € each, for 2.5 sq meters.... ch ch chow, best of luck with what yer doing.. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owens88 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I might be missing something so please be kind. The sunlight falling on your roof will transfer energy to the building n'est-ce pas ? So unless you are heavily insulated up-top then a lot of what lands there will filter below anyway?So any mechanism, like Condorman's which I quite like, will only be re-locating the energy and by-passing your roof insulation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilec Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Good thermal insulation would be a prerequisite anyway, otherwise what filters in will also filter out just as quickly.The idea is to capture what heat you can, put it where you want it to be, and keep it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.