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Solar Collector Keeps Shop Toasy Warm
"It's maintenance-free and keeps our farm shop comfortably warm at virtually no cost even on the coldest winter days," says Harvey Lorton and son Gary of Greenfield, Ill., who built a solar collector panel that covers the entire south wall of their 16 by 50-ft. combination machine shed and shop.
The solar heater
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Solar Collector Keeps Shop Toasy Warm ENERGY Solar 22-1-18 "It's maintenance-free and keeps our farm shop comfortably warm at virtually no cost even on the coldest winter days," says Harvey Lorton and son Gary of Greenfield, Ill., who built a solar collector panel that covers the entire south wall of their 16 by 50-ft. combination machine shed and shop.
The solar heater consists of a sheet of clear fiberglass on the outside with a sheet of tin painted black to absorb heat behind. There's a 4-in. wide open space behind the tin and then a layer of fiberglass insulation. On the other side of the insulation is a second sheet of tin, which forms the inside wall of the building and keeps mice from nesting in the insulation. A 1/2 hp squirrel cage fan blows air out of the collector and into the building through five 1-ft. sq. louvered vents located along the base of the wall.
"It produces a lot of heat and there's nothing to worry about mechanically," says Gary. "Even if the outside temperature is only 10 degrees, as long as the sun is shining the in-side temperature will rise to 65 or 70 degrees during the day. We mounted a thermostat in-side the shop that turns the fan on or off. If the thermostat is set at 65 degrees the fan will usually stop running by 3 p.m., even on cold days. It produces some heat even on cloudy days. We use a wood burning stove in the early morning to provide heat before the sun gets strong."
The Lortons also use a solar collector to dry corn in a Shivvers grain bin. They in-stalled a fiberglass solar collector on the roof and south wall of a building next to the bin and use a 5 hp electric fan to blow heated air through an 18-in. dia. plastic pipe and into the bin's aeration ducts. "The solar collector raises the air temperature about 10 degrees.
We can dry about 600 bu. of 20 percent moisture corn per day in good weather," says Gary.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harvey Lorton, RR, Greenfield, Ill. 62044 (ph 217 368-2168).
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