How much heat does a SAM Solar Home Heating system produce?

 

During the week of the winter solstice in 2013 we recorded data and temperatures in relation to the performance of our 4 SAM Solar Heating and Ventilation test system in Surrey Hills, Melbourne Victoria. Check out the data below to see what GES has achieved in way of solar home heating. 

Solar Air Heating System Temperatures

The temperatures recorded here were taken from three locations:

• The air supply (blue line). Which is where the warm air collected in the SAM enters the house.
• Inside the SAM unit (red line).
• Outside (green line).

The purple line shows the difference between the outside temperature and the temperature recorded at the air supply.

Temperatures were recorded 5 times a day from the 16th June to the 23rd June 2013.

If you wish to see the details for each day individually – [peekaboo_link name=”Temperature Graph”] please click here:[/peekaboo_link]

[peekaboo_content name=”Temperature Graph”]

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<h2=””>Solar Heating Performance – Heat Output for Solar Air Heating System
Below you can see the data logged temperatures i.e. the solar heating performance  for GES’ 4 SAM Solar Heating and Ventilation test system in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, VIC during the week of winter solstice:</h2=””>

If you wish to see the details for each day individually – [peekaboo_link name=”Heat Production Output”] please click here:[/peekaboo_link][peekaboo_content name=”Heat Production Output”]

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Humidity of incoming air – Drying effect

Below you can see the data logged relative humidity for GES’ 4 SAM Solar Heating and Ventilation test system in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, VIC during the week of winter solstice:

If you wish to see the details for each day individually – [peekaboo_link name=”Humidity Graph”] please click here:[/peekaboo_link][peekaboo_content name=”Humidity Graph”]

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The impact of warm dry air is often ignored or vastly underestimated. Read more below to appreciate the benefits of ventilating with dry warm air.

From the above you can see that solar heat production from a solar heating ventilation system depends mainly on the solar irradiation available and the efficiency of the system. The conversion from available energy from the sun to solar heat is far higher than what can be achieved when converting energy to electricity.

As outlined in our SAM brochure, temperatures in the SAM collector and the air supplied into the house will vary between systems. The main factors for the SAM collector temperature are the fan speed  and number of collectors in the solar heating system.(i.e. the time the air spends in the collector). Temperature loss in the ducting obviously depends on the quality and length of the ducting.

Total solar heat production is basically a result of the temperature rise produced in the solar air heater, less the heat lost in the transfer multiplied by the volume of heated air delivered into the building.

Dehumidification Effect from SAM Solar House Ventilation System

Although the SAM Solar House Heating and Ventilation system is not a dehumidifier in the conventional  sense – it supplies warm and dry air into the building which reduces the amount of moisture accumulated in the building by supplying fresh air with very low relative humidity into the building. This creates a slight positive pressure, which pushes moist and stale air out of the building resulting in ventilation and a dehumidifying effect and a healthy, comfortable indoor climate. Reducing moisture in the building also boosts the performance of other heating systems – as less energy is required to heat or maintain temperatures in the building – as less energy is used to evaporate moisture before effective heat contribution can take place.

For the same reasons SAM is obviously also great for Solar Drying Rooms or Solar Drying Cupboards.

 Live Solar Air Module and Solar Heating Data