A Farmer's SECRET to Building a Passive Solar Workshop that Really Works

Verge Permaculture vergepermacult... ... This is an exclusive, "HOW TO" PERMACULTURE VIDEO like you've likely never seen before.
Pieter Broere, a farmer from Alberta, Canada, unselfishly shares all of his engineering secrets about how to build and operate a PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY workshop that uses SUNTUF® corrugated polycarbonate panels. Pieter built it to heat his large workspace, but his convection design can be used for almost any building in a cold climate, whether rural or urban.
And BTW, this isn't a new passive solar project that is untested in the real world. It has successfully operated for eleven years in a climate that can reach -40 temperatures. Is that number resonating? MINUS FORTY DEGREES. (Did you know that -40 is the same number whether F or C?)
It's a very simple design that anyone who is handy with a few wood-framing tools and a little electrical knowledge can build themselves.
Of all the arguments we make about the benefits of permaculture, this video will stop cold, pardon the pun, every naysayer who doubts that passive solar heating is cost-effective. Pieter's installation has paid for itself many times over, and almost a dozen years later it is still returning dividends.
Is that resonating too? I hope so-for the sake of the earth and your bank account.
If you don't watch this video all the way through to the end, and you don't comment, well, you might not be as serious about climate change as you've been telling everyone haha. Seriously though, we really want to know what you think, and how you might customize it for your use.
Watch through to the end to see how you can save a HAYMOW of MONEY on your heating bill every month. That alone is worth the price of admission and thirteen minutes and fifteen seconds of your time.
Success like this is hard to find, so enjoy and learn!
If you have questions, Rob and Pieter have answers.
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[@CharlesGann1]

Always glad to see working examples that have been in place for a decade. Congrats. While others are worried about energy. Creative people like this are taking theory and making it work!. Yes things could be tweaked as many comments but Well Done! All commentors can submit their decade old much better project. Love these folks who get it done.

[@matthewthompson4739]

This is essentially a Trombe wall for a shed. This application is the first I've seen for a shed/workshop but I've seen them on greenhouses and a few homes on KZbin.

[@zanewalsh1812]

Thanks for sharing the word Trombe🙏🏼

[@deezynar]

A Trombe wall is made of material that can store thermal energy. There is no heat storage in this system so it overheats in the day, and eventually drops below comfort level in the early morning hours. Items stored in the shed undoubtedly act as heat storage batteries and help to even the interior temperature, but adding mass just for the purpose would be better. The Trombe wall idea uses masonry in the structure of the wall construction to do double duty as heat storage. In a steel frame, or wood frame, building, water filled drums can be located inside the building for storing heat. They could stack drums in the shed and duct the heated air down to heat them. They would keep the shed from over heating in the day, and toss off heat at night. All of this stuff has been studied to death for at least 50 years. You can get a lot of energy out of a solar-thermal system, but typically it's not as controllable as people like, and it requires a lot more insulation to work. That puts a heavy front-end cost on construction that frightens people away. When you are talking about heating houses, not sheds, you have add in the impact that building codes have. I can't speak for Canadian codes, but here in the U.S., you must have conventional heating in the house as a back-up. So that adds even more money to the up front. If you want to forget about heating altogether, you can put so much insulation in a house that you literally need to keep a window open at all times just so you don't sweat to death. Don't ask me what that would cost, but you can figure that it wouldn't be cheap. On the other hand, if you lived on an island and hauling heating fuel was a pain in the rear, that might be the way to go.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Can't beat farmer Ingenuity. When Pietr mentioned the "Stick" i'm assuming he's talking about a temperature probe of some sort. Would love to see a photo of one. Nicely done Rob.

[@VeronicaMist]

Fantastic example! Very Exciting. Prof Tang Lee from UofC might say the optimal gap between wall and plastic is 4 inches. A black wall would make it hotter. The corrugated plastic may filter the light hitting the back wall a bit, but the corrugations running upward make a great upward flow for the heating air. What a fantastic setup Pieter has there. Thanks for showing us Rob!

[@zanewalsh1812]

Thanks for sharing the details about the gap at 4 inches 🙏🏼

[@cupbowlspoonforkknif]

So if you can't circulate the air under your slab, strong blowers will force the hot air down enough to make it comfortable instead of all the heat collecting at the ceiling. That's good to know! Great for a retrofit scenario.

[@davidwalker2942]

Great explanation of a clean installation! Has anyone ever seen examples of this type of solar heater applied on a south facing (dark red) brick wall? In that case, would these air temperatures be detrimental to the life of the mortar?

[@lorenbush8876]

So the air recirculates like a return air on a central heat and air unit and he is reheating air that has already been heated? That sounds great.

[@zanewalsh1812]

Not just Alberta, CA; c'mon Peter... This design is also good for 40°N 🌏🌎🌍 I want one!🎉

[@kristapsbriezkalns2287]

Great design and idea! Thanks for sharing! What about summer time? Just turning the blowers off and that`s it? Or some kind of curtains goes in front of the collector, because I believe, in hot summer time there could be a possibility for fire to break out?!

[@zanewalsh1812]

I'd like to hear more about management of this type of design for warmer months as well 👍🏼

[@vrom13]

I wonder if you could cap both ends inside the shop and incorporate a vent on the outside assembly, but that might encourage mold growth... I believe Rob has incorporated a beeswax telescoping rod in his passive-solar greenhouse / root cellar design; I bet he's got some sort of handsfree solution!

[@jerrymcintire7902]

In summer the sun is directly overhead so it is naturally receiving much less solar insolation. A larger overhang would help with overheating in the warmer months-- that's a passive solution. Another passive solution is low and high vent on the north wall to release hot air and let cool air in from the shady side of the building.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

how ironic that he probably did this to "evade" the carbon tax when it's actually completely complying with the point of it.

[@davefroman4700]

If he had one or two of those fans blowing through some thermal masses his shop would be warm all night.

[@АнтонАвдюков-к2н]

Дорого богато но только для курятника😊

[@3dreamsPermaculture]

Really good and inspiring. Respect for old school Master builders.

[@cheeseheadfiddle]

Getting ready to do this on a smaller scale in Wisconsin USA. Very inspiring! Thank you so much.

[@davej7458]

Almost at the end of the presentation, he mentions the tin. A little bit more. Information about the cross section of the wall would be appreciated. Is the structure corrugated plastic with an air space, then the building wall? Is it corrugated plastic with tin against the building wall? Is the structure corrugated plastic airspace tin airspace, then the building wall? Also, any wood in the wall exposed to that heat for an extended period of time years would continue to get drier and more flammable and eventually could could burst into flame at a much lower temperature than you would normaly expect.

[@jerrymcintire7902]

Wood has one combustion temperature, and it is much higher than the temperatures produced by this passive solar wall. It's true that wetter wood will not ignite as soon as dry, but it still takes 300º C or 572º F to ignite without a spark or flame. By the way, Pieter gets the centigrade and fahrenheit numbers mixed up sometimes.

[@handychick01]

I've been looking at the video over and over trying to figure out the cross section of his wall as well.

[@lifeisgood12341]

Keep the plastic on the outside put your dark tin on the inside. Tin on the outside even dark is just asking to have its heat drawn away by the wind

[@chriskennedy7534]

Nice

[@TheRainHarvester]

Does it sweat? Great building!

[@cupbowlspoonforkknif]

Based on the staining of the wood, I'd say there is some moisture present but not much or not constant. If there was a lot of moisture the wood would be all gray. There are only stains in certain areas.

[@yuukpakpa]

I think Prairie Farm Report had a more passive system than this (no blowers) that someone built in Saskatchewan. It was in one of their shop videos probably 30 or more years ago.

[@aaronh4963]

Rimbey / Gull lake local here, Thanks to both of you for showing this to the world!

[@sobelgar9289]

Awesome work! Impressive and thanks for sharing. can you explain why you block the first layer 90% the next 50% etc?

[@MrTree0007]

Based on my intuition, it is to get air moving through each of the panel gaps. Without that blockage forcing the intake air sideways, it would all just move up straight from intake to exhaust, not taking advantage of the broader solar collection area. Also, going through just the one section, the same volume of air should move faster, so wouldn't be able to pick up as much heat.

[@modee-b9s]

Ingenious design - well done Sir.

[@davidhick4303]

What are the memory sticks he speaks of? Is there a product that we can purchase to take those temperature samples?

[@jerrymcintire7902]

Yes, recording thermometers, or sensors that connect to your wifi network.

[@MrTree0007]

Very interesting. This has me thinking about my 40' by 60' shop. Of course, the south facing side is the short side, but we did plumb the floor for in-floor heating. This could be a valuable modification to add a heat exchanger to heat fluid for the floor. We presently just have the pipes in place in the floor, no electricity nor actual use of the pipes - we had it installed thinking toward the future.

[@mr_regenerative]

Look into evaporated tubes and use the radiant it is WAY MORE efficient then air.

[@mr_regenerative]

You can use a small solar set up For the circulating equipment & monitoring.

[@amettamail]

What a good idea!

[@robmcculloch2611]

Any chance you got the name brand on his blower fans? Interested in buying some.

[@sobelgar9289]

Pretty sure he showed it in the video...

[@robmcculloch2611]

@@sobelgar9289 yup your right. Took me 5 tries but I finally got a pic of the name. Fantech Fr100

[@vrom13]

They look like radon mitigation fans. Build to run 24/7 - 365 and rated for external (read wet / damp) location use.

[@lifeisgood12341]

Y'all need a thermal camera

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

yup

[@TheKlink]

from a uk perspective having to deal with the mould caused by semi permeable membranes, housewrap seems like it'd be an aweful product.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

I'm not fully sure why it's a thing here. Probably the fact that we're humid bordering on semi-arid, rather than humid bordering on palustrine like much of the UK?

[@timmycorini]

i couldnt really grasp the whole thing. how is the heat transfer from the sun on the outside of the building heating the air to 68C that is pulled inside? i dont understand the mechanism

[@cupbowlspoonforkknif]

It's the same as when your car sits in the sun and heats up way beyond the outside temperature.

[@jerrymcintire7902]

There are vent holes in the wall, near the bottom and near the top. A fan at the bottom or top pushes air through the vents and the sun's heat helps the air rise to the top of the wall, where it moves inside through the vent holes. 4" diameter vent holes, he said.

[@timmycorini]

68C ?

[@jerrymcintire7902]

Yes, he meant F.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

farring the heits

[@christophvonwaldhuf]

@@jerrymcintire7902 No 68C is very realistic for a set up like this, why would he set the temperature to turn on to 22F, it’s 22C