DIY Sand Battery Air Heaters! w/heat powered fans! no electricity needed! sand battery room heater!

[@Darkice77]

I've been using sand batteries for years. My wood stove is in the basement, the exhaust pipe is double walled but single walled where it goes through three 50 gallon drums filled with playground sand. The three 50 gallon drums are upstairs in the main rooms and get super hot. Almost as hot as the stove itself. Every night the fire goes out and 6 hours later the upstairs drums are still super hot. I heat my entire house on just 6 medium sized logs a day. The sand batteries distribute the heat better and retain a ton of it.

[@desertsun02]

that's awesome!

[@gabrielgundulf7139]

Would be nice to see a video of that!

[@M.P.007]

Hi Krod Krod, I experimented with pans small, big ones, on a rocketstove, on a gas burner etc.Hours en hours heating the sand, than i put the woodstoveventilator on top. It start rotating but there is no spectacular heat coming of. There is something I do wrong..... after one hour the fan is still running but no heat anymore?? Then i dig in the sand a little bit .... it helps a little. So,.... not hours warmth.... 1 hour and its already over and out. Do I perhaps use the wrong sand??? I bought so called Silversand....??

[@maascarter6159]

Do where did you get the fans

[@neomatrix2722]

Heykrod krod do you have a picture of that set-up I'd like to try something like that at my cabin please

[@ericg2167]

I use an electric oil radiator heater all winter here in Manitoba, Canada to keep my garage at 8 degrees Celsius or so throughout the winter. Ceiling and walls insulated. I put a stainless steel bucket full of sand on top of it. Last night, I was screwing with my sons frozen car battery and threw a breaker but didn't notice. The heater shut off. Today, I went back to the garage and it was only plus 2 Celsius. I'm glad to have had the sand battery to keep the temp above freezing.

[@danestarbird34]

Saw a video a few months ago where they were using a solar reflector or fesnal lense to focus solar radiation one a sand battery during the day and bringing inside at night to release the heat. Buckets of sand were maintaining high levels of heat for over 9 hours. Your idea of using the thermal fans is awesome !!!

[@desertsun02]

hi and thank you! i love those fans. i'd be curious to see that video. i was thinking there might be a way to use a 55 gallon drum with sand in it. if you heat that up the sand would release heat for days.

[@MegaKB333]

@@desertsun02 where do you get the fans?

[@sheona7693]

@@desertsun02 maybe not days, as someone else commented that they have three 50 gallon drums with sand around their wood stove chimney and it radiates heat for about 6 hours.

[@XiaolinDraconis]

@@sheona7693 they didn't sound like they had much insulation. So it would just be dumping heat really fast. A ceramic lining like a water tank has would allow for less heat per hour but drastically increase the duration.

[@joecool4656]

@@XiaolinDraconis Another thing you can buy is a space blanket and partially wrap the containers as needed

[@nixonsmateruby1]

Can someone put loads of fans in the Sahara and point them towards England please so we can be warm.

[@crystalh733]

😂😂😂❤

[@Niberspace]

but that would only solve 1 out of a million things bad about England

[@Tslc99]

@@Niberspace 😂 oh my goodness. I was trying to get that hair off my screen for a good minute before I realized that’s your pic 😅

[@Niberspace]

@@Tslc99 you forgot to mention that the comment was also really high quality

[@mom-and-son]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@Finnmark2013]

I do this too. Its brilliant. I heat the sandbattery with 4 candles. Drilled 4 1 cm holes in the tin box, and put twinned 5mm copper wire thru there. So the candles hit the wires and the sand very quickly. Also possible to put a bucket filled with sand on the oven. The oven get cold long time before the sand. Hours.

[@millanferende6723]

I always wondered what the point of that was? Unless you have a lot of airflow inside your house. Otherwise the energy is basically the same?

[@barnabyvonrudal1]

@@millanferende6723 with the sand it's thermal mass and radiative heat. whereas with heated air it's convection. I can't really explain it but radiative heat is better to keep you warm.

[@barnabyvonrudal1]

@finnmark2013 what's your setup look like? I imagine you drill the holes in the bottom of the can - and in that case the sand would leak out??

[@nnejiamaechi9385]

I don't still get it. How is it done really? If you can help

[@millanferende6723]

What don't you get? Filling the bucket up with sand and putting some candles underneath?@@nnejiamaechi9385

[@Ihavetwoearsandonemouth]

Every day is a schoolday! Fascinating.

[@cohen860]

Love your statement!

[@judyutah]

Need a bit more explanation - I love this idea. 1. How long does one need to heat the sand (in the oven or stove top)? 2. Where did you get the fan that has 5 curled shapes, and what's it's name? 3. Have you examined the cost of heating up the sand vs. the 'free' heat you get from it? Thank you.

[@nobody6032]

Good question

[@samieparadise9316]

As for cost of heating versus heat it's worth it. Because you don't have to keep running it once it's heated and the sand traps the heat and slowly releases it instead of the heat escaping from your cealing

[@ruidadgmailcanada8508]

How and when you heat the sand is up to your local situation. Gas and electricity rates are unbearable for many. I would use wood fuelled rocket stove outdoors and bring the can(s) in for the night. Essentially a sand ‘battery’ for heating.

[@XiaolinDraconis]

It's going to put out the same energy you put into it. Just slower.

[@JPduclerc]

​@@XiaolinDraconis I don't think so. Energy loss is a given in thermodynamics.

[@siguie2355]

Instead of that copper strip you should look at computer "Heat Pipes" they are closed/sealed pipes with liquid inside. The liquid vapourizes and condenses like a fridge system but transports heat faster than solid metal. They are also reasonably cheap and come in different sizes and shapes.

[@fred-san]

caloducs

[@townbell2248]

There is a video on KZbin on how to make those pipes

[@M.P.007]

How do the heat pipes you are meaning look like? do you have a youtube-link or something like that?🤔

[@desertsun02]

@siguie awesome! i will look into those! thanks for letting me know about them. suggestions are always super appreciated!

[@townbell2248]

Yeah I will find them and share. They are a simple build and only require a torch to seal the end if I remember correctly

[@ericg2167]

I live in Canada. I heat my detached, 25 by 25, insulated garage with a simple oil filled, radiator style heater (120 volt). It keeps everything from freezing at about 5 Celsius. On top of it is a metal pail filled with sand. The sand is a heat battery in case the power goes out. The sand keeps radiating heat that it has stored. Saved my ass keeping things above freezing a number of times.

[@Chris-Moore501]

Really excited to see how you implement the TEG chips into your own designs!

[@lisav8205]

I would want to stick my feet in the sand after a few hours...just like beach sand. Great idea!

[@desertsun02]

that is actually an excellent idea. why not. it's just like beach sand. another thing that i didn't mention in the video is after the top cools down. it's still pretty warm in the center so you could stir the sand around with a spoon then drop the fan on for another hour or two (maybe more) 🙂

[@QAYWSXEDCCXYDSAEWQ]

I don't agree; I fear sand can heat up to temperatures far in excess of water; stick your feet into it and you won't get them back out before all the flesh and muscle on them is missing... nasty.

[@manicsurfing]

Stick a temperature probe in there if you are afraid.

[@wolin289]

Very nice! I've been heating my home with your cast iron skillet heater and stove fan. I use free hand sanitizer that I was gifted for fuel (I got cases upon cases of it) It works just like gel fuel. Free heat! Will try your sand battery idea too. But maybe I'll heat the sand with hand sanitizer! You engineer such great ideas. Thanks!

[@極楽鳥-m8m]

Sanitizer fuel 😂😂😂 that's good recycling:) How long does one bottle burn for, at a rate to heat your home?

[@noahriding5780]

It would be interesting if you can report back on how long you got the heat to last for. Thanks.

[@noahriding5780]

@@極楽鳥-m8m People used to do that down in brazil with cheap beer or rubbing alcohol. I don't know burn rates sorry.

[@wolin289]

They are in gallon bottles. I was running through a quart to quart and a half per day.

[@susanramares2876]

I can't find a link to the cast iron heater and stove fan. Please post. It sounds interesting!

[@ResponseDigitalMedia]

So for how long does it take to get the sand hot enough on a stovetop, and how long does it hold the heat or for how long will the fans work? In other words tell us more about the “battery” properties of sand.

[@Mountaingypsytrading]

I’m sure it’s got something to do with the silica, silica is used in solar panels…

[@noahriding5780]

He's basically saying, and others also... the sand doesn't heat up fast, comparatively. The copper is what heats the sand up fast. But the sand retains the heat longer over time. Metals both cool and heat up and down quickly. That's why he doesn't do ONLY copper with no sand. The sand holds the heat in long term. So the sand once heated will retain the heat, but the sand gets benefit from the copper 'kick starting' its heat by heating it up faster than it could do on its own. The sand doesn't have the property to heat up fast, but its property does hold the heat... to a point. After understanding this its about numbers on paper of how many hours and minutes to hold the heat over time, and how many minutes for the system to get heated up. I don't know all the numbers, but I understand the basics of why which materials are used, and why. I do hope others can put up numbers on how long they could get it to last and shapes of containers, etc. (shallow containers without depth should lose heat faster than something thick. container shape should matter. And having a lid on it may also help retain heat.) ... Other people doing similar videos often forget or don't know about what the copper does. I saw others they didn't have copper in them. The fans will work where there's heat. The fans work on the exchange of hot and cold air flowing.

[@Mountaingypsytrading]

@@noahriding5780 thank you! That’s very helpful…

[@radiomanz117]

@@noahriding5780 the fans have a thermocouple in the bottom that converts heat into electricity which runs the low power fan.

[@mikefeddersen2476]

This is such a good idea for desert areas that get high heat during the day, but cool off quickly at night. An insulated container or wall that gets heat during the day? I heard of a house that had a big wall in it's interior and they used it to cool the house during the day.

[@danestarbird34]

Mike. I like this idea. Been thinking about setting the sand in a dutch oven or other black metal container and then placing this in a solar reflective oven during the day. Be curious to see how hot that would get and how long it would give off heat.

[@teebob21]

Look up "trombe walls"

[@pangorbalm8086]

So, I got my metal buckets and my sand but these buckets came with metal lids that I could hammer down on top of them. I'm thinking that will help hold the heat in the sand for longer after I heat them up on my wood burning stove. What do you think about that?

[@davecarter34]

My friend has 2 of these fans ontop of his wood stove/heater for the winter months, what are you thoughts on placing a dutch oven full of sand on top of the stove then using the fan stuck in the sand ? The sand may retain the heat once fire has gone out somewhat longer

[@kozinator]

Stage Two - Take a oven range top element and heat the element up via solar power. Would also like to see how long sand battery powers the fans. Awesome content as usual.

[@teecinemayo]

Yeah I'd like to know how many hours also

[@NickOvchinnikov]

I'd just put these on a wood stove

[@noahriding5780]

In the video he quotes the heat lasting about 3 hours. This answers the question that Kozinator and teecinemayo3783 had. However, I didn't catch how long it would take for him to heat it up. Also heating it would be cut and shortened by more copper, spaced throughout the sand. And similarly it would also have the heating time increased by thickness spacing of too much sand density away from the copper. So I'm very much interested in seeing what could be done to cut down on the heat up time. I also believe that the heat up time could be shortened with multiple copper plates rather than just one. But he did a great job. Very good job. I hope hashing out the ideas doesn't come across as criticism.

[@savannahsmiles1797]

what about using an induction burner vs range heating element?

[@rogerjensen5277]

What about using several coils of copper wire evenly spaced or would this draw the heat out too fast?@@noahriding5780

[@theusconstitution1776]

I once had a customer of mine, build a 8 x 8 brick room around his woodstove in the basement and then threw the floorboards. He brought in tons and tons of sand filled the room around the woodstove and the pipe going to the chimney and had an opening to the door his theory was warm up get that sand hot, and then for the winter just build a small one or two log fire, sad news folks too much sand. He could never build the fire hot enough to heat the sand all the way to the brick walls so we ended up having to take it all back out with the wheelbarrow, I would think a smaller test subject would’ve been easier, but I’ve seen it😳❤️‍🔥🙏🏼🇺🇸

[@jerrodlopes186]

A suggestion. Now cover the entire thing with a hole or holes cut in the cover to let the warm air out. I dis this exact thing using a 5 gallon plastic Home Depot bucket. It made a HUGE difference in the amount of useful heat I get out of the sand battery, etc. The plastic bucket barely even gets warm to the touch on the outside, so no safety issues.

[@TheRainHarvester]

Why not heat water instead?

[@jerrodlopes186]

@@TheRainHarvester if you want hot water, sure. If you want lasting heat, sand is far far better.

[@TheRainHarvester]

@@jerrodlopes186 but the specific heat of water is more than sand. But I guess the sand can reach a higher temp safely than water can.

[@jerrodlopes186]

@@TheRainHarvester sand holds onto heat far longer than water and also takes bare minimum 800°F more than water before it changes states.

[@billyjones9045]

How did you hit the sand,? Did you hit it and pans and dump it in the plastic 5 gallon buckets

[@justmefolks1863]

I just got one of those fans to use for a power outage. It barely spins on top of my radiator style heaters at half power. In front of a larger heater though it goes nuts. I think it would do well on top of the brick style alcohol stoves.

[@simonlinser8286]

brick style alcohol stove? never heard of that... care to elaborate? sounds interesting

[@perothing]

@@simonlinser8286 Explore this channel, he's got plenty vids about that.

[@Inertia888]

If you want the fan to spin faster, I think you can put something cold, like a chilled steel piece, or an ice-cube, on the cold side of the Peltier TEC module. The voltage produced is calculated by the difference in temperature, between the two sides of the Peltier TEC module.

[@marco1985e]

You are a amazing Person. I enjoy all your vídeos. Love the simplicity of your inventions my man. Please keep uploading videos . I would love to see videos of you and Lifepo4 batteries and solar panels. Thank you

[@desertsun02]

hi there and thank you! i had been looking into Lifepo4 and solar panels.

[@JohnSmith-kr7xd]

*That design could turn a magnet and coil setup that sends charge to a battery bank couldn't it? Seems like you can charge batteries with wood/coal/oil (whatever heat source) and just a few of these fans. It could be a nice way to charge solar/wind systems when sun and wind are none existent.*

[@Inertia888]

Yes. The cost is the heat and the cold that you need to produce. The bigger the difference in temperature, between the two sides of the module = bigger power output, on the wires.

[@brianr101010]

I will experiment with combining the fan with a "shortening candle" sand heater. Best of both worlds.

[@privateprivate8366]

Well?

[@nunyabiznes33]

Being a tropical dude I'd probably never need to use this but interesting nonetheless. How I wish they can also store cold.

[@privateprivate8366]

I live in the northeast and I wish it could do cold too. I HHHATE summer!

[@simonlinser8286]

i want to make one like a jetboil pot, a jetboil is a backpacking stove with a special pot, it has fins on the bottom to absorb the heat better. and also having a sealed top would be better so that if it ever gets knocked over you don't have to clean up sand

[@FigmentVFX]

Looking good! You could probably increase efficiency by putting insulation around the container so the heat doesnt leak out the sides. Maybe wrap one of those space blackets around them.

[@SapioiT]

The whole point of using it is to heat up the room. Maybe while storing it in-between heating it and heating the room, you would need to insulate it, but you could simply not bother.

[@marshallkohlhaas80]

bravo @@SapioiT

[@regwatson2017]

Try running a twelve volt battery through a kettle or other 240v or 110v heating element - that is supposed to heat up well too - if so you could heat the sand from a battery using a wind turbine or solar panel to keep it charged - free heat !!!

[@desertsun02]

hi. they sell many different types of DC heating elements too. many of those can be hooked directly to a solar panel (and probably a wind turbine also).

[@johndevries7122]

Hi sir, Last summer I asked you about the parts for a cooler in my living room, unfortunately I wasn't able to test it as the temperature started to drop again and I didn't need it anymore. This what you are showing now is very interesting. No batteries are required to run the fan. Would it be possible to also run these fans to move cold air so instead of putting this fan on something warm put the thing on ice cubes. Greetings from Rotterdam.😉

[@jdshl8423]

Heat = energy. No heat = no energy. You will always need to have something hot that is losing heat to gain any useful energy from it, either by letting it just radiate the heat to warm up a space, or using the heat to create electricity to power small appliances. If you live in a hot desert area, you essentially have access to a lot of energy, but you would have to find a way to tap into it.

[@johndevries7122]

@@jdshl8423 Thank you for your explanation.👍

[@XiaolinDraconis]

@@johndevries7122 peltier device is how the fans operate. Look up details on those.

[@johndevries7122]

@@XiaolinDraconis Thank you for your response, it is now clear to me that the fan starts running at a certain temperature. Now I'm not an expert at all in the field of electronics, but I had the thoughts of, how could you convert this to cold.👍

[@privateprivate8366]

Kind of like waiting for “microwaves”, that immediately chill beverages, I guess.🤷🏽‍♀️

[@leeisenberg]

Wow, thanks for sharing. Never seen this before, pretty amazing. - take care

[@desertsun02]

hi and thank you!

[@johnthomas5806]

so, what is the heat temp about 3 meters from the heat fan?

[@Jack_Wolfe]

1:55 does the fan need to be exposed to the sands rising heat? or is it conducted through the core? if so can you store heat for longer if you insulate the sand with a lid?

[@Jack_Wolfe]

4:11 oh never mind you go over it.

[@jacobframe8769]

These are potentially a good option for residential stored heat programs. Given that dry silica sand has a specific heat of 0.198 BTU/lbm*Δ°F, then every 100lbm of sand heated to 500°F stores about 8,500 BTU's. The heat loss on an average US home is roughly 30 BTU/hr. per square foot of floor space so if you wanted to do a stored energy system, you would need roughly 350lbm of sand per 1,000 square feet of floor space. That is not a large volume of sand but the problem comes when trying to heat sand to 500°F. You could reduce that temperature to a more manageable 150°F but then you would need about 1,900lbm of sand per 1,000 sq. ft. Our focus should be on building design to maximize energy efficiency.

[@desertsun02]

hi there. thanks for the info and stats ✔✔

[@Greenr0]

1,900lbm sand is about 21 cubic feet of sand or 2.75'x2.75'x2.75'. The heat loss of a well-insulated house can go as low as 4 btu/ft. Air has very good r value 3.6/in. A double layered house with one foot of still air space in between envelopes has a r value of 43.

[@ChristianTinyLiving]

Excellent brother amen.

[@desertsun02]

you bet 🙏

[@magnoid]

I wonder if Sand Battery + Solar Cooker would be a more efficient method of heating than the typical Greenhouse Solar heaters you've also featured on your channel.

[@desertsun02]

i couldn't say - but for sure... sand holds heat for a very long time so it's an excellent material for holding and radiating heat. can handle temps near 3000F (before it melts). might be a way to combine sand and a standard solar collector.

[@amaizingstuff6528]

@@desertsun02 What sand do you use ? What tipe?

[@pw1669]

Am I missing something? I never saw how you heated the sand. I'm assuming this is for power outages. If that's the case, how do you heat the sand?

[@desertsun02]

hi. you can heat the sand in lots of ways. here are a few... this is from the description section. the on-grid options for heating the sand are stove top or oven. off-grid options are numerous and include campfires, rocket stoves coal stoves, propane stoves, alcohol stoves. (a fresnel lens, a parabolic dish or a solar oven can also be used). a fresnel lens would probably heat the sand very fast

[@lilasheppard5585]

If you put in lava glass in the sand would it keep hot longer. I am trying to figure a way to heat a 5×8 cargo trailer.

[@davej7458]

Copper is a bit expensive and not usually free salvage. I have found that you can use an old aluminum sign for material and it would be reasonably efficient.

[@desertsun02]

i have been meaning to try aluminum but haven't yet. aluminum flashing might work good

[@frostyfrances4700]

Metal window screens are usually aluminum. Cut one off the frame, roll it loosely, and let the sand fill in between.

[@ofthewoods137]

Good idea, I wonder if a cooler of dry ice, buckets with a holes cut to the fan base size on top of the bent copper strips would work in the summer?

[@desertsun02]

interesting idea 🙂👍.

[@ofthewoods137]

@@desertsun02 would have to come up with a way to secure the fan base to the top of the cooler and secure the lid of the cooler for safety.

[@Sutoraida1975]

I'm thinking of putting in coiled copper tubing to see how well such a thing would heat up water. Like, could it replace a water heater? And how much tubing would you need? I enjoyed the video!

[@fuelban]

Cool video.. Thanks... Thom in Scotland.

[@desertsun02]

Thanks 👍

[@privateprivate8366]

No. Hot.😆

[@lorettaenz4828]

What if you put those units in an insulated box (like they put in walls of a house) with the front open? (Fan blows out the front) Would it last even longer?

[@desertsun02]

very interesting idea. i'll have to think about it 👍

[@hazztv6317]

How do you keep the sand ward. You are so awesome with all your ideas. Your mother has to be proud of you. I know I would be so proud of you. Be blessed 🙏🙏

[@desertsun02]

the sand itself stays hot a long time. it can hold heat for days in some cases. the heat in the sand slowly rises up and radiates out at the top. this provides all the heat needed to run the fan for several hours at a time. if you use a large amount of sand it can stay warm for days.

[@smithpianoservicing3421]

Does it make a room cozy? Or just keep it above freezing?

[@desertsun02]

hi. it sure does, it pumps out the warm air for a long time. but will depend on a few things like... the room size, starting room temperature, insulation of the room, outdoor temp, size of sand battery, size of the fan, how hot you heat the sand in the battery.

[@25852Dan]

This would probably be able to run much longer or give off more heat if you used a water barrel to store the heat, since it has a higher "specific heat capacity" than sand. I'm thinking about making something similar to this but with a water heater powered by solar, connected by hose to a radiator. So the heat generated by solar can be used at night. Probably much less expensive than a traditional battery. Of course, there are tradeoffs, with sand you don't need to worry much about it leaking, and you could potentially get it hotter than boiling but then you have to make sure it's away from anything flammable.

[@SapioiT]

The difference is that you can have the sand at a temperature much higher than the boiling point of water. You can have it so hot even oil would turn to smoke, and the sand would still be solid. This means that you don't need to throttle your heating, when heating up the sand, so you can use a fire to heat it in a shorter period of time, which would be an advantage in some cases (i.e. you're in a hurry to heat your room).

[@MushInSkull]

​@@SapioiTyour comparing the wrong thing between sand and water. Yes there is a huge temperature difference between the two, but it is the heat capacity that needs to be compared. Sand has a heat capacity around 670 J/(°C*kg) where water is 4180 J/(°C*kg). Water holds more than 6 times more heat per degree Celsius than sand. Heating up water isn't wasted heat. It may take 6 times more heat per degree, but when sand and water cool off 1°C you will get 6 times more heat out of the water than the sand. Additionally, sand is an insulator. It takes a long time for heat to move through the sand. The outer walls of a can of sand could be room temperature while the center is a blazing 600°F. Water on the other hand is a conductor.

[@andrewmurray3139]

Thank you, I did not realise this!

[@WORRO]

Amazes me. Thumbs 👍🏻 video Brother ~John

[@desertsun02]

Thanks for the visit

[@silverpc4611]

curious as to what the torque of these heat powered fans are. could make small generator out these fans.

[@MaryWhitaker-q4q]

May I ask you please, is there a certain grade of sand that’s a better conductor of the heat? Thank you

[@desertsun02]

i couldn't say for sure but i recommend using 'play sand'. it's cleaned and filtered and works very well. beach sand should work good too

[@Jack_Wolfe]

4:28 that makes me want to test out the idea of having a bunch of those to take heat away from the house in summer.

[@Occam79]

If you add ground copper to the sand mixture at different ratios would that change the performance of the battery? i.e. Heat induction, retention, etc.

[@mychannelrace]

God bless you Sir.. But teach in little easier way, that we can understand as we are less educated.. Love you

[@dawnbroadbent]

I want to use a fresnel lens and then bring a bucket inside. Brand suggestions on sand and carry-able pot type?

[@AlecBerg]

How do you move the hot containers after you've heated them?

[@macmcleod1188]

This would be an interesting way to take a friend heat during an extended power outage.

[@tandiparent1906]

❤New subscriber from Oklahoma I've been trying to find a good heat source for my tiny house (288sf) & this looks like a great solution!! Thanks!!😊

[@desertsun02]

Thanks for the sub!

[@wiktorchm]

so what is you r heat source ?

[@BullfrogKid1234]

How long does the heat last? Like would it hold temperature in a small greenhouse overnight after being heated in the sun all day?

[@desertsun02]

hi yes, that could definitely work.

[@myguitardidyermom212]

I'd like to combine this thermal energy storage with a Stirling generator. You couldn't run your whole house off of it, but you could run a few lights at night. "Charge" some buckets of sand with the sun during the day and have lighting in your home in the evening. You could charge them with a wood stove as well or even just putting them in the oven for a bit

[@perothing]

Would some Crisco candles underneath the pot prolong the heat?

[@desertsun02]

hi. possibly. i'd have to think about that some

[@BadMoonRising777]

Love the channel!

[@desertsun02]

hi and thank you!

[@missionpreparedness1533]

Outstanding as usual

[@desertsun02]

thank you very much!

[@harrytrevenen2310]

could you put an aquarium heater in the center of the sand, they have thermostats and don't seem to use a lot of energy?

[@desertsun02]

that is a good idea. they only reach about 96F(36C) though, so the sand would only get warm but not hot. i'm also not sure if they would hold up if they weren't in water. i was thinking of using nichrome wire to heat the sand.

[@harrytrevenen2310]

@@desertsun02 thanks

[@frostyfrances4700]

@@desertsun02 - Could you use one of those heating coils they sell for heating tea water in a cup? They get very hot real fast; but I know they also malfunction if not immersed in water. Would sand work as well? Then I wouldn't have to worry about how to hook up anything since I have no fewer than 5 EcoFlow River 600 solar generators.

[@inkey2]

So if I live in the city in a small apartment there is no way I can do this. I am very concerned about a power loss in winter. I do not trust small kerosene heaters or buddy heaters due to the carbon monoxide issue. Any suggestions? My Boston condo is only 725 sq feet.......................any suggestion?

[@desertsun02]

hi. one of the topics i've focused on on this channel is off-grid heating. you may want to check the channels playlist area (or the channels video page) for other DIY heaters i've made. i think i've made 25 or 30 different heaters.

[@vonclendenen5641]

I would like to heat water using ¼ inch copper tubing run through cycling the water over time through the sand battery and then back to a holding tank, etc. but I don’t need the sand getting over 100C but double duty by also heating up a small room, is plate resistance heaters better than the water type heater elements both 12V?? I’m wanting to test it out but I need thermostat and thermocouple and also want to use solar panels and battery but with the thermostat I can slowly raise the temp of the sand over days, etc. so it doesn’t pull the battery down, etc. once I get it to the temp I want I reckon from that point forward it will require very little energy to maintain that temp.

[@davidhayes5382]

This is a brilliant channel

[@jayhouse3149]

I'd like to see the temperature readings from the fan output. Is the heated air coming directly from the hot sand or from the metal structure surfaces? Is the metal steel or aluminum?

[@desertsun02]

technically it would be both but mostly it's from the sand. the metal bucket itself is made of steel.

[@vegetablepolice1]

need to look into making one of these

[@sboerboom]

Thought you were going for a heat SINK at the end...like use chilled sand and a high efficiency powered fan...time to catch up on your vids I guess since I bet you've done cooling extensively though I don't recall a sand cooler. Looking forward to all the ways I can maximize extra energy from my upcoming solar PV install.

[@desertsun02]

chilled sand. sounds interesting. if you or anyone else has any suggestions on how to make a unit with chilled sand feel free to drop them in the comments.

[@danib6541]

Like maybe something to the effect of how they refrigerate food with clay, pots and damp sand. I don’t remember what they’re called, but there is sand in between a larger clay pot and smaller clay pot. The sand is kept wet, and the food goes inside with the lid. It needs to be kept in the shade, and I believe a breeze on it is best.

[@colleenforrest7936]

Could you focus the fresnel lense on the copper strip to heat the sand to the bottem?

[@desertsun02]

sounds like a good idea. i've been meaning to do more experiments with copper strips and fresnel lenses.

[@Jophiel50]

Amazing! I did not know about this one! ♾💎✨. Fascinating. 💃🙏🏻💃

[@dper1112]

Of course we can use sand batteries just as we could any other thermal store. But the suggestions here add complexity. The good point of thermal mass is, or should be, that you can use it in simple ways. Put some bricks next to your wood stove, for example. Have an exhaust pipe for your rocket stove that goes through a bench made of cob. Those kinds of solutions that don't have any extra moving parts and don't require you to haul heavy containers of sand around. Those are the practical ideas.

[@Jennyandersonjenny]

Great. This is the first time ive seen the fan to show that it will radiate heat. Ive looked at many flowerpot heaters, but none put a fan on top to show that there is enough heat generated to turn the fan.

[@desertsun02]

hi and thank you!

[@evifnoskcaj]

So, you just need a source to heat the sand to a high degree, a heat (induction) powered fan, a bucket of sand, and you're set because of how slowly the sand dissipates heat? Huh. Pretty clever engineering. If you really wanted to be clever, you could combine this system with solar panels and computers (which generate plenty of heat), and loop that into this system somehow as well, but you'll then need actual cooling for the computers. Pretty clever stuff, and TEG chip is a rather amazing bit of technology.

[@jmidnite114]

Where can you get those fans?

[@desertsun02]

hi. amazon has em ✔✔

[@hazztv6317]

Oh is this the same and of the Beach? Thankyou 😊

[@desertsun02]

hi. yes it's essentially beach sand. specifically, i'm using what is called play sand. it's been filtered and cleaned and has a soft feel.

[@yr-nvr-2-late765]

Thank you for a great innovative video! 🎉 I like the fact that there’s no long-term reliance on open flames, instead using heated sand as a power source. I have the fan and I can’t wait to try the sand! 😊

[@Ang.0910]

To anyone who might know: I just got my first wood stove insert. I heat with wood only in the winter. I couldn’t get a stand alone for those who might say to change. I have a smaller house, single story, approx 1400 sq ft. Since it’s an insert (I opted for no blower because I hate our corrupt electric company) I cannot find a thermal fan with a clip style base. I guess they don’t make that style?? Or I need a custom little metal shelf made?? The insert is sitting up on a slate tile bench style hearth. If I fill my hollow hearth with sand bags or stones would it create a thermal mass that would be productive? If so, Would I need to do more than just fill it up with sand or stone? I’m trying to maximize what I’m working with.

[@laurentpenot2656]

I have such a fan on the exhaust of my fuel boiler... but I don't figure out how long you take to get the sand at 199⁰, and how long the fan rotates... 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@isabellopez6755]

This is cool!!! Is that regular sand?

[@desertsun02]

hi and thanks. yep, it's just regular sand. technically it's 'play sand' so it's cleaned and filtered. easy to get, the home stores sell big bags (50 lbs) for as little as 5 bucks.

[@godsownlunatics9650]

how many volts can you get out of a sand battery? and what does the load do to the battery? will it drain it to less than useable? I'd guess these sand batteries might make an easier car battery charger if anything. I am more inclined to find out how many volts dc these generate?

[@GuitarDaze2023]

How long does the Dutch oven hold temp, I think you said about 3hrs but I’m not sure.

[@makingd.o.123]

I wonder if on the bigger tub one could cut a hole big enough to fit a terracotta pot and heat the sand with just tea candles you'd have to support the tub and pot with bricks probably the candles are cheap enough to keep heat going into the battery all day and might carry the heat through the night say 3 candles a hour 36 in a 12 hour period so what $2 a day $14 a week $364 for 6 months probably less depending on the weather if my maths right

[@frostyfrances4700]

At this late hour I forget exactly who, but somebody upthread said he does heat his sand with 3 tea candles. Your math's probably not too far off either. Thing about using any candles to heat through the night (or day) would be whether you have little kids or pets that might blunder into it. I'll never regret that when I retired to TinyTown, I put a huge propane tank about 50' from the house. Never let it get below 50%. Cheapest way to heat anywhere near civilization. But just in case, I keep a big bag of wood pellets on hand so I could easily burn enough to heat the sand on the porch and then bring smaller buckets back in. Too old and creaky to carry big buckets in from a fire pit.

[@IndianMaidProducts]

Need to heat the sand with sunshine; then it will help many in the northern tier states. Make a camper really comfortable

[@1rtt1]

Maybe take your copper flashing and fold it flat and even 1 inch down from top of sand layer and then set your cast iron fan on top of copper and cover back the 1 inch of sand?

[@mikeschneider2161]

That’s great but how often do you have to reheat it

[@pouet4608]

Great video!

[@desertsun02]

hi and thank you!

[@townbell2248]

You could cook potatoes in the sand at the same time

[@desertsun02]

i hadn't thought of that. sounds interesting

[@townbell2248]

The potatoes are supposed to get nice and crispy. I seen a lady post a video of how she cooks them like that. I haven’t tried it myself, yet :)

[@jayhouse3149]

Aside from some fans being aesthetically more pleasing than others, Are all thermoelectric stove fans the same?

[@desertsun02]

they generally all operate the same way but i've seen 2 or 3 different size chips. sometimes the smaller fans have smaller chip. different fans also have different starting temps. i always use the fans with the lowest starting temp (122F/50C). some have a much higher starting temp.

[@keepmovingforward571]

Is it a certain kind of sand that you are using? Also what part of the fan do you put in the sand? What I mean is if there are plug in cords used?

[@howlingcommandose]

Any clean medium to fine grain sand will do. The fan is not electric. You put the base in the sand. There is a gas chamber inside the fan that heats up and makes it spin. The heat travels from the base to the fins. The fins heat up and the fan is used to move the heat. From the fins.

[@desertsun02]

hi. i just use a fine 'play sand'. cleaned and filtered. you could just use regular 'beach sand' if you wanted too. you just put the bottom of the fan directly on the sand. the fan will soak the heat up and send it to the 'TEG chip' located in the fan. the chip converts the heat into electricity and then sends that electricity to the motor. you can also use a stirling engine powered fan if you want to.

[@sufthegoat]

I subscribed

[@desertsun02]

hi and thanks for subscribing!

[@GreenlifeFin]

Thanks, very interesting. What kind of sand is that, it is so white? Can you buy the sand or where do you get it?

[@desertsun02]

hi there. it's called 'snow white' play sand. it's cleaned and filtered. they sell it in 50 lb. bags. only cost a few dollars. the home stores (like home depot and lowes) sell it. you can also get sand at plant nurseries and on amazon. the cheapest place to get it is probably the home stores. you could use beach sand if you wanted too

[@GreenlifeFin]

@@desertsun02 Thanks a lot for your detailed answer.

[@TheFrog767]

I'm looking forward to the next phase

[@garnetgirlvintage9560]

Wow, great tip, thank u for sharing

[@offgridwanabe]

fresnel lens, would be fast although it may melt the sand lol

[@desertsun02]

hi there. melting point of sand is a little over 3000F (1700C) so fresnel lens should work good (unless the fresnel lens was giant size). i think most of them top out at 2000F.

[@offgridwanabe]

@@desertsun02 Old flat screen Tv has good size fresnel lens

[@NateT602]

Great video and Information thanks sharing! Also do you mind sharing the brand or where you got your fans?

[@desertsun02]

hi. i get the fans on amazon. the brand is not very important (as far as i can tell). amazon is the place to get the fans they have at least 50 different ones. maybe even 100. the main thing i look for are the ones with a lower starting temp. i like the ones that start at 122F(50C)

[@kandicemarye8822]

I live on the coast. White beach sand. Can I use beach sand????

[@desertsun02]

hi. yes, beach sand should work very well.

[@TooTrue1874]

Take that straight plate you shoved into the sand and bend it like a table so you can sit the fan on it and it will pull heat from 2 points instead of 1. Use a longer plate too.

[@trttoday7440]

great fan , sand set up vid DS ..:) thanks ..can you heat sand with ptc element too ... tia ..

[@desertsun02]

hi and thanks you! yes you can (or resistive heating element)

[@threecom2]

How long did you heat those sand and at what degree? Low med or high.

[@desertsun02]

hi. for the video i just used a pan over medium heat. i stirred the sand a few times so it heat up evenly

[@herrkulor3771]

I have a wood stove without soapstone only windows. I filled up its water compartment on top with sand instead, as I don't like the extra humidity. With Talkum powder it should get denser.

[@frostyfrances4700]

Don't use talcum powder for anything at all. It's been linked to cancer. Instead opt for cornstarch.

[@dandaniels851]

Using two thermoelectric peltier modules from old portable car fridges i built a fan and electric lamp that run off hidden tealight candles (all brass steam punk style) the videos are on my Profile somewhere?! Hope you can find them. 🤔😆👍🏻💯🇦🇺🤠

[@davidlazarous4342]

Does the fan blow sand particles into the house as the blades spin?

[@desertsun02]

hi. no, the sand doesn't move. it all stays in the bucket

[@Bobby-qv6kl]

How is the sand getting hot? Do you have to heat it on the stove first?

[@desertsun02]

hi. options for heating the sand vary. lately, i've been looking into various off-grid options (parabolic cookers/fresnel lenses etc.). other 'off grid' options include DC heating elements. 12v ptc elements work well. those can be hooked directly to 12v solar panels or other 12v sources.