Thanks for the info. Do you cover them in the summer or just block the air ports? Do they lead to more cooling off in the shop at night?
Hi,
I don't cover them in the summer.
I block off the hot air vents going into the shop so they don't overheat it, so the collectors basically run stagnated all summer.
When I built the collectors, I was worried about the collectors overheating in the summer when stagnated, but have found that vertical collectors (especially single glazed ones) don't run all that hot in the summer because the sun is so high. The highest temperature I've seen in the stagnated collector in the summer is 185F, which seems fine to me.
A vertical collector gets about 2.5 times more sun in the winter than in the summer -- kind of nice the way that works
Overhangs just above the collector also help with summer overheating in that (if you get the length right), they shade most of the collector in the summer, but not in the winter.
Google SketchUp is good of working overhangs out -- it has a built in sun.
Edit: missed the part about the night dampers.
I use thin poly sheets on the collector exit vents to stop reverse flow at night. They are basically check valves that blow outward (into the room) to let hot air flow, but when the collector starts to reverse flow at night, the poly gets pulled right up to the hardware cloth screen that goes across the exit vent. They work just amazingly well. Fun to watch them -- as soon as just a bit of sun gets on the collector they open just a little bit, and a little warm air starts flowing -- by noon on a sunny day, they are streaming out at 70 degrees or so -- as soon as the sun goes off the collector they get sucked tight against the hardware cloth backing and seal quite tightly.
The poly film has to be lightweight --I use a double thickness of Costco 30 gallon garbage bags.
It would be a little better to put these dampers on the bottom (inlet) vent, but its harder to do there (they have to swing into the wall), and it does not seem to make a lot of difference.
Have 2nd Argosy's note on pink or blue or white styrofoam -- these collectors run too hot for this. You can use the polyisocyanurate rigid foam board -- most lumber yards carry it. Atlas R Board is one brand.
I've not had the problem with the collector deteriorating -- its 5 years old and looks just like the day it went up including the SunTuf glazing. Part of this may have to do with the vertical orientation.
Gary