Dumb Idea???

[Tom Sawyer]

I am thinking about building a solar kiln and I would like to keep it off grid if possible.  So, I was thinking about solar powered fans (attic fans maybe) for circulation, and rather than venting the moist air outside I was thinking about burying some plastic tile underground and circulating the hot moist air through this tile and back into the kiln.  My thinking is that the air will cool as it goes through the tile and the moisture would condense on the tile and soak into the ground.

Hmm.... Maybe I have too much free time to think ;D

[gharlan]

Won't know unless you try. Sounds like it may work. The trick may be to find the right mass of tile to remove the moisture and then cool down for the next days cycle. Wish I was closer I would love to help.    gary

[pineywoods]

Sounds like a good idea, just expensive. Solar panels only put out about 15 watts, that won't run much of a fan, You will need several solar panels. With enough burried tiles, you probably won't need to do any venting.

[Brian_Rhoad]

Instead of 120 volt fans try some automotive radiator cooling fans. They are 12 volts and made to take the heat.

[StorminN]

Hey Tom,

You can get PV panels up to about 200 Watts, but they are not cheap. Brian is right, stick with DC fans, 12 or 24V, they will be more efficient. There are 12V fans available, or you could just swap out DC motors into whatever fans you have in mind.

Here's a link to a site with 12V and 24V fans, you need to use the pull-down menu on the left to select "Fans - DC"
http://www.backwoodssolar.com/

You'll need to do the math on how many Watt hours your fans will use up, and how many panels it will take to power them. If you need some help with the calcs or sourcing the solar stuff, let me know.

-Norm.