Solar window heater

Abstract

This invention relates generally to solar heaters. More specifically this invention relates to a passive solar heater that can be placed behind a un catching window to add heat to a room through conduction and convection by absorbing solar energy with a black aluminum plate and heating air between the plate and an acrylic plastic glazing sheet and transferring that heated air through a typical aluminum gable ventilator into a room or other closed space.

1 . A passive Solar Window Heater that requires no external power source to operate comprising: 
 a) a rectangular aluminum gable ventilator with perimeter flanges around suspended walls forming a box with an inside top edge and containing a plurality of louvers within said box, formed from horizontal faces connected to angled faces with front edges in the same plane as said perimeter flanges and with a plurality of vent openings in said horizontal faces mounted on a square aluminum tube with a mounting flange attached;    b) spacers adhered to second from the top said louver front edge and the bottom said louver front edge on the vertical center line of said ventilator;    c) a energy absorbing back plate rigidly fastened to said ventilator flanges, being bowed away from said front edges in the center by said spacers creating a heating chamber under said energy absorbing back plate whereby warmed air is allowed to rise up and out of said ventilator and cool room air to be drawn into said chamber towards said centerline, where said energy absorbing back plate is as wide as said ventilator flanges and the top of said energy absorbing back plate is collinear with said inside top edge of rectangular box and the bottom edge of said energy absorbing back plate stops at the bottom of said front edge of bottom louver, and said plate has two approximately 9″ long by ⅛″ high back plate vents, the first opens into the second from the top louver opening and the second into the second from the bottom louver opening;    d) self stick weather seal strips adhered across said top of said energy absorbing back plate and down each side to approximately the center of said lower flange, a square self stick weather seal strip in the center of the top of the bottom flange, and a self stick weather strip running between said vertical self stick weather strips with the bottom edge aligned with said top of said energy absorbing back plate and said inside top edge of said ventilator box;    e) a clear glazing sheet placed on top of said self stick weather strips where said glazing sheet is the same width as the underlying said energy absorbing back plate and the top of said glazing sheet is collinear with said top of said ventilator top flange, the bottom edge of said glazing sheet is collinear with said bottom edge of said square self stick weather strip, forming a heating chamber over said energy absorbing back plate between the under side of said glazing sheet and the top side of said energy absorbing back plate which grows larger as said back plate bow decreases towards the out side edges of said glazing sheet, whereby the heated air trapped between said energy absorbing back plate and a clear glazing sheet is allowed to rise in said heating chamber and escape into said ventilator through said back plate vents, also drawing cool room air into the bottom of said heating chamber; and    f) a plurality of rubber glass-setting channels that are used to clip over the sandwich of said ventilator flanges, said energy absorbing back plate, said self stick weather strips and said glazing sheet, holding said glazing sheet securely in place.    
   
   
       2 . A passive Solar Window Heater that requires no external power source to operate according to  claim 1 , wherein said glazing sheet is chosen from a group consisting of clear plastics and glass.  
   
   
       3 . A passive Solar Window Heater that requires no external power source to operate according to  claim 1 , wherein the energy absorbing back plate is made from blackened aluminum.