| If you have ever stood in the sun on a cold day, | | | | preferred is the same reason you felt warmer on |
| you would have noticed that standing in the | | | | a cold day wearing black clothes. The sunlight that |
| sunlight actually makes you warmer than if you | | | | falls onto the surface is absorbed more quickly |
| were standing under cover. If you happen to be | | | | and not reflected back toward the light source. |
| wearing black, you would have also realized the | | | | This light is then absorbed and converted to heat, |
| sun actually made you feel warmer in a much | | | | which is the basic idea behind your heat chamber. |
| faster period of time. This article will explain why | | | | Air passing behind the black material begins to |
| the color black is what works best to allow your | | | | warm and rise through the chamber. The |
| window air heater to work more efficiently to | | | | chamber becomes a sort of heat engine that |
| generate free heat. | | | | generates heat from cold air being fed into the |
| The basic concept of a solar air heater include | | | | system and the sunlight that comes from above. |
| capturing energy from sunlight to warm the air as | | | | Using these basic principles and a bit of carpentry, |
| it moves through the heat chamber. When air | | | | you can generate heat from thin air as long as |
| begins to warm, it rises upward through the black | | | | you have a good source of sunlight and the |
| space being exposed to the sun's energy and into | | | | correct color for your heat engine to make it |
| your home. | | | | more efficient. That is why the color black is what |
| The best color to use when building your heat | | | | you should be using for your solar furnace. |
| chamber is the color black. The reason black is | | | | |