The Power of Pop Cans - Heating and Cooling

After shtf and you decide you've found somewhere to settle you might want to start thinking about some of those old pre-shtf commodities like heating and cooling.

But how? No more air conditioning. No more gas or electric furnace. So how could you possibly have some of that heating and cooling that we've grown to love.

Two Words. Pop Cans!

Before I begin I know several people that use these and they are effective during those cold rocky mountain winters with only one setback. The Heater is solar so you will still need a way to keep warm at night.

The Heater. (which you can turn into a hot water heater somehow too. Couldn't find much info on that)

First the Expensive version. I doubt you could make the first one wherever you are, but it's possible I guess.



Now the cheap and dirty one.



A site with Step By Step Instructions:

Brian's Pop Can Solar Heater

Now I know it needs a fan but you can find small 12v solar panels for cheap to run the fans. Most of the ones I found where under $100 (one of them was actually only $33, but I'm sure it was crappy).

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The Pop Can Air Conditioner.

This one you will not find on any website or video. I haven't anyway. The reason is that one of my buddies made the solar panel heater and he figured out how to make an air conditioner too. (or at least an air cooler lol)

What do we know about the temperature of cave systems? Well if you take a nice size cardboard box and make the can tubes. Dig a hole (yup you guessed it) that is nice and decently deep where the soil is nice and cool. Plumb in your vents, ad a fan and maybe wrap them with something to keep the heat out (cover the setup with dirt) and whala! Air conditioning.

It works. I know this because that same friend uses it to cool his small house (of course the can unit itself is decently large obviously and he has fans and hook up to his heater vents. He put in a lot of time on this project). Of course he has electricity, but if you are living in a shack in the end times it should work nicely.

P.S. I know many people that use the heaters in their houses already and they work tits!

[edit on 13-8-2010 by DaMod]

Cool Find! S&F

This works on the same principle as the solar oven.



SOLAR OVEN:



[edit on 13-8-2010 by Aggie Man]

reply to post by Aggie Man


Yup, great survivalist furnace and can be used even during s not so htf times.

Great way to cut a nice hefty chunk off of your gas bill.

-----

As to the solar oven. I actually added a roll of tin foil to my bug out bag because of it lol.

[edit on 13-8-2010 by DaMod]

awesome

i'm gonna try it, thanks for posting

Pop Cans are great survival tools and they are found in nature almost everywhere.

I use them as a ultralight cook stove as described here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Wow, yet another reason I dig ATS! Thanks for the insight DaMod!
The good thing is, there is no shortage of can supply eh?

spec

reply to post by DaMod


Emergency space blankets will save you space and weight over aluminum foil. Will even last a little longer though both are hardly tear-resistant.

Great thread and posts! Going to be buying a new house soon so who knows what kinda wacky energy savers I might try! Thanks everyone.

Best use of pop/beer cans I have ever seen was a guy who upon emptying the contents of a case would remove the top and fill the with concrete. When I inquired why he had hundreds of concrete cans in his garage, he showed me his shtf home defense gun. A cannon designed to fire can sized projectiles. Quite the thing to see.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Thanks for the tip! Appreciate it!

The Can Furnace is a proven, tested effective way of heating your home. I know people that use them for their trailers, their houses, ice shacks, sheds and greenhouses.

reply to post by salchanra


Did he actually shoot it off? The idea of a concrete popcan cannon is more than appealing!