Sand Battery Radiant Air Heater (with opt. heat powered fan) DIY - low wattage element - on/off grid 

I would use a metal bar to mount the heating element and drop it into the can. And wire it to a battery bank with solar and add a temperature controlled relay to turn the element on and off automatically . Cool build i am going to build one .

Thank you!!! I use the sand battery with the small ceramic elements and it heats my home really!! 0° C and below outside, in my home (a big stidio) is 16-17 inside just with that. 6 pieces in a pot full of sand. Thank you so much ❤

There was some guy here in Europe made something similar to your idea except he used a giant boiler and he basically put a lot of sand in it and copper pipe and I think five heating elements inside spaced out and he basically used it to heat up his home the entire winter he filled the copper pipe with some kind of fluid and basically ran it to the radiators around the house

Makes a nice space heater! Could set it outside with a small solar panel for the day, then bring it in at night to warm the room. Thank you. Great idea for those of us that have no power, and small solar.

I always look forward to seeing your videos & thank you do it sharing😊

Thanx. Always good information.

hey @desertsun02 - any ideas on how to combine the radiant heat generation method with a humidifier effect? I don't like current off the shelf methods. Water can hold a lot more heat than just about anything. I wonder if there's a way to automatically heat water up to 200F, cut off and then kick heating back on when it reaches 170F. Of course, a guy might need a 5 gallon bucket. You'd get the radiant heat and some much needed moisture in cold winter months. There's a passive plug that cuts power when it reaches x degrees but I forgot what they're called. Might be a simple start at least. Thoughts?

I had an idea with respect to sand batteries. Inspired by larger industrial applications, one might add an air-pump as a bubbler to fluidize the Sand Bed and release more heat to be distributed by a circulation fan. Evacuated tubes might be used instead of photovoltaic panels. A 45 Watt T.E.G might be enough to power the air-pump when sufficient heat is captured, thus automating the process. An automated solar thermal-mass furnace.

I'm totally going to build one of these! How long did the sand take to heat up? Thank you for the video!

How about putting water in the sand to protect the element? Another great video. Thanks

Never subbed so fast ! Knew i was collecting old cast iron dutch ovens for , ' something ' ! Live in a 450 yr old , fridge , so thank you

i wonder if you could use something like this for cooking if you just make it large and hot enough. 🤔

Very good idea , thanks for sharing YAH bless !

So you are using a Peltier module to power the fan by using the hot sand to heat the module? I mean it’s cool but it doesn’t last that long and you will have to keep heating the sand with electricity or a fire 🔥 etc….

I see the sand stays hot for long time. I figure it could be used on chest or body to stay warm during outdoor winter if it is wrapped in something safe. We dont want something blazing hot just warm enough and last long time. I hope that makes sense.

I'd love to know how long that sand holds enough heat to power the fan. As for the heating element, could it last the winter before it burns out?

Mount the heating element in the bottom of the can, it's going to be setting on the blocks anyway. Then you can set your fan on the sand and not have to pull the element out every time you charge the battery up. Just sayin.👍

Brilliant! Wondering how long the sand was putting out heat after removing heating element? Thx👍

thnx for the video, what kinda sand is this?

Ok heres my thing , how low can it go on voltage and amps to heat up to 200 Fahrenheit , to be eco friendly and how long to heat it up

Is a Mass Storage Heater now to be called a sand battery?

I can imagine, make this with the 200Wp solar panel, like outside. Make iron "cube", put inside sand, heater element and outside the cube stick the thermoelectric pads. So in the day you can collect heat inside the sand from solar panel and during night taking electricity back with bunch off TEC1 pads

would there be any benefit to using wet sand vs dry sand ( just damp...not saturated with water )

Thank you! Still to much Watt for a total off grid. A sand stove takes about 14 hrs 150Watt, what do you think? 👍🌻❤️

I'm new to this so I'm a little confused. What function does the power supply you showed serve? Also, it looked unplugged so please reply so I can figure this out and build one. Thanks.

I would avoid water heating units , because those are made out of copper pipe (and than nickle plated , or chromed). Steel is much more resilient (heating units , like on the electric stove , or barbecue ). There are , also , ceramic heating units (still very cheap) which are extremely durable. I just don't understand , why no one (that I saw on YT) installs heating unit on the bottom of the sand container (heat travels up) and thus prolonging life of the power wires . Also , no one bothered to construct a magnetic induction heating unit , within sand battery (still very cheap and extremely energy efficient) , or to make heating unit DIY (which is incredibly easy , with some calculations) by using heating wire of certain required resistance (for the unit that someone wants to make) and , for an example , ceramic tiles (there are ceramic elements for that purpose , available for purchase - very inexpensive ). Of course , construction (design) of particular sand battery depends of many things , including purpose , availability of materials , skills and knowledge of person that builds it , etc... However , in my mind , the main advantage of the sand battery (besides relatively low cost) is it's capability to store very high temperatures , which can be exploited (used) as needed , trough prolonged periods of time (there is a challenge of constructing proper heat exchange , with some control of heat output). Seems to me , that everybody on YT make those things to raise the temperature in a small room (in some cases - small greenhouses) and for one day at a time.

I love your videos. Can you please place the link for the 12 power supply? Thank you!

So how did the element hold up?

Nicrome wire is the appropriate heating element material

Have you tried black sand yet ?

Add a solar panel and pop in your greenhouse voila

So I'm not really understanding the benefit of using sand instead of water as a thermal battery. Is it because its easier to use? Design idea: Why not use a metal pot with a flat lid and fill with water. Heat with element. Can put the metal pot inside a bigger metal pot with perlite to insulate and increase temps.

If only it could power that hoover 🤔

Pour water in the sand you have a humidifier.

lets say 5kg of sand, 200C, 50C is too cool to really heat the room thats Q=(5kg)×(0.00084J/kg°C)×(200°C−50°C) .63 kJ of energy To run a oil heater at full blast for 2 hours is like 2kWh, 7200 kJ That's not going to heat a room for long man

Everybody will appreciate this later.. but by then it would be too late. Because they wont be able to watch the videos.