Electrical – simple 12 volt heater

electricalheatingsolar-panels

I have a small shed and a few extra solar panels (about 400 watts worth). It's a cold area and I'd like to just convert the electricity to heat. I thought maybe a dummy load would work.

Basically I'm looking for a simple way to convert 12 volt (or 24) electrical energy to heat. Anything I can do to heat the shed up would be great. I'd like an answer independent of building and electrical codes because whatever ideas I get I can look into how those fit. This is a very rural area.

Best Answer

You could just use a 12V automotive heater like this on amazon (but really any store with auto parts should have them):

12V auto heater

The benefits are:

  • It's a tested heater that should not burn down your building (unlike a true DIY using some type of "hot box" that might even invalidate your home insurance)
    • Don't forget to keep flammable material well away from it or any heater / light bulbs
  • It's designed to use 12V from automotive-like batteries, that are often used with solar panels, so all you need is a 12V socket and it's "plug and play"

I'd recommend trying one out in person, I tried one once that was barely warm and you couldn't even feel the air a foot away, while others are almost like a hair dryer (but designed to run safely longer than a hair dryer)

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