/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Go on.

First time posting here. Its possible we do it to heat our pool. We actually had the problem of the plastic cracking from the heat. Wood box, metal inside, copper pipes, black spray paint, ect....its possible

oh right the plastic...we covered it with a see through plastic sheet to keep the heat in...works like a charm but get a thicker glass....that is all

Like the one this guy made?

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/04/26/almost-free-garage-heat-just-drink-a-lot-of-soda/

And his updated more efficient version

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/06/22/soda-can-solar-heater-v2-completed/

I work for a housing manufacturer (not mobile, prefab, and I handle computers, not hammers), and we've had people request leaving a space for this particular kind of project for water and air heaters. It works as an augmentation of your NG heat, not a replacement, but it's evidently terrifically effective because people are installing them in *Canada*, which isn't the sunniest place in the world.

>>182761
There's a guy on the main street of my town that has one of these on his roof. From the street it looks like an insulated 30-gal tank about 4 feet long, with a panel below it 4 feet long and 3 feet deep that's full of black tubing (I presume something that's UV-friendly). It can't possibly be his only hot water source, because that shit would freeze solid in -40C winters, but it probably saves him a bunch if he uses it to pre-heat his HWT feed.

Here is one of my designs. I recommend using 2nd hand glass sliding patio doors for the glazing. It keeps them out of landfills, is normally free, and their double glazing helps keep the heat in when wind hits it. Minor fogging of the glass due to the seal being compromised isn't that big of a deal (which is why people toss these for new ones, fyi).

For the collector you can use large diameter copper pipe. For the rest you can use large diameter PEX tubing. The more bends and elbows there are the less water flow, but the larger the diameter the better the water flow. So, it is all about finding the right diameter piping for water flow and cost. This is of course a passive system without any pump, hence the large diameter piping. An active system with a pump can use smaller diameter piping and the collector and storage tank positions do not matter.

When I was in the Army and in Iraq we had these semi-shitty locally made barracks that, due to some mortar attacks, were unfinished. We had to move our soldiers in right away so we had no power or water cause the local builders couldn't work in them with 150 G.I.s everywhere. Eventually we cobbled something together for water but we had no gas lines or source of gas so no water heaters. We bought some locally made black plastic storage tanks that where about 2 meters high and across and put em on the roof. By about 11 AM every day that water was hot enough for a warm shower if you only used hot water. By 4 PM it would burn the shit out of you if you didn't mix it with cold. Water would stay warm enough for a shower till about 2-3 hours after sundown. Water pressure was good too and we didn't use any pumps, just gravity. Admittedly this was Baghdad so there was lots of sun even in the winter but the system was not optimized at all. If you use one that is made just to heat water you wouldn't probably just about boil it.

>>183556
This drawing doesn't give information about the positioning of the components, can you explain?

>>183665
The solar collector is below the water tank. This allows the hot water to natrually rise up from the heater to the water tank and the cooler water in the water tank to lower down to the heater. That is the thermosiphon process.

With a pump, you don't need the collector to be under the water tank.

>>183556
lol i call bs on this one. a tube or w/e in the water tank heated by the sun will heat the water in the water tank? how the fuck are you going to get the tube into your water tank?

>>183683

Looks like a standard water tank to me, not a water heater. Some of those can have quite large hatches for easy access and cleaning. I don't see how it would be an issue.

>>183683
Actually, you can even use an electric water heater using a solar water conversion kit. They are special coils that replace the 2 heating elements in the electric water heater. Although, those are intended for active water heating systems, not passive ones like in my pic.

Additionally, the system in the pic is the entire water heater, the water tank itself is not a water heater nor a repurposed water heater. This is why it is labeled as ,"insulated water tank". This tank can be as large as you want. That is long as it can withstand the required pressure at the heat levels it will be subjected to. Many people, with a passive, winter-ready, solar water heater use a 2 heat exchanger system in the water tank. The water in the tank is self-contained. 2 large diameter coiled PEX pipes are placed in it for passive systems. 1 is for the heating and the other is domestic use. In an active system there is only 1 coiled PEX pipe for domestic use and the water or anti-freezing solution in the tank is cycled through the solar collector system.