WHO NEEDS HOT WATER AND SPACE HEATERS?

We have a family of 3, and haven't paid an electric bill in 8 years. We heat water with a 42 gallon solar heater. If you want to heat your home.. build a "SUN-ROOM" addition on the south side of your house, and install as much thermal mass as you can fit inside. Then, you can sell your furnace to someone in Siberia! Ciao!

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul on July 26, 2008 at 7:21pm

I'm not quite sure that you understand the SIMPLICITY of the design. IF you were using a solar water just to heat water only for showers etc, you don't need a pump, as it operates entirely on your household water pressure. The cold water line enters and upper tank, which has exposure to the sun most of the day. If you install this tank in a box-like structure, with reflective material behind, it is much better. Under this upper tank system, you have a lower tank encased in polyurethane foam insulation. Both tanks are relatively the same size, however, you may make the lower larger to store more hot water, which exits the tank as you turn on your hot water faucet. ONE inlet, and ONE outlet. Works entirely on pressure. I've used this system for 8 years, and it works very well! If you cover this "box" with double layer (or triple) glass, you will have all the hot water you need... well, we don't waste hot water on laundry. It's simply not necessary. If you wish to heat you whole home.. that's a bit more involved ;-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Smoley on July 27, 2008 at 6:34am

Based on your description, there is no circulation between the upper and lower tank, therefore no heat transfer. This is like a garden hose on a hot day, turn on the water and you get just as much hot water as the hose contains. Now, if you have one or more large tanks outside, they will heat up during the day and cool off at night. The idea of a recirculation system is to gather the heat when the sun is shining and store it in an insulated container. Then when there is no heat gain available, shut off the flow to avoid heat loss. If you check out my page here, you can see I even designed a simple in/out solar water heater, many years ago as a DIY project.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Henrik on July 28, 2008 at 3:39am

Thank you Paul,
also good to know: If the water in not flowing, you are storing the hot water in the storage collecor, so there are benefits, as much as you store as much you can run through the hot water storage later on. As the water reaches about 180 F the hot water storage tank does not need to switch on for longer, I even installed a hot / cold water mixer inbetween the input to maintain a constant input temperature which is slighly higher than the thermostatic heater is switched to. As I assume that the hot water storage is properly isolated, also the hot water pipes, once in usage, the water entering the hot water storage will let you save money. If you dont use it, you heat the internal storage. So simply it is.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by SJC on July 27, 2008 at 12:14am

They use solar thermal in Sweden. Even at high latitudes and in cold climates it works. I guess most people need to see that all their neighbors have it and are saving money and the planet before they think it might be useful.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jim Martin on July 28, 2008 at 4:55pm

In many areas, a good choice is to install a solar water heater that pre-heats the water before going into a regular water heater. Then, if the solar heat is not enough some day, the regular water heater can add needed heat.

The Solar Windmill is a new invention that uses both wind and solar energy to generate electricity.