Sunsaver, Livining Off-Grid In Suburbia- Happy Taconight America!

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sunsaver

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Here are some cell phone pics of my solar water heater. The image quality is poor, but maybe good enough to give you an idea of what it looks like. In this photo you can see where i have glued lengths of copper pipe into the valleys of a sheet of corregated tin with black silicone adhesive. The loops have been soldered to make a zig-zag pattern:
3514_water_heater1.jpg


Here is the assembled unit, painted black, and ready to go into an insulated box with a glass lid::
3514_water_heater_2.jpg


Here is the steel tank that stores the hot water.
3514_water_tank.jpg


I will draw a full schematic and post it on my other thread for those who want to tackle this project.
 

Farmfresh

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As always very cool!

We have a tankless type of hot water heater that is natural gas. I wonder how genius you would hook your solar heater up in conjunction with our current heater?

It would be cool if you could use solar when it was available with a normal heater backup. :pop
 
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sunsaver

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You can do that if your tankless has a temp sensor for the incoming water. I had a set up like your talking about, but the tankless was just a cheap propane water heater for camping, and it would not regulate the heat. It would just shut off the gas if the output temp got too high. This would give me a cold shock . But there are some models that measure both incoming water and out going water, i think. It seems you could use a solar water heater to pre-heat your water.
 
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sunsaver

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Yesterday i did some painting work for a lady, and after i was finished, she asked if i would help move two or three big pieces of furniture. I made the mistake of agreeing to it. Three became ten, then twenty, then i was rearranging them for her, as she was using me to help her decorate her home. Fourty, fifty, after about two hours of this heavy lifting, i told her that i had another appointment to fix a broken door, and must leave. I swore right then and there that the next time some one asks me to move a couple of pieces of furniture, i'm going to tell them i have a partially slipped disc, and the doctor says i'm not allowed to do any heavy lifting. I would rather lie to some one, then let them take advantage of me like that.
Today i am too sore to due anything. I ache in spots where i had no idea there were muscles. I don't have the energy to do any of my chores. Over all, i feel today will be a total loss, unless i manage to invent something really brilliant to cook for dinner tonight. Looking forward to my late night talk shows, vodka, and a wonderful meal of ? Painkillers!
 

Denim Deb

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Next time tell them sure, but my hourly rate is $XX.00.
 

valmom

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Just proves, no good deed goes unpunished! Hope you feel better! Ibuprofen is a good thing.
 

savingdogs

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Denim Deb said:
Next time tell them sure, but my hourly rate is $XX.00.
There you go! Might have cut down on the amount of time overall if she knew you were charging by the hour, too.
 
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