DIY Home Made CIRCULATING Solar Water Heater

[1satanloses]

great heater ....the waste-water plant i work at has a commercial unit that heats the water in a tank ....south Georgia..our will scald you even now in feb. the contractor rigged up the circulatory pump to a solar panel sun comes up pump circulates....sun gos down it stops....i think a thermostat on the pump would work better on our colder days..after seeing how well they work I thinking of building one like yours ...the commerical unit is pretty but i want to save money by doing this project

[Dylan2996oct]

The other way is so you don't have to have a pump but it involves correct angles and placing and water tank out side .....

[brendanmcwilliams]

Nice. With multiple rows of these radiator style pipes, I'm sure you could get the capacity of a typical water tank.

I also live in Texas (east) so this would be a great alternative to electric water heating the majority of the year.

Thanks.

[ava7awa]

I only saw this little clip, I need more info, before and after and how to connect to house. thank you so very much.

[gtrboy1]

you dont need to heat hot water

[trailkeeper]

I think a serpentine type of layout from the bottom to the top would be nice also. give it a try if you want anyone.

[trailkeeper]

its nice, and something everyone would appreciate

[Voltage449]

"Ts" allow for the heat to passively move the water as it warms up instead of the pressure like you have ,,excellent build,,I like

[MegaDeathwarrant]

how much are you saving on the electric bill? And are you using another tank or just one?

[marz3335]

I want to do something like this -- does the PVC hold up? Any special cement or just the regular stuff? Wonder what's better, this or coiled pipe?

I do have to deal with winter so i was actually thinking of a thermostatically controlled valve that would keep water out of it at night or freezing cloudy days.

[jwaflergmailcom]

Cool, Do you have the outlet pipe connected dircect to your hot water line or to a collection tank? thanks

[Snailmailtrucker]

I made the identical system ( PVC and 90 degree elbows and all....setup on the roof of my home in Oviedo, Florida back in the 1980's.

I only had it hooked directly to my clothes washer out on the patio.

(I didn't know how to hook it directly up to my hot water heater.)

I never measured the temperature either.... but it was great for hot washing of our clothes.

Nice job !

[oilinki3]

T's are needed for passive water heater system. Heated water expands a bit and therefore raises up and then goes in to the warm water tank. This system of yours requires pump to circulate the water.

[PinkiesParlour]

Yes but what is the ambient temp of the water before heating? I doubt if our 60 degree well water would warm sufficiently to use it on a continuous flow basis.

[flamedrag18]

continous flow? wow, that's amazing since you don't need to leave in the pipe to warm up, just turn the water on and presto, you got a nice shower. how much water does the system hold though if capped?

[electronicdawg]

@flamedrag18 I don't know system wasn't designed to be capped off. Not a water storage, it's free flowing.

[flamedrag18]

@electronicdawg ok, since I was wondering what the maximum temperature you could get out of this if you left the water in there for a while instead of it free flowing.

[electronicdawg]

@flamedrag18 It really depends on the outside ambient temperature. In the summer here in west Texas hot enough to scald you 180/200". I heard my hot water heater relief valve peculating several times this year so maybe it was boiling. Hot, hot, hot.

[sheeplvl1]

@electronicdawg OMG~ OMG~

[wlomond]

The reason why people use the "T" is for easy draining of water which is most necessary in colder climates. If you wanted to be really simple, you don't need to make a heat with joints at all. All you have to do is use coiled copper tube and paint it black.. But draining will be a pain. In climates when freezing temperatures is not an issue. Serpentine and continuous loop water heaters are more feasible.

[themarkmarcus]

aw man! that's great! i'm gonna build one just like that! i like the idea with the elbows instead of the tees! good job buddy!

[electronicdawg]

@themarkmarcus Thank', have a great build. Don't forget to used compressed air when you drain it in winter. Blow it clear of water so it doesn't freeze.

[godbluffvdgg]

@electronicdawg I wonder if instead of draining it for the winter, Back feed it with the hot water. Also a check valve should be used on the house side. Being a builder, I would suggest to create a dormer on your roof with insulated walls and roof rafters. Clear skylites or caulked in Lexan for the roof would allow solar transference in the winter and would make a more esthetic covering. You can make it removable by installing galvanized metal angles under shingles and bolt in to frame. peace

[electronicdawg]

@godbluffvdgg It gets directly fed into the water heater, using the pressure relief valve of it. If you laid it flat and boxed it in you could fill it half way with sand to act as an insulator, may not freeze at night that way..

[foggymedia]

Thanks for the great video!

Do you have the angle the set up for the thermosiphon effect, or is it fine to just have the high point of the exit pipe?

[electronicdawg]

@foggymedia have it running into my water heater on city water pressure. Gets hot enough, I'm sure it would siphon.

[wilatemodel]

...WELL DONE MATE!!!...CHEERS!!!

[electronicdawg]

@wilatemodel Thank's

[124php]

Nice DIY. Do you mean 150 Fahrenheit ? How much liter can you heat. For example could you fill a bathtub with it ? I ask it honestly, cause I am looking to build one of my own for at least take a warm bath (with solar heated water)/

[electronicdawg]

@124php Well I guess you could seeing this contraption delivers continues hot water with that configuration. As long as the sun is shinning

[electronicdawg]

People should keep in mind that when this system is about to freeze the way it's configured I have to blow the system free of water with compressed air.

[enticed2zeitgeist]

Is it safe for ABS/PVC to get that warm? Doesn't it leech stuff into the water when it get's that hot?

[electronicdawg]

@enticed2zeitgeist no

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@electronicdawg Great to see you've done your research! Where does one look up something like that anyhow?

[electronicdawg]

@enticed2zeitgeist Trial and error, far as I know no one else has built one like this. Winter freeze and drainage is the only draw back. I use compressed air once a year to blow it free of water in winter. I live in Texas where the system is up 9 months out of the year.

[electronicdawg]

@enticed2zeitgeist If anything the pipe will get brittle, I used Krylon plastic paint that seems to have a UV protective element to it.

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@electronicdawg Awesome man. Thank you very much for posting your system for us, and also for sharing your ideas. Please ignore the haters, anytime someone shares knowledge and ideas humanity moves forward.

[sxr951]

id like to make one for my 12x3 pool. so if you have it flow from a 40 psi water spigot ,entering at 70 degrees what will the continuous flow temp be after it reaches the end?. thanks!

[advthinker]

nothing wrong with this idea, lots of people in florida have plastic pipe that sits on the roof to heat their pools. it works! but is ugly. but you can over come the ugly part by not having a large gas or electric bill.

[SolarCoordinates]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's a terrible design with tons of problems. For starters, it won't drain properly. Also, at most, you are saving $3/mo. Anyone that can do BTU calculations and that realizes most of your hot water will be gone by morning can figure out your savings, and they're not even close to your $40/mo figure. I'm a solar hot water installer, and I know for a fact that even the best systems can sometimes fail to hit that mark, much less this silly contraption.

[ardwlf]

Like I said there is a bi-pass blow-by relief valve on all water heaters. I have not had a problem here in west Texas where it gets damn hot in the summer.However if you feel it is necessary, than put one on yours.

[firethorn666]

Waynerd23 - pressure valves are necessary in case the system 'binds' - IE there's no where for the water to go, like if you shut the main valve, don't open any house side faucets and either disable or turn the heat way up. In the case of this system, even if the water boils/turns to steam, it'll just expand in the tubes, pushing some water back towards the cold side if necessary.

I haven't built one myself, but I'm thinking about it.

[waynerd23]

You mentioned you're using city water pressure... when the water isn't being used how do you keep the water from overheating in the tubes? Do you have a pressure valve like a water heater or do you depend on the water heater's down the line?

[ardwlf]

Important Note: Be sure to make some sort of arrangement for drainage at the bottom of the unit in case it freezes in winter. I didn't and when it got down to 6' a couple of my elbows cracked, in any case an easy fix. I plan to put tee's on the bottom and a valve for drainage when I re-fit I will have video when I complete the re-fit.

[gregie9999hotair1]

nice, very impressive, guy I work with, back in 1995 he had a multi trough system up on his roof. I think he told me seven or eight troughs all connected with an electric eye tracking the sun, all made from allum. told me water was hot enough to burn your hand, electric eye broke some years later, couldnt fix, so he recycled it.... dropped it to the ground from two stories up.... I asked him if he could remember how it looked, would like to try and make one.

[mmaghfai]

Good work... I think adding an outer casing of plastic bottles would help with efficiency, see here watch?v=ehDgXrpRlTU&NR=1

[electronicdawg]

@mmaghfai Hmm that's a good idea

[NewJura]

pretty cool but my looped manifold circulates just fine!!

[ForPropertyInvestors]

For natural heat convection this would work laying on it's side long ways if you had no mains water pressure.

[ardwlf]

@ForPropertyInvestors You will want it at a slight angle to drain in winter.

[campursarimania]

i had the same concept in my mind. had no time and money to build it, though. great work. thank you for sharing this. now i know it's gonna work when i built one someday.

[insAneTunA]

I like your design :-) People use T fittings and the siphon action to make the water flow. That works fine. Cold water comes in at the bottom, and as the water heats up it expands and the hot water will rise to the top, so only hot water comes out. I can't tell you what works better, I think there is not much difference when it comes to efficiency. Peace, iT

[ForPropertyInvestors]

@insAneTunA The T fittings in theory should work very well since the cold water will run across the bottom of the pipe since it goes in cooler then the other water in the radiator. I'd like to test what really happens with glass tubes and die in the water to see the flow. I'd like to build one on convection alone and only use a small 12V pump when taking a low pressure shower.

[electronicdawg]

Here's the verdict on my electric bill. I have monitored my electric bill for the past 2 months. This has reduced my electric usage on average of $40.00 a month.

[cdltpx]

Did you even use $40 worth of supplies?

[ardwlf]

@cdltpx The 1 inch pipe are $9.00 each, the elbows around $2.00. do the math.

[mar504]

@electronicdawg You're saving 40 a month?!?! Gads man, do you take a hot bath twice a day? I don't pay more than 20-30 a month for hot water

[SolarCoordinates]

@mar504 How much you save largely depends on how you heat your water (NG is cheap, but propane and electric aren't), how much you pay for that fuel, how much you use (which depends largely on how many people are in the residence), when you use your hot water, and how much storage you have. You can easily save $40/mo with solar hot water with a well-designed system, but this system won't even come close to that.

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@electronicdawg What is your average bill with out the Solar Heater?

[electronicdawg]

@enticed2zeitgeist in the winter it was averaging around $75 with the solar its about $32

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@electronicdawg Great to hear!

[mrmetal60]

do you have this hooked up to your household water heater??? and no water pump of any kind, is this correct???

[electronicdawg]

@mrmetal60

Yes its hooked up to my water heater, I'm using city water pressure, although it can build its own pressure once it gets hot.

[electronicdawg]

Needs to be drained in the winter. I have a union and a cut off valve where it connects to the hot water supply line and diverts from my water heater. simply disconnect the union close the ball valve and drain from cold water side. Same set-up on cold water inlet.

[mike37605]

How do you propose to avoid freezing in winter? I like your design and want to build one for my house if I can figure out how to keep it from freezing and busting in winter months,

[ardwlf]

@mike37605 Cut the water supply, and drain.

[jab0805]

Excellent! I am inspired to replicate your design. Thank you for sharing :)

[electronicdawg]

@jab0805 Fell free to use this desighn, This has supplied me with a continuous flow of hot water seance I put it up, providing the sun is shinning. The key is to use 1 inch pipe, paint it black and build it like a radiator.