Evacuated Tube, Pressurized, Stand-Alone Solar Water Heater

[SuperFunkydawg]

this is what we need,,awesome brother

[Optisoft]

Thinking of the space between the tubes - perhaps those could be utilized by putting some parabolic shaped (along the y-axis) alum-reflector to reflect the light back onto the tube from the backside.

[Miramivideo]

@cheeselouise50 It's incredible technology and should start popping up on rooftops everywhere. We have a Sunbank and love it. We haven't needed an electricity backup yet and it's December! They have a website where you can get in touch: thesunbank dotcom.

[cheeselouise50]

Is it possible to post the brand & price of this solar water heater and where you bought it? Great videos! I don't understand why these evacuated tube heaters are not much more common in the U.S. No moving parts, no motors, simple and elegant. But almost nobody I talk to has ever heard of them. I ended up importing one from China, but would like to find a reasonably priced and accessible U.S. or Canadian dealer for others who have seen mine and want to buy one.

[jjlpinct]

I ran out of room to say "Awesome!" btw

I saw mention of a reflector behind the tubes... have you considered, a complete enclosure, a glass front/top would be easier to keep clean, and offer some protection from lawn mower projectiles... hail.. and what not

Thanks for sharing!!

[watcherjohnny]

@jjlpinct

I've thought about it, but the tubes are supposed to be pretty durable. I've seen golf balls dropped on them from the height of a garage roof with no damage. Replacement tubes are relatively inexpensive as well.  I bought 5 extra glass tubes with the heater for $15 each. And the rain seems to keep the tubes clean. To date, the system has been zero maintenance.

[jjlpinct]

as a plumber one of the things i need to look out for is water temperature in storage type water heaters, too hot has its obvious hazards, too cool and an unseen danger lurks (maniacal laugh)..

Legionella bacteria can grow in the lower temps in water heaters, which can cause a form of pneumonia. it is generally transmitted when you inhale the mist. You should be fine if you periodically peak above 135f. otherwise try adding a small amount of bleach to the system..

the web can tell you more :)

[watcherjohnny]

@jjlpinct

Great info - thanks for clarifying! I had never heard of Legionnaires being a problem with hot water heaters. Now that the weather has warmed and the days are longer, it is actually maintaining at 160F to 180F, so it should not be a problem.

[soilfit]

@jjlpinct bleach? I heard that was a pretty bad chemical not even good for skin.

[jjlpinct]

watch out for legionnaires disease

[watcherjohnny]

@jjlpinct

Could you explain in more detail?

[continuityofliberty]

I know nothing about solar energy, but I just found your vid while doing some research - very nice system!

I notice that he tubes have the solar coating all the way around - do you think reflecting sunlight onto the bottom of the tubes using mirrors or polished metal would increase efficiency?

[watcherjohnny]

@continuityofliberty It seems you would collect more energy if there were a reflector behind the tubes. But two issues come to mind. 1) - the tubes are relatively close together and would probably attenuate a considerable amount of energy making it to the reflector. 2) - the reflector would have to be kept clean in order to be effective. The nice thing about the "tube design" is that the angle of exposure to the sun is pretty constant as the sun tracks from East to West.

[continuityofliberty]

@watcherjohnny

Thanks for your thoughts!

Your comments prompted another idea to apply some sort of reflective coating to the outer tube that covers 30-40% of the circumference, but leaves the rest clear. The concave shape would likely shine a lot of light on the "dark" areas of the tube.

May not be worth the effort, but I like the idea of being as efficient as possible - I may get one of these systems and I appreciate the vid!

[watcherjohnny]

@continuityofliberty Glad you enjoyed. I plan on doing an update in a while.

[Rasenkrieger]

I was just letting your video flow along in the background. Good topic. What struck me is you had cold weather too. Heard alot about the clima /green house and peak oil being a myth...

Check out "doctors for preparedness" to find more info on clima research

I guess prices will still go up...!

kind regards

[watcherjohnny]

@Rasenkrieger Yes it IS COLD HERE! Both topics are controversial. I'm personally not buying the "greenhouse" proposition. Peak oil has it's critics, but based on the arguments I've seen, I think the peak oil camp has a more defendable position. Either way, the trend of energy prices over the long term seems to be UP. I'm simply attempting to hedge my bets at this point in time!! Thanks for the "link" - I'll check it out! Regards, John

[STOPPUCKNOW]

I have most of the materials to build one of these but I was wondering what fluid or chemical was inside the copper tube the book I was reading about them would not tell,big secret.if you find out I would appreciat your dd.thanks

[watcherjohnny]

@STOPPUCKNOW I believe the fluid is acetone. On YouTube, go to user channel sundug69, then do a search for a video titled "making a heat pipe". Hope this helps!

[STOPPUCKNOW]

@watcherjohnny thank you I will check it out

[cricketol]

use a solar panel to help heat the water or a windmill. just a thought

[watcherjohnny]

@cricketol I've looked into wind power to generate some electricity for lighting, but in this part of the country, wind is not very abundant. The payback duration wouldn't make the project worthwhile.

[cricketol]

@watcherjohnny deepening on how you generate the power by using wind there is a lot of options but like you said . if its not windy then no power . but is it windier at night then during the day?

[zalida100]

Cool.....I mean hot stuff.

[audiofeel1]

wonderful unit. my concern would be protecting those glass tubes from t/ elements. for ex.; wind storm. must be a way of enclosing tubes in a sealed protective box made from plexiglass. may also make t/ system more efficient.

[watcherjohnny]

@audiofeel1 I had the same concerns about tube breakage before I purchased the unit. I did some research and found vids posted that demonstrated golf balls being dropped on a similar unit in order to simulate hail. None of the tubes broke during the testing. Also, the unit was shipped via common carrier with no tube breakage. I'll post updates if I have any problems with them!

[zalida100]

@audiofeel1 May make system less efficient. Remember tubes are evacuated so wind chill wont affect them much and plexiglass will reduce the light getting to the tubes. As far as i can tell, the best plexiglass light efficiency is about 92% (i.e. it blocks 8% of the light).

The exposed tubes do look a little bit scary though - haha