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Posted by Ohioguy on February 6, 2010, 4:36 am
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Has anyone out there successfully set up a solar water heater? I'm
in a situation where I have an electric water heater being delivered
next week. I'm thinking about putting in some sort of solar water
heater down the road, to help with heating the water, and was wondering
- is there anything I should do NOW to make adding something like that
easier down the road?
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Posted by Vic Smith on February 6, 2010, 9:36 am
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> Has anyone out there successfully set up a solar water heater? I'm
>in a situation where I have an electric water heater being delivered
>next week. I'm thinking about putting in some sort of solar water
>heater down the road, to help with heating the water, and was wondering
>- is there anything I should do NOW to make adding something like that
>easier down the road?
No. Anything you do now that costs you an extra cent will waste that
cent if you don't put in the solar.
Might even cost you more if you let that "preparation" guide you away
from a solar heater system that is more appropriate, but doesn't fit
your "preparation."
They are basically 2 separate issues until you combine them.
And when/if you do, any changes from what can be prepared for now will
be minor.
More likely, your "preparation" won't fit, and have to be removed.
Don't waste your time/money if you don't have the solar system ready.
The one thing you might do is hold onto your old tank if it's not
leaking and is well-insulated. A holding tank is a component of most
solar heating systems. That won't cost anything except storage space.
BTW, solar water heating isn't frugal in most areas.
Hard to get your money back
If your water input is cold, an uninsulated holding tank can save you
money in the summer.
--Vic
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Posted by jeff on February 6, 2010, 10:15 am
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Ohioguy wrote:
> Has anyone out there successfully set up a solar water heater?
I'm entirely homebrew, so I won't be directly applicable to your needs.
Basically, the key is the heat exchanger. You (usually) don't want
potable water in the collectors. Gary has a good site on solar,
including this meta page on Solar Hot Water:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm
Use the solar to preheat, it goes before your regular hot water
heater. Tankless is ideal here.
I'm in
> a situation where I have an electric water heater being delivered next
> week. I'm thinking about putting in some sort of solar water heater
> down the road, to help with heating the water, and was wondering - is
> there anything I should do NOW to make adding something like that easier
> down the road?
As long as you can redo the plumbing, which is not hard with anything
other than iron pipe, I wouldn't worry about it now. If you have iron,
you may wish to think about how your unions are set up.
Jeff
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Posted by Tony Sivori on February 6, 2010, 10:59 am
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Ohioguy wrote:
> Has anyone out there successfully set up a solar water heater?
You might like alt.energy.homepower.
--
Tony Sivori
Due to spam, I'm filtering all Google Groups posters.
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Posted by Vic Smith on February 7, 2010, 1:27 am
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wrote:
>Ohioguy wrote:
>> Has anyone out there successfully set up a solar water heater? I'm
>> in a situation where I have an electric water heater being delivered
>> next week. I'm thinking about putting in some sort of solar water
>> heater down the road, to help with heating the water, and was
>> wondering - is there anything I should do NOW to make adding
>> something like that easier down the road?
>
>One of the simplest additions
>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=batch+solar+water+preheater&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&oq=
>
I like the simple stuff. My old house in Chicago had a what you could
call a "leveling" or "moderating" or "economizer" tank.
Pick your term. Basically an uninsulated tank that accepted the city
water before it was pushed into the water heater.
Chicago water is very cold, even in the summer, and this tank served
to warm it up a bit before heating. Not effective in the winter
though.
When you think about the length of sunshine in northern climes, solar
makes sense only if you can store the heated water, and that takes
some doing.
With the cold water we get up here, it can probably save some money
if the system is simple.
I got to thinking about it while gardening and seeing how the garden
hose held quite a bit of hot water after some time in the sun.
My feed from the ground puts really cold water to the hot water
heater. Only a short run of 3/4" from the ground to the tank.
An insulated "economizer" tank would make a difference.
If I did the solar here, I'd put an insulated holding tank in the
basement to prefeed the water heater. Run the cold water to the yard
to flow though some kind of ray absorbing piping laid out in the sun,
then back to the holding tank.
Piping could be some sort of black PVC, or copper loops painted black.
Don't think I'd put anything on the roof, or even use a glass
enclosure.
Up here for about 5 months of the year I'd restore the normal feed to
avoid freezing.
It would pay off, but not much. And it'd be a hassle and an eyesore
with that collection method. But it's a cheap way to go.
Have to time your heaviest hot water use to make the best of it.
--Vic
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