I have a serious question about this. Read the article, then come back.
The way this is done, it's not for everyone, but how could you take the same concept and apply it to a real water heater inside the house?
Transferring the heat from the roof would be kind of a pain and how would you insulate it from heat loss without impacting it's ability to do it's job?
And could this technology be delivered in a way to store the heat without a water tank like the new Hot Water on Demand tankless systems?
I think this would be a great supplement but not a replacement. I think the water coming into your water heater is around 60 degrees and if you where to put this in front of your supply and say get it to 100 ish then the water heater is hardly working to keep the water @ that temp. Sure you might loose some heat in the transfer from the roof or backyard to the heater but you can insulate that to stop some of that. Very cool though!
I think it's a great idea, but my wife would kill me if I tried to build that in the backyard.
I keep thinking it could be done with some sort SolaTube type install and mirrors bouncing the rays through the roof. That would make the roof hotter, so that creates another problem. Hmmm....
A roof setup is a hell of alot more efficient than this mirror contraption, but you have to be willing to spend some money to get it started. You also cannot even think about these unless you live in a lower hot state.
The easiest home project setup just requires a loopback system tied together in a 2x6 frame, painted black inside with a smoked glass or better a gas filled double glass top glazing to pull the heat in so the pipes can absorb better. I had plans for one, but they aren't computerized and I haven't seen them in 15 years.
Also keep in mind you really need a concrete lined ground tank of about 80gals that can be pressurized with an air bladder system. The tank, pumps, and controls are where the money lies to build one of these however, but if you live in TX, it would be worth it if you really want to get green. All you would have to do is add a instantaneous suppliment heater to bring the water up to 110 degrees or more. Off the roof this should reach 125'ish degrees every 30 min cycle, stored in the concrete holding tank where it should stay 80-100, then the suppliment heater can top that off for comfort to your shower. Everything else, kitchen sink, dishwasher, washing machine etc, can run fine with 80 to whatever degrees.
Funny you should bring this one up. I just installed a small 220v heater for a shower with 4 showerheads. It takes the warm water from the tank and adds just enough heat for a 20 min hot shower with body massages with all the heads running through a water manifold. After the 20 mins, it drops down to a constant 110degrees until you turn the water off.
It literally took me 2.5 days to plumb that together with 4 control valves.. Luxury, and the parts alone cost $2700!
From what I can remember of the plans, and it was a long time ago since I bought them, so tech has greatly improved since then. You build a 2x6 box appr 2' x 8'. There is new piping I'd suggest you look into. Its a thermo plastic used for heating concrete slabs now. All you'd have to do is loop that back in forth in the box, spray it out with black paint, and place tin foil underneath the coils. You place this on a roof pitched at 45 degrees, or angle your box to 45. It collects sun from the south from 10a to 6-7p depending on your location. Place a thermostat in the box to open/close the water in/out per cycle or temp. Water is pumped to a holding tank, then a small pump re-pressurizes it on top of a bladder. Next cycle the bladder deflates as it allows the next heated batch of water in from the roof panel. The bladder is the key to making it work seamlessly with your pressurized city water supply.
The theory is your at work all day, come home at nite, and you should have 80 gals to use the rest of the night. The supplemental electric tank should only come on sporadically, and only to your shower provided you have installed a basement manifold and distribute water to just that faucet(s) from the supplemental heater.
I'd say from looking at the specs on the one I just installed, it only uses 20 cents an hour to heat water from ~100 to 120 per hour. Very, very cheap. Install two solar panels on both sides of the roof hw unit and you could recapture that cost for a fairly green system. The beauty of this setup is very few moving parts. Really just some pressure valves and a cheap compressor like one you would use to inflate tires.
The concrete tank is the pricey item. If your interested, I'd suggest running down some modern plans but be prepared to pay up to a $100 for the the plans and parts list.
The judge (intellectual side) says put a water tank in your attic, run 4 small copper pipes together with a row of mirrors across your roof at 45 degrees. The pipes will be next to the mirrors at the focal point of the sun/heat. The water continously flows through the pipes heated as it goes until the sun goes down. Flow would be pipe 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 3 to 4. Small pipes = fast heat!
The mental (oddly strange with a twist of lime side) says use your neighbors shower! 😳
Judge_Mental wrote:This is cool! Gets your imagination going!
The judge (intellectual side) says put a water tank in your attic, run 4 small copper pipes together with a row of mirrors across your roof at 45 degrees. The pipes will be next to the mirrors at the focal point of the sun/heat. The water continously flows through the pipes heated as it goes until the sun goes down. Flow would be pipe 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 3 to 4. Small pipes = fast heat!
The mental (oddly strange with a twist of lime side) says use your neighbors shower! 😳
I imagine your newly blind neighbors would be big fans of the mirrors on your house that reflect into their house 😀
Atomm wrote:Gotta be fast on the draw around here.
If you read the article, the one key that I see we would need to figure out is tracking the sun. That appears to be a big part of this.
Also, how would you make this safe enough to not catch anything else on fire?
The Mythbusters did a show on a weapon supposedly invented by Archimedes. It was made up of a whole bunch of mirrors, and it was supposed to catch ships on fire. They were unsuccessful, on the whole. I think they added a bunch of accelerant to finally get it to do anything.
If something with that many mirrors DESIGNED to catch something on fire doesn't work, you'll probably be OK. If you delve into the project further, you'll probably find more info on mirror setups and safety.
Atomm wrote:Gotta be fast on the draw around here.
If you read the article, the one key that I see we would need to figure out is tracking the sun. That appears to be a big part of this.
Also, how would you make this safe enough to not catch anything else on fire?
My point being you don't need this contraption. Just a shadowbox @ 45degs with right plumbing parts. If we would get more than 27 days of sunlight a year I would of already had something similar. Even if it is sunny I have the low temps to contend with.
Think black box with glass on a hot roof. Temps inside the box would reach 125 degrees easily, no tracking nec from 10-4. You can cycle in 3.5-5 gals of water per quarterhour. This can also be adapted to doublehung windows. Take a southside window, and build a 2x6 box, cap it with a solarpanel and vent it back into your house with the box angled 45degs. Kinda the same thing as adding a skylight. Would work wonders taking the morning chill off a room, but only in states like AZ or TX.
lexx wrote:Would work wonders taking the morning chill off a room, but only in states like AZ or TX.
Apparently Lexx doesn't know about texas weather! HEHEHE...There's barely any chill in the morning, even in the winter! And the shadowbox wouldn't last very long for the same reason we don't have skylights...HAIL...BIG HAIL!
We had a hail storm move through the other day that was the strangest thing I had ever seen. It dumped so much hail, it looked like several inches of snow covered roads.
It may stop a bullet...but will it stop millions of grapfruit sized hail falling at terminal velocity hitting it over and over and over again?? <---sorry got carried away there, but you get the point!! 😉