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Solar
Heating - Our Water Heater
Click here to
view the solar heating video
 Many people have probably noticed on a hot
summer day how hot the water gets in the garden hose after being in the
sun for awhile. In a solar home heating water for household use takes advantage of
the same process. Using this type of solar energy is a good way to save energy
costs and is a great example of solar living.
There are many ways to heat water with the
sun, but I believe that the most effective way is to use water solar collectors located either on the roof or even on the ground if desired.
The first solar water heater that I made was located on the ground next to my
garage where the existing propane hot water heater was located. The solar storage tank that was
used was placed next to the existing tank. The bottom of
the storage tank was elevated to have its bottom to be about 2 feet
higher than the top of the solar collector. With this 2 feet of difference there
was no need to have any circulation pump as the hot water from the solar collector would begin to move toward the tank since hot air or water
rises. This rising action would also draw the cold water in the tank
bottom towards the solar collector bottom. This process would continue all day
long until the temperature of the water in the solar tank would be around 130
degrees. This pre-heated water was then run to the propane heater and then
into the house. On most days the propane water heater would never have to
turn on.
It may not be possible or practical to
place a collector on the ground, so the next best place is on the roof. If
solar collectors are placed on the roof, some sort of pump and temperature
controller are required to circulate the water from the collector to the
storage tank.
A basic solar collector usually
consists of a bottom pipe, a top pipe and several pipes running between
them. Some sort of absorbing material is placed around the pipes and
extends away from them to provide additional surface to absorb and
transfer heat to the pipes. My first solar panel was made using ¾
inch copper pipe spaced 6 inches apart running vertically between two
horizontal pipes. I stapled thin aluminum printer's plates to the pipes
and painted them black. The pipe was placed into a 2x4 framed box that
had rigid insulation on the back and sides and had a 4 foot by 6 foot 8 inch
sliding glass door attached to the frame. Most commercially made
collectors use the same design or one similar to a car radiator.
You can also visit the Living
On Solar Blog to talk about solar heating.
The video runs for 1 minute and 36 seconds and shows
how we use solar heating for our water. We hope that you enjoy the video.
Please watch our other solar videos elsewhere on this site.
Click here to
view the solar heating video
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