Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By Five Gallon Ideas
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Solar Hot Water Heater

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


This article is taken from Five Gallon Ideas, which features over 100 uses for 5 gallon buckets with more being added all the time.

Heating water is probably one of the biggest line items on your energy bill. The average American family of 4 in 2012 spent between $250 and $550 that year to heat hot water. A cleverly designed solar hot water system can eliminate 50% to 100% of that cost, depending on usage.

DIY Solar Hot Water Heater

This is the “gateway drug” for heating water with the sun. You can build it yourself, in an afternoon, with 20$ in supplies. After you prove to yourself that indeed this solar hot water thing isn’t snake oil, you can move on to more advanced solar hot water systems.

This small, un-insulated – and possibly toxic – DIY solar heater has a few advantages to balance out its problems. Besides being cheap to make, it’s more portable than any other design.

All you need for this project is a clean tire inner tube and a length of hose with a faucet end.

This picture and the tutorial that accompanies it are published on MotherEarthNews.com

5 Gallon Bucket Solar Water Heater

You knew that this was coming, right?

This great little invention is called the “Sun Bucket.” It’s simple – you just fill it with water, come back a few hours later (a lot of hours later actually) and your water will be hot enough to use for just about anything.

The bucket is actually insulated, so it heats the water faster and hotter, and the heat lasts well into the night.

Over on SunBucket’s website the product is presented along with a great graph that shows how it heats up during the day.

As you can see, the water is coldest at 9 AM, and warmest at 8 PM – near the end of the day. Use this general knowledge to plan your hot water. For example, if you’re heating water with the sun, get in the habit of evening showers rather than showers early in the morning.

Hot Water for a Household

Those last 2 solar hot water heaters are great, but they aren’t really designed for the middle class household spending 500$ a year on hot water. That’s when you use systems like this 2′x2′ roof-mount solar array.

This is the EZ-37 from Heliatos. It’s designed for simple installation, and allows for expansion with additional units. At 136$, it should pay for itself in 6 months or less, depending on how effectively it’s used.

When heating with oil was cheap, panels like this one were used most often on RVs and boat. But with higher fossil energy prices, homeowners all over America are installing these on their roofs to get a nice fat chunk of all that free energy flowing down to earth.

Keep in mind that all solar heaters require strong daylight to work best. During the night and wintertime, solar heaters are either scaled down or decommissioned altogether. There’s still a place for heating oil in most hot water systems, but it certainly need not be run whenever the sun is shining.

For many more ways to use 5 gallon buckets for self sufficiency, visit Five Gallon Ideas. When citing this article, please link to


Source: http://fivegallonideas.com/solar-hot-water-heater/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=solar-hot-water-heater


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.