diy solar

diy solar

Groundmount water heater discussion

Solarcabin Channel said:
So if vacuum sealed can hold hot water for very long times why are we not using them for domestic water heating?
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Up front cost is the only thing anyone cares about. Witness my calculation of $300/year idle losses for just one of Crowz many water heaters.
How much more do you think Joe Consumer would pay upfront to reduce operating cost to $75/year?

Water heaters used to cost me $200, recently around $600. Labor for someone to install??
An extra $75 ~ $150 in purchase price would cost the manufacturer vast portion of market share.

We were offered fiberglass blankets. Not sure they do any good.
 
Hedges said:
Up front cost is the only thing anyone cares about. Witness my calculation of $300/year idle losses for just one of Crowz many water heaters.
How much more do you think Joe Consumer would pay upfront to reduce operating cost to $75/year?

Water heaters used to cost me $200, recently around $600. Labor for someone to install??
An extra $75 ~ $150 in purchase price would cost the manufacturer vast portion of market share.

We were offered fiberglass blankets. Not sure they do any good.
Click to expand...
I wonder, if you could design a vacuum sealed sleeve to slip over a water tank?

After having OD I would never go back to a tank myself but I like playing around with concept designs.
 
I thought closed cell foam would be better.
I think there are vacuum insulating sheets that can be wrapped! Aerogel and mylar or something like that. Have been mentioned on the forum.
Either way, keep air and water out.

Once you insulate something, the next big thing pops up. For instance, 2" studs 16" on center filled with fiberglass, have the heat loss is through studs.
You're going to have to insulate everything around the water heater. Maybe if all pipes come out the bottom, styrofoam half-rounds (or rectangles) and a roof would do pretty well.

An LN2 tank should do pretty well, if materials are compatible with water, and the elevated temperature.
The Dewar, too.
 
When I add the next emporia vue 2 to my setup I can read out more of the hot water heaters usage. I have 7 hot water heaters total.

I believe I have 4 of them powered right now.

I know for sure 3 of them are powered.
 
When I get caught up on things I probably should experiment insulating them differently and see what happens. I haven't paid much attention to them with everything else going on projects wise.

If I do experiment on them I will probably use the 30 gallon ones since they are not near as large physically to try wrapping or something.
 
B-Mod said:
Since we are talking water heaters here.....

www.eco2waterheater.com

Product Info | Eco2systems

www.eco2waterheater.com www.eco2waterheater.com

I want this for hot water, and to do infloor heat in my house.
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I am debating between something like that for my shop, pond loops (have a 3 acre pond about 150 feet), or a outdoor wood gasifier for my shop which has radiant Pex installed in it. And I might build additional shop(s) and a giant greenhouse. Not sure on which way I will go.
 
Is the benefit to this route vs a rheem or similar hpwh that it’s more user serviceable?
 
My reason is due to the location of my existing water heater. It's in an un insulated attic. So a standard hp water heater wouldn't be very efficient (in winter). And would just make the attic even colder in winter.
Although it would be great in summer.
 
Ah so we've moved from hot water heaters to hot tubs! :)
Nice setup....maybe I should go with something like that to replace my current patio cover/roof.... hmmm...not the best spot in my yard though...thanks for the pics!
 
Literally read my mind! Simple but effective! What did you use for the strut? Only concern I have is being told not to loop the wires since it's DC current.
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I got on craigslist and found someone that had a whole bunch of the unistrut for $10 a piece (I bought 10). I used lagbolts and huge washers to attach the unistrut to the 2x8's. I used 1.5" 1/4 bolts with washers to attach the unistrut to the solar panels. It feels super strong. Lastly, I put some silicone between each panel so it would block the rain.

Not all roofs are suitable for solar so a pergola, shed, workshop, or ground mount may be a better option.
Click to expand...

Since this is my first attempt at setting up a solar system, I was very worried about attaching the panels to my house. Now that I have all of this up and running. I'm already looking to purchase another 12 panels and installing them on the roof.
 
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