Difference between revisions of "Solar-h2o"

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==Current System==
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==Developing a Solar Hot Water System at Miller Farm==
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Our current hot water system uses LP gas and a hot water heater that was installed in 1998. 
 
  
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After working on an energy audit of Miller Farm (our house) it has become clear that we use a huge amount of energy to heat our water.  Installing a solar hot water heating system then has become one of our goals, both because it does not require an actual conversion of solar energy to electricty- therefore eliminating the storage problem and the DC to AC conversion problem, and because the load is relatively consistant.  Using solar power to heat water is a use of solar energy that makes a lot of sense for a house like ours as it is in a location that does experience a good number of gray days throughout the year and because heating is where we use the most energy.
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Our current hot water system consists of an electric hot water heater that was installed in 1998.  After working on an energy audit of Miller Farm (our house) it has become clear that despite our relativily new water heater we still use a huge amount of energy to heat our water.  Installing a solar hot water heating system has therefore become one of our goals, both because it does not have the inherent complexties of a solar electric system, and because hot water heating is where we use the most electricity.  Also using solar power to heat water makes a lot of sense for a house like ours, located in a region that experiences a good number of gray days throughout the year.
  
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Currently we have two retired disel fuel tanks in our basement.  We are looking into how we prepare one or both of these tanks for use in our solar water system.  We want to install a bladder in the tank in order to use it to store water, but protect it from the disel fuel residue.
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The following pages detail our research and development.
  
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Needed additions:formula for figuring out how long water needs to be in the pipes at different exterior temperatures in order to be shower temperature.
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*[http://wiki.cs.earlham.edu/index.php/Hot_h2o Hot Water Audit]
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*[[hot_h20_experiment|Experimental Solor Hot Water System]]
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==Experimental Solar Hot Water System==
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*[[heat_bank_info|Information on Heat Bank Storage]]
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*[[heat_exchanger_modeling|Copper Pipe Heat Exchanger Test]]
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[[Image:ShwhSchematic.pdf]]
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*[[mounting_information|Mounting the Solar Heater]]
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*[[heat_bank_design|Our Heat Bank Design]]
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*Supplies Needed
 
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**(2) 1 1/4 inch female hot-water unit to hose connectors
 
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**a pump
 
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**hose?? (We found some hose in the green house that doesn't have end pieces)
 
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**sealable barrel (the barrels out back don't have lids that we can open.  We need something sealed so that we don't turn the basement into a sauna)
 
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**copper coil
 
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**(2) hose to copper pipe connectors
 
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**tube-o-silicon
 
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**(long term) plexyglass or glass? and aluminum frame materials.
 
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*Supplies Purchased
 
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**12v Ag Sprayer Pump [http://www.flojet.com/prodInfoApp/itt_jsp/DisplayItemDetail.jsp?itemId=03501-503&companyId=FLOJET&catalogId=Agricultural&categoryId=FAGTP&typeId=FTP12  Product Information]
 
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**2 Red River 50ft. farm hoses guarentteed up to 180F
 
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**Pipe Tape
 
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**lots of connectors
 
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**flux
 
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**25 ft 10# electrical wire
 
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**30ft. soft copper tubing
 
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*Supplies Acquired
 
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**duct tape
 
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**Ehren's new torch
 
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**large black barrell
 
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**various tools
 
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**solar panel
 
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**solar hot water heater
 

Latest revision as of 22:32, 28 September 2006

Developing a Solar Hot Water System at Miller Farm

Our current hot water system consists of an electric hot water heater that was installed in 1998. After working on an energy audit of Miller Farm (our house) it has become clear that despite our relativily new water heater we still use a huge amount of energy to heat our water. Installing a solar hot water heating system has therefore become one of our goals, both because it does not have the inherent complexties of a solar electric system, and because hot water heating is where we use the most electricity. Also using solar power to heat water makes a lot of sense for a house like ours, located in a region that experiences a good number of gray days throughout the year.

The following pages detail our research and development.

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