Build a simple solar water heater. Introduction. Ive seen a few different designs for solar water heaters and I wanted to share my own. It is quite an efficient design since every square inch of collector surface is in direct thermal contact with the water being heated. HomeAdvisors Water Heater Cost Guide lists prices associated with installing or replacing a hot water heater including labor and materials, as reported by. Frequently Asked Questions. QUESTION Can anyone tell me about the Titan Tankless Water Heater I want to switch my old tank water heater to a new tankless unit. How much should it cost to have a standard tank gas water heater installed In 1995, I paid 150 to have one installed in Atlanta. I have read a few DIY boards. Solar water heating systems have a good economic payoff, and are manageable systems to install or build as a DIY project. Some of the solar water heating designs. Introduction Ive seen a few different designs for solar water heaters and I wanted to share my own. It is quite an efficient design since every square inch of. You can easily modify the design to any size you like. I made mine 8ft long by 2. Tests showed that system output averaged about 5. Watts, heating 2. C 7. 5 degrees F to 4. C 1. 17 degrees F in one hour. Aside Im in the middle of re roofing my house and plan to build in a transparent section of roof in one area. Then I can experiment with different solar collector designs like this one and install and remove them easily from inside my attic instead of having to go out on my roof. It will make the plumbing easier too. The drawback is that if a collector springs a leak, it will leak into my home instead of into my gutter. See Build a solar attic for details. Ads by Google. Warning Dont drink the water. It is not my intent for this design to be used for heating drinking water. The plastics and glues used will leach into the water so its a bad idea to drink any water that has been inside the panel. If you want to use this design for heating drinking water you should make a heat exchanger. Run the water from the collector through a coil of copper pipe placed in a tank suitable for drinking water. This collector design is also not meant to withstand city water pressure, but if you use a heat exchanger and an appropriate tank such as a commercial hot water tank you can use a collector like this to heat drinking water at city water pressure. Concept. The collector is made from Coroplast see http www. How Much Does It Cost To Install An Expansion Tank On A Water Heater' title='How Much Does It Cost To Install An Expansion Tank On A Water Heater' />How much replacing a water heater should cost. Average costs and comments from CostHelpers team of professional journalists and community of users. With all needed. Solar water heating SWH is the conversion of sunlight into heat for water heating using a solar thermal collector. A variety of configurations are available at. Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking. It has multiple square channels running lengthwise from end to end. When I first saw this type of sheet I immediately thought, Wow, this would make an excellent flat panel solar collector if only there was a way to pipe water through all those little channels. Several weeks later, a method of doing so occurred to me. If a slot of the right width is cut lengthwise in some ABS pipe so the cross section looks like a C then this pipe can be fit over the end of the corrugated plastic. The seams can be sealed to make everything water tight. The sheet can be painted black and voila you have a flat panel solar collector. Because the whole collector is made of plastic, it is important that the temperature doesnt get too high or it will soften and possibly spring a leak. C 1. 76 degrees F is about the limit. Dont think it can get that hot Think again. Win 7 Pro 32 Bit Nrg. In practice the maximum temperature is difficult to guarantee. Water may stop circulating, or may drain out completely for a number of reasons and the panel will overheat. Therefore this may not be a practical design for residential installation but it is an inexpensive, easily built experimental system that produces as much or more hot water than commercially available systems. Mine cost about 6. Tools and Materials. Tools. Table Saw. Hand Saw. Drill press. Power drill. 34 drill bit. Exacto knife. Tape measure. Screw driver. Digital thermometer. Caulking gun for adhesive. Coarse round file. Materials for collector. Coroplast plastic sheet 4x. ABS tubing 6 Note Do not use PVC as it softens at too low a temperature causing leaks. ABS caps 1. Note since original publication Ive found Marine GOOP to be better1 can of flat black spray paint 5. Materials for frame. Materials for tank water circulation. I already had one scrap. Total cost of materials 5. Build the collector. Use an exacto knife to cut the corrugated plastic sheet to 2. When cutting lengthwise, be sure to cut in a single channel for the whole length. Cut the ABS pipe into two lengths, each 2. Check that when a cap is placed on either end, the total length is 2. I picked this width so it would fit between the roof rafters in my attic. Drill a 34 hole in the side of two of the ABS caps. This will be easier if you pre drill with a smaller bit and gradually increase the size. Enlarge the holes with a coarse round file until you can just thread in the nipples. I did not have a tap of the right thread, so I planned to just glue the nipples in place. Drill a 34 diameter semicircular notch in the end of each ABS tube. This is easiest if you clamp them end to end in a vise. Alternatively you could drill this hole in the ABS tube before cutting it, and then just cut through the center of the hole to make the notches. These notches fit around the nipple end when the ABS caps are in place. Using a table saw with a fence, carefully rip a slot down the full length of each ABS tube. The resulting cross section should look like a C. The ABS tube tends to compress as you cut, so that when you are done, the slot will not be as wide as the width of your saw blade. Feed each tube through the saw a second time to clean up the cut for a consistent width. Repeat the slot cutting process with the ABS caps, keeping in mind what direction you want the nipples to be pointing when the panel is fully assembled. Do a dry fit, assembling the ABS tubes, caps, and hose nipples. You may need to carve a bit out of the notch to get the slot in the tube to line up with the slot in the cap. Repeat the dry fit on the end of the corrugated plastic sheet. Carve up the ABS as needed to get a nice fit everywhere. After everything fits nicely, repeat the assembly, applying adhesive to all mating surfaces before assembly, and applying a bead of adhesive to all seams after assembly. Repeat for the other end of the corrugated plastic. Allow to dry for at least 2. After drying, cut the garden hose in half and clamp the cut ends to the nipples. Fill the panel with water just connect the garden hose to a tap on your house and check for leaks. If there are any leaks, drain the panel, dry the area around the leak thoroughly and seal with more adhesive, allowing another 2. If you are interested in calculating the efficiency of your collector later, you need to know its volume. This is a good time to drain it into a bucket and measure the volume including the hoses. Mine contained 7. Once all leaks have been sealed, paint the surface of the collector black. Ads by Google. Build the frame. You could use the collector as is. Just lay it out in the sun and pump water through it. However, much more heat can be captured by building an insulated enclosure for it. Cut one 23 to two lengths of 2. Screw the other 2 2x. Wrap the transparent plastic around this frame to make a transparent lid to fit over the collector. In my case this is for test purposes only, since I intend to eventually install the collector between roof rafters underneath transparent roofing material which will provide a ready made frame. Cut the plywood to 2. Cut the styrofoam sheet to 74 by 39 and place it centered on the plywood. This will be the insulation for the back of the panel. Test fit the collector and drill 34 holes in the plywood where the hoses will stick through. Make one of these holes into a slot by drilling two 34 holes side by side and cutting away the wood between them. This is to allow for thermal expansion of the collector. Plastics typically have a high coefficient of thermal expansion. If you restrict the panel from expanding, it may warp and cause a leak. Now stack the whole works together First the plywood, then polystyrene, then the collector, then the transparent cover.