solar projects

[mississippi mud]

http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/CopperAlumCollector/Construction.htm
I built this thing last week and was wondering if any of you folks had any solar powered stuff.( besides grapes Appleman)


The water is just as hot as ever in the evening. If I use it all I just flip on the breaker for the electric heater takes 15 min. or so. Not sure how much electricity I'll save I did readthat 1/3 of your power bill is hot water.
Some of you probably use that much on power drills with a fizzx or a mixers on it.

I went to Lowe's to get a buggy and a cart full of stuff to complete the project,told the guy at the check what I was doing and not to laugh,
he replied "what are you an electrician?"
This guy had no way of knowing that I am an electrical contractor. So, I asked himhow did you get that from a bunch of plumbing stuff? he replied " I have a friend thats an electrician and he's always doing crazy sh%$ too."

I just walked out he had me nailed.

 

[Rocky_Top]

I have thought about building one. Most of the ones that I have seen have a tank under ground that you circulate the water threw. This way you have all the hot water that you need and at night in the winter it keeps the water from freezing on the roof.


Then the next step up has a closed system with a tank under ground. You havea collectoron the roof andan emitter in the under ground tank . You pump antifreeze in circles from roof to tank warming the water in the tank. the pump only runs when the roof temp is higher that the tank temp and the tank temp is lower than a set temp.


The under ground tank is heavily insulated


I wish I had one!!!

 

[rrussell]

Question, Won"t electrolisis happen between the copper and aluminum and corrode each other?

 

[Rocky_Top]

Very good point!! I think that the aluminum will loose the battle. However some kind of coating would be a good idea. I think that the alumium is painted. I think that I would coat the copper too.

 

[mississippi mud]

The author recommends silicon caulk between them its a better conductor for heat than air. I put the pump on a timer but can see where the temp controls would be more efficient, I'll have to wait til after Christmas for those.

 

[Rocky_Top]

I am so jealous!

how many gallon tank do you have? Most of the energy that you use with a water heater is not keeping the temp up, it is heating the cold water thatreplaces thehot water that you use. So,.. many people use the solar heated water to feed the water heater. this way the water is solar heated and kept at temp with the water heater. However, if your tank is big enough you can skip the water heater altogether.

Edited by: Rocky Top

 

[mississippi mud]

RT it sounds like you have already studied up on it. Have you seen the simple tank painted black in a insulated box? Its a preheat systemlike your talking about.
We have a50gal tankand the solar w/h has no problem heating it up to 125 from 10am to 4pmon 60 degree days.we have been having some close to freezing night soI turn the pump on every couple hours from 10pm to 5amthat causes the water to becold in the mornings. I'm am sure I'll have to shade it some how this summer to avoid over heating.


Even if it only saves me 15 bucks a month I still feel goodabout it. Maybeit will offset my carbon foot print from all the fermenting I'm going to do this year.
The Little pump pulls .7 amps less than a 120 watt indecentlamp.I drew thisso I could make a material list but its close to the finished system. Instead of the return going into the hot wateroutlet it goes to the drain on the electric water heater.

 

[Rocky_Top]

Sounds good, So you use the water heater as the tank. Did you buildthe collectorthe same size as the one on the website?
$15.00 is still money saved. I think it could help pay for wine.

I built a 5,000 sf. water solar heated house for a solar pro. He did the solar part. The floor had pipes in it with the panels on the roof. Each pipe ran the lenth of the house and came up at each end. If the pipe was damaged you could take it out of the system. every two pipes had a temp probe with a shut off valve. This way you only heat the part of the floor that needs it. It also had a holding tank under ground to keep the temp up at night. This housewas two floors. The heat travels up to the second floor. The house has vents that cirulate the air in it.


Keep us posted on updates.



Edited by: Rocky Top

 

[mississippi mud]

Now thats a system and a houseto be jealous of !! Were you the contractor or the plumber? Either way sounds like a good job to be on, not the same old thing. Was it pex or copper pipe, pump or thermosiphon?Any pictures?
I built mine10ft x 4ft just a little longer than the example.

 

[Rocky_Top]

Well, three of us went into buisness somewhat together.Two of us as partnersas contractors onhigh dollar homes and the other in insulation and cabinets. Five years latter and we are building a new 5,000 sf. Solar house for insulation man.




We built high end homes and odd homes. Geo Dome, Polysteel, log homes. I got out back in 98'


We used pex. It started out as therosiphon and had to add a few small pumps. The heating works very well. The home is also a polysteel home. ( Very well insulated ) Poly steel is like an over grown styrfoam (poly) Lego block set with a hollow center that after placed you fill with concrete.


I do have pictures if I can find them. It really is a nice house on the lake. I think that the deck faceing the lakeis3,000 sf. ( just for the record my house is 2,600 sf with a 12x16 deck No lake)

 

[mississippi mud]

I tried to talkmy wife into buying the spray foam equipment $25,000 with the trailer and all.but that was vetoed by the VP. What can I say I do like my tools.After reading that success story maybe I should have begged for forgiveness instead of asking for permission..

 

[grapeman]

Rocky Top we don't have Poly Steel around here, but there are a multitude of ICF manufacturers. I see they have joined with ARXX so I'm sure they will be around here soon. The idea and finished products are great, but what a pain to integrate into house plans. Using as a foundation isn't bad, but the rest of the house is more of a challenge. Unless a home owner and then the builder have a specific supplier in mind when coming to me for plans, I have no idea which brand to use. It is not like using dimensional lumber (a 2x4 is a standard size of 1 1/2"x3 1/2") and an 8" thick foundation wall is 8". Every manufacturer uses their own deimensions for the product. Some folks tell me they are using ARXX and after I get the plans almost done, they say thay chaged their mind to use a product with totally different dimensions.


At this point, I wouldn't care what they wanted to use, just having a few plan jobs come in would be nice.

 

[Rocky_Top]

Appleman, I worked for Dempsy Dumpster as a draftsmanbeforegetting into houses so I would drawup my own plans. I had a hard time with poly steal plans at first. I would try to keep the rooms the same size and add the extra to the outside.If the customer then changes their minds the rooms get bigger.

My biggest problems were the windows. With 12" thick walls, If you put the window in the center of the room on the inside it might not look right on the outside. Then if the house is more than one floor you need to add a ledge for the floor to sit on.


I had more of a problem with floor trusses and stairs. The customer would add floor trusses making the second floor 12" higher. It was 108" high now it is 120" The hole for the stairs is 140" Now I need at least 10" more for the extra step or steps.

SSSSHHHHH Wade can fix it.

( I do like floor trusses) And don't make mestarted onpocket doors!!

If you take your time with the poly steal it works pretty good. The blocks are 9 1/4 thick. Add sheetrock and siding and the wall could be 12 inches or more thick. OnceI got past that Iwas OK.


Last I heard Poly steal was having posible problem with bugs eating the poly? just hear say?The problemcould be solved easy.


As I said I got out of the whole thing back in 1998. I program elevators now.

 

[grapeman]

I like the customers that bring in a floor plan. They want some changes made, but keep the square footage the same. They want to use xxxxblocks for the walls instead of stick built(right there adds square footage). They want to keep all the rooms the same sizeno- make themeven bigger. Then add such and such a room, no make that two. Oh and I want to make the basement a walkout and finish it off. Let's see, why don't you take that broom closet out. We have to compromise somewhere. After all we want a smaller house now!

 

[Rocky_Top]

That could work.............. If you start with a 1000sf. broom closet.