There is an amazing post on DailyKos Eco's List on making your own solar heating panel:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/29/18348/313
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
a mid-January perspective
I'm glad we kept the gas system. Thse days, we keep it on pilot, and I just go down to the basement & turn it up when needed. Within 10-15 minutes, the water is hot enough to shower in. And then I go turn it down, and wait for the sun to shine again! Of course, on the sunny days, the solar collectors & storage system has proved adequate for our 2 morning showers.
At some point, we'll hookup the electric backup with timer & watt meter. Or, we can do some plumbing to feed the gas system from the solar storage tank so it only needs to bring the temperature up from 95 to 115.
The gas dryer remains un-installed. We now have another set of indoor clotheslines installed in our bedroom, which is filled with potted plants as well. The humidifier is used only occasionally now.
For Sep & Oct '07, our gas usage was 3ccf each month. It was 16 & 44ccf in 2006. So I'm estimating that our gas hot water used under 200ccf annually; quite an efficient little system, in retrospect.
At some point, we'll hookup the electric backup with timer & watt meter. Or, we can do some plumbing to feed the gas system from the solar storage tank so it only needs to bring the temperature up from 95 to 115.
The gas dryer remains un-installed. We now have another set of indoor clotheslines installed in our bedroom, which is filled with potted plants as well. The humidifier is used only occasionally now.
For Sep & Oct '07, our gas usage was 3ccf each month. It was 16 & 44ccf in 2006. So I'm estimating that our gas hot water used under 200ccf annually; quite an efficient little system, in retrospect.
Report on the Steca digital display
9/12/07 Goldline controller was replaced by the Steca controller. We decided to log the date & time, outside temp, roof temp & tank temp. Some sample readings...
10/1/07 @ 730am, roof was 57 and tank 127
10/15/07 @ 7am, roof was 48 and tank 123
10/26/07 @ 630p, roof was 57 and tank 87 after a dark day. Not warm enough, when we so wanted a hot shower.... that we hesitantly lit the pilot on our gas water heater (still inline!) and started it up. Wallowing in the decadent luxury of a long, hot shower, we trotted down to the basement at 9p and turned off the gas water heater.
10/27/07 @ 1230p, roof was 91 and tank 83. It was the fourth dark day, and the sun had come out for a bit. It was touching to hear the heat exchanger pumps start up after so many days of silence.
11/8/07 @ 7a, roof was 35 and tank 99. Not bad since we had a party the night before and had washed many more dishes than usual. We've also noticed that the temperature at the faucet felt warmer that the digital reading.
11/25/07 @ 7a was a clear bright day. The roof was 28 and the tank 113. We reminded ourselves that Afshin had taken a shower after sun-down the day before and rejoiced at getting 113 on the morning of our first frost. One shower later, the tank was at 106. Knowing our supply would be replenished today, I happily did the dishes, some laundry, and mopped the floors. After all that, at 930a, the tank showed 81.
However, the next day, after 2 showers, and measuring over 100 degrees at the sink, we wondered why the display was only showing 67. Observing this for a day or so (and coasting on the back-up gas system), we decided the controller had died and unplugged it.
Power down and up fixed it.
10/1/07 @ 730am, roof was 57 and tank 127
10/15/07 @ 7am, roof was 48 and tank 123
10/26/07 @ 630p, roof was 57 and tank 87 after a dark day. Not warm enough, when we so wanted a hot shower.... that we hesitantly lit the pilot on our gas water heater (still inline!) and started it up. Wallowing in the decadent luxury of a long, hot shower, we trotted down to the basement at 9p and turned off the gas water heater.
10/27/07 @ 1230p, roof was 91 and tank 83. It was the fourth dark day, and the sun had come out for a bit. It was touching to hear the heat exchanger pumps start up after so many days of silence.
11/8/07 @ 7a, roof was 35 and tank 99. Not bad since we had a party the night before and had washed many more dishes than usual. We've also noticed that the temperature at the faucet felt warmer that the digital reading.
11/25/07 @ 7a was a clear bright day. The roof was 28 and the tank 113. We reminded ourselves that Afshin had taken a shower after sun-down the day before and rejoiced at getting 113 on the morning of our first frost. One shower later, the tank was at 106. Knowing our supply would be replenished today, I happily did the dishes, some laundry, and mopped the floors. After all that, at 930a, the tank showed 81.
However, the next day, after 2 showers, and measuring over 100 degrees at the sink, we wondered why the display was only showing 67. Observing this for a day or so (and coasting on the back-up gas system), we decided the controller had died and unplugged it.
Power down and up fixed it.
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