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visualjohn


Feb 11, 2008, 5:56 PM

Post #1 of 13 (23233 views)

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solar powered water heaters?

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Would love to hear from anyone who has had one added to their home.
We a building a 5 bath home and would obviously need a large tank.


Visit my site, bookmark it and leave a comment!

http://www.johnandbrianbuildinmexico.com


girdhar


Feb 15, 2008, 3:06 AM

Post #2 of 13 (23196 views)

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Re: [visualjohn] solar powered water heaters?

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Hi,
I have one in my home , I am quite happy with that . As my family and house is not so large in size I have solar water heater with small tank.

wynco

Feb 20, 2008, 9:45 AM

Post #3 of 13 (23161 views)

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Re: [girdhar] solar powered water heaters?

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would love to know where to buy the solar powered water heaters. please could you tell me. regards Wynco
Wyn Coleman

Ron Pickering W3FJW


Feb 21, 2008, 3:02 AM

Post #4 of 13 (23143 views)

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Re: [wynco] solar powered water heaters?

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Actually, the water heaters are easy to make fairly cheaply. All they consist of are a 4X8 plywood box painted a dull black on the inside with an intake and exhaust. The inside has a few loops of copper tubing also painted black and then a pane of glass covering the top of the box. The temp will be as high as 180 degrees or more on a hot summer day, Then of course you'll need a pump to pump the water up to the roof (where the box is usually placed) and an insulated storage tank that you can draw the water from for the house.

Hope I made that clear enough
Getting older and still not down here.

wynco

Feb 21, 2008, 5:03 AM

Post #5 of 13 (23138 views)

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Re: [Ron Pickering W3FJW] solar powered water heaters?

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hi thanks very much - sounds too simple but will have a go - guess gravity pushes the hot water from the box to the storage tank. many many thanks Wynco
Wyn Coleman

Rolly


Feb 21, 2008, 6:38 AM

Post #6 of 13 (23130 views)

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Re: solar powered water heaters?

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You won't need a pump if your city water pressure is great enough.

You can use your existing water heater for storage. Connect the output of the solar heating coils to the cold water input to the water heater. That way the gas burner of the water heater will come on to heat the water on days or nights when the solar system doesn't supply enough hot water.

Check with Sr Google for more details. You'll find scads of ideas online.

(PS: Gravity has nothing to do with it. The water is moved by the pressure of the incoming cold water -- directly from the street or via a pump depending upon your needs.)

Rolly Pirate

Ron Pickering W3FJW


Feb 21, 2008, 7:02 PM

Post #7 of 13 (23110 views)

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Re: [Rolly] solar powered water heaters?

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Here's a good read about solar hot water. Wickipedia has a good article also.

http://www.azsolarcenter.com/...nology/solarh20.html
Getting older and still not down here.

stina

Mar 29, 2008, 8:47 AM

Post #8 of 13 (23047 views)

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Re: [Ron Pickering W3FJW] solar powered water heaters?

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We installed our 310 liter Sunnergy vacuum tube solar water heater 2 weeks ago. It sits in front of our on-demand gas water heater and is fed by our tinaco. The system is entirely gravity based.

I can't say enough good things about the system. It gets HOT, HOT, HOT and stays hot all night. The temp ranges from a low of about 130F to just under boiling at 190F. We have 4 people in the family with 2 kids under 5 and a big bathtub. We use a lot of hot water and, thus far, I don't think that the gas hot water heater has turned on even once.

We originally planned on using the system to power in-floor radiant heat but, after our first winter in GDL, we realize that this would be overkill. I was still sweating when everyone else was wearing scarves and mittens. I guess that "cold" is relative. That said, this would be an excellent way to heat your house for free if you were in a colder climate.

I have photos if you're interested.

best,
Andy

rayitodeluna

Mar 3, 2012, 10:07 PM

Post #9 of 13 (17076 views)

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Re: [stina] solar powered water heaters?

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So sorry for commenting on an old thread, but I am interested in pictures if you, Andy, or anyone else has them!

Thank you! :)

~~~~~~ Enjoying life in northern D.F. with our family of Americans and chilangos.
Family and expat blog here : http://threecurlygirlys.blogspot.mx/ ~~~~~~

GringoCArlos

Mar 4, 2012, 12:01 AM

Post #10 of 13 (17066 views)

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Re: [rayitodeluna] solar powered water heaters?

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Just use Google with these search words: "calentador solar mexico", and then click on the "images" tab at the top of the Google search result page. These types of water heaters are sold by most medium and large sized ferreterias (hardware stores) in MX, as well as independent local businesses that specialize in them. If the house is already plumbed to the roof (for a tinaco, etc), a plumber will probably charge less than 500 pesos to install it.

A small one will run about 4-5000 pesos, and they usually offer many many sizes. I 've seen one bad boy with collection tubes that were about 9 feet across and 7 or 8 feet tall with a giant storage tank that would probably suffice for an apartment building. It was priced at about 18,000 pesos.


(This post was edited by GringoCArlos on Mar 4, 2012, 12:09 AM)

sparks


Mar 4, 2012, 5:40 AM

Post #11 of 13 (17058 views)

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Re: [rayitodeluna] solar powered water heaters?

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If possible put it where it can't be seen from the ground. The house I was renting in Jocotepec suddenly had one tube break and my only idea was some kid couldn't resist. Landlord replaced it with a boiler

Sparks Mexico Blog - Sparks Costalegre

rayitodeluna

Mar 18, 2012, 10:33 PM

Post #12 of 13 (16746 views)

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Re: [GringoCArlos] solar powered water heaters?

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In Reply To
Just use Google with these search words: "calentador solar mexico", and then click on the "images" tab at the top of the Google search result page. These types of water heaters are sold by most medium and large sized ferreterias (hardware stores) in MX, as well as independent local businesses that specialize in them. If the house is already plumbed to the roof (for a tinaco, etc), a plumber will probably charge less than 500 pesos to install it.

A small one will run about 4-5000 pesos, and they usually offer many many sizes. I 've seen one bad boy with collection tubes that were about 9 feet across and 7 or 8 feet tall with a giant storage tank that would probably suffice for an apartment building. It was priced at about 18,000 pesos.

Oh, thank you! I didnt know the translation and when i asked my inlaws they didnt either ;)

Good to know a price, my inlaws have a tinaco already and would just need to buy /install the solar heater.

~~~~~~ Enjoying life in northern D.F. with our family of Americans and chilangos.
Family and expat blog here : http://threecurlygirlys.blogspot.mx/ ~~~~~~

rayitodeluna

Mar 18, 2012, 10:35 PM

Post #13 of 13 (16744 views)

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Re: [sparks] solar powered water heaters?

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In Reply To
If possible put it where it can't be seen from the ground. The house I was renting in Jocotepec suddenly had one tube break and my only idea was some kid couldn't resist. Landlord replaced it with a boiler
That is a really really good point. We do have kids next door who can probably throw high enough to hit it, but deoending on how tall the solar heaters are, we may be able to angle it in a way that it cant be seen from the street.

Really good point. Thank you!

~~~~~~ Enjoying life in northern D.F. with our family of Americans and chilangos.
Family and expat blog here : http://threecurlygirlys.blogspot.mx/ ~~~~~~
 
 
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