Simple Solar Hot Water

[Hagbard Celine]

The way I've seen it done is to put the panel anywere you've got room and sun, and use the cold water supply to your standard water heater to run water through it and then into your hot water tank. That way you have no pumps and the solar merely acts as a pre-heater.

If by some chance the solar temperature is above your hot water tank set point then you've installed too much panel.

Also what Classact is saying is to provide a simple method to disconnect and drain the system for the winter season and avoid freeze-ups.

Its a red-neck solution, probably costing 25% of a store-bought solar system and probably about 90% as effective.

Well, assuming solar panels were inexpensive, which they aren't, the smart thing to do would be to take your electric hot water heater off the grid and power it exclusively with solar panels, which would save you a ton on your electric bill. Unfortunately, solar panels are still so expensive it wouldn't be worth it unless you were permanently nested in your current house--you'd never get your money back.
Pumping the water through a pipe or grid on the roof, similar to leaving a hose in the sun, is how my parent's pool is "heated" or warmed during the summer. But that system doesn't really present an efficient option for a whole house imo.
The best thing you can probably do to save energy on your water heater is to go to do what I did. Go to Lowe's and buy an $18 insulation cloak for your heater.
I just redid all the water piping in my house with cpvc. I got rid of all the old corrugated steel stuff so I'm hoping to see a marked decrease in my power bill over the next few months--especially since winter is right around the corner. Here's a picture I took of a cross section of one of the old steel pipes originally installed in 1957: As you can see, it was quite an upgrade. I also installed a filter:Sweet! I can drink the water now, which is awesome.

[glockmail]

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Brings back fond memories of my first house with galvanized pipe. Of course, they only put the galvanized on the outside of the pipes. It used to take 30 minutes to fill the bathtub and you could hear the entire length of pipe hissing as the water seeped through all the rust.

I also see that you have an iron sewer line. With lead joints, most likely. As long as you keep that pipe properly supported so it doesn't develop sags or any joints get loose it will probably outlast you. It has the additional benefit of being very quiet. In my 15 year old new house we have shedule 40 pvc drainage plumbing and there is a drop in the wall of my den from the bathrooms upstairs. So when I watch TV and someone takes a shower all I can hear is water draining through the pipe.

[Hagbard Celine]

Brings back fond memories of my first house with galvanized pipe. Of course, they only put the galvanized on the outside of the pipes. It used to take 30 minutes to fill the bathtub and you could hear the entire length of pipe hissing as the water seeped through all the rust.

I also see that you have an iron sewer line. With lead joints, most likely. As long as you keep that pipe properly supported so it doesn't develop sags or any joints get loose it will probably outlast you. It has the additional benefit of being very quiet. In my 15 year old new house we have shedule 40 pvc drainage plumbing and there is a drop in the wall of my den from the bathrooms upstairs. So when I watch TV and someone takes a shower all I can hear is water draining through the pipe.

Actually, I'm on a well:
As you can see, I rebuilt most of the piping on it too. The pipe going to my house is plastic/rubberized water piping so no lead thankfully. I think the rust and dirt you saw just comes from the ground water. Since I installed that filter, I had crystal clear drinking water for the first time ever in my house. Oh yeah, I'm livin' large these days Rebuilding the well system was one of the first things I did over a year ago. I've since gotten that switch up off the ground and built a nice little well shed to cover the thing up. That still needs painting come to think of it.

[glockmail]

Actually, I'm on a well:
As you can see, I rebuilt most of the piping on it too. The pipe going to my house is plastic/rubberized water piping so no lead thankfully. I think the rust and dirt you saw just comes from the ground water. Since I installed that filter, I had crystal clear drinking water for the first time ever in my house. Oh yeah, I'm livin' large these days Rebuilding the well system was one of the first things I did over a year ago. I've since gotten that switch up off the ground and built a nice little well shed to cover the thing up. That still needs painting come to think of it.

I was on a well with the house that I described as well. The deposits in the pipe came from the galvanized pipe, not the groundwater. I now this because all the risers in the house were copper, and only the horizonal runs in the basement ceiling were steel. My house was vintage 60's, not as old as yours, and apparently used partial steel to save money.

So that's probably why you instaled the filter. Well I'll bet you a dollar that it will stay relatively clean. As long as the well is sealed into the bedrock you are unlikey to get any sediment out of it.

[Hagbard Celine]

I was on a well with the house that I described as well. The deposits in the pipe came from the galvanized pipe, not the groundwater. I now this because all the risers in the house were copper, and only the horizonal runs in the basement ceiling were steel. My house was vintage 60's, not as old as yours, and apparently used partial steel to save money.

So that's probably why you instaled the filter. Well I'll bet you a dollar that it will stay relatively clean. As long as the well is sealed into the bedrock you are unlikey to get any sediment out of it.

I don't know about the well being sealed into the bedrock. I hope you're right. You think all that sediment was just from the pipes? I didn't know they rusted like that from the inside out. I figured all that dirt was just pumped in from the ground water.

[glockmail]

I don't know about the well being sealed into the bedrock. I hope you're right. You think all that sediment was just from the pipes? I didn't know they rusted like that from the inside out. I figured all that dirt was just pumped in from the ground water.

It looks like your well is in a crawl space so as long as you prevent water from getting in there you should have no problems. Of course, don't go burying and dead hookers down there either.

You said that some of the pipes were plastic. Since they didn't fill up with sediment or rust that proves that the steel pipes simply rusted. Its a well-known phenom in the plumbing field. That's one reason why they don't use galvanized pipe anymore.

[Hagbard Celine]

It looks like your well is in a crawl space so as long as you prevent water from getting in there you should have no problems. Of course, don't go burying and dead hookers down there either.

You said that some of the pipes were plastic. Since they didn't fill up with sediment or rust that proves that the steel pipes simply rusted. Its a well-known phenom in the plumbing field. That's one reason why they don't use galvanized pipe anymore.

Nah, I don't put any of my dead bodies inside my well shed. I usually chop them up and drive them down to a big lake out of town. Actually none of the old pipes were cpvc. But with my new all cpvc pipes and that filter, I'll have clear drinking water for a long time to come. All I have to do is change my filter every three months. The reason I went ahead and replaced my plumbing is because I'm completely redoing my kitchen so I'll be ready to house a lot of people coming to help me re-roof the house at the end of this month. New cabinets, appliances, the works. So I didn't want crappy, sediment-filled water ruining my dishes, my clothes and clogging up my ice maker.