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55 Comments
- Slovenian6474, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16"This project will create a DIY solar hot water heater for less than five dollars (if you have access to a garbage dump)."
Well *****, if you have access to a garbage dump you can make a ton of stuff for less than $5. - Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12even easier way:
Step 1) Put water in glass.
Step 2)Leave in sun. - mdoom, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Okay, so i bought the duct tape and aluminum foil...but now my $5 is gone...
- silverchrysalis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6some family friends have something like this on their pool and it is the most comfortable water i've ever been in, even on a chilly summer evening
- halleyscomet, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5"Junkyard Wars" was one of my favorite shows. Remember when they built airplanes??
- edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Don't you have those things on hand? I mean, I have a ten year supply of those things! You never know when you're going to need to make a new aluminum foil hat.
- jkizzle, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4you have to start the siphon yourself... aka suck water through a pipe formerly filled with freeon...
- gregdigg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4He did say, "Our local dump has a coolant removal program that has refrigerators and dehumidifiers that they remove old freon from," but I'm not sure if the importance of this part was stressed enough.
- nihilite, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4When I was in mexico I saw them using these big black 55 gallon drums up on their roofs. The sun heats the water and it stays quite hot for a long time. Low-tech, but very effective.
- curios, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Old refrigerators may contain CFC gas which is much more dangerous to the atmosphere than CO2. Do not release this into the atmosphere, it destroys the ozone layer. Contact your local waist management services.
- flashingcurser, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Thank you.
I have to digg this article down. They do not mention how to remove the refrigerant, you must have a refrigeration mechanic who is licensed to remove it recover it. Cutting the refrigerant lines is NOT acceptable. Cutting just vents it to the atmosphere. Home refrigerators typically don't have shraeder (sp?) valves so the layman can check them. It requires a mechanic even to check it, there is no way a layman can find out if it is charged or not. Regardless, there are PCB's in the refigerant oils. Even if you are environmentally stupid, the walls of the condenser are coated with this oil. Lets run water through it and use it for washing yay! - Otto, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3This is somewhat common for heating swimming pools. All you have to do is lay tubes on your roof, cover them with a black thermal insulating material, then pump the pool water through the tubes. The tubes gather heat, make the water hot, then dump it back into the pool. Pumping water around is ridiculously cheap, and with some minor electronics you can improve the efficency by only pumping the water when the tubes are hotter than the water is (daytime, basically). Heats your outdoor pool to very comfortable temperatures for pennies and it's easy to DIY. Very fun project if you have a pool.
- gregdigg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Perfect sentence construction.
- 93ex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I own my house, and my water heater. But you know what? Energy bills still suck.
- rockefeller, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I hate it when people say solar is inefficient.
Who gives a ***** about efficiency when the source is free? - SanTe, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Does Godwin's Law apply to "spelling/grammer nazi" comments?
Just asking. - emt41, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3This is OK as long as when obtaining the coil you dint release the refrigerant into the atmosphere.
- silverchrysalis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2nah, just michigan
- krnldmp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3You mean solar Electric, and it's really not that much of a problem since most of the energy consumed the world over is for heating and cooling, functions solar energy can be forced to perform with efficiencies well over 60% since forever.
- DteK, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3This was going to be my point.
Wouldnt the sun beating down on the water all day
eventually heat it?
Obviously this is useless at night but still cool experiment
Show me how to store energy from the sun to use later
then you have a very useful project - rssearch, on 11/25/2009, -0/+1There is no cheaper way to make a solar water heater other than making it with copper tube wires on your own. Its all explained here:
www.solarwaterheaterguide.com - cbergeron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Does the viscosity of oil maintain heat? If it did, you may be on to something, because oil is black/brown (which would maintain heat energy from the sun). The amount used in a project like this would be nominal, and since you wouldn't be "consuming oil" it wouldn't necessary be bad for the environment.
I though water had the best specific heat capacity of any fluids though. - cbergeron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Easy enough:
Solar PV Panel + Inverter + Refrigerator. Instant cold, just add Sun.
Insert a few batteries inline before the inverter if you want it to stay cold overnight. - cbergeron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Ehrm, so you just shower at night before bed. When you shower isn't quite as important is _that_ you shower.
I'm a shower in the morning person myself, but I could quickly change that little habit if it would save me hundreds of dollars a year. - ubuwalker31, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Ever live in the mountains?
- BattleStar47, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2mawh guy makes a good point. Go easy on him with the spelling.
jeez. - *jooloop*, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1edit: just really s l o w . . .
- Error601, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Obviously cost me the $5...for the second time.
- halleyscomet, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1The article did state that most the parts were gotten from the dump, and it took a couple of months to collect them.
Good, fast, cheap, pick two.
This guy did NOT pick "Fast" which is why this only cost him $5.00 - curios, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3waste-
they are a bit overweight you spelling/grammer nazi. - halleyscomet, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1The article did mention getting the refrigerator backing from a dump that had already removed the coolants, so if you follow the directions closely, this won't be an issue.
Now, if you get the fridge off Craig's List, you need to deal with removing the coolants properly. - ssavoy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Step 9:
"put one end of the hose into your bucket of cold water, and make sure it is at the bottom of the bucket, next grab the return hose and start sucking" ..."I would recommend having a friend do this part. :)". - coasterfreak212, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1so is there so way to morph this thing to heat up my pool. the black hefty bags aren't cutting it and there is no water heater and I'm not gonna pay millions for it (in gas that is).
- rzurad, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2stop telling us. The fact that it has been on the front page has been mentioned before.
- justaboutdead, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1you could always just inhale the gasss... *dies*
- haroldk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1This guy heated a 5 gallon bucket of water. It took hours. He moved the water by siphoning it. This project and projects like it are useless for the purpose of heating a swimming pool.
Just because the idea makes you feel good, doesn't mean it could work. Think it through.
Before you flame me, consider that heating a pool takes an enormous amount of energy. Scaling a project like this to some real purpose would be ridiculous. At best this project is a fun science experiment for children to play with.
The greenest thing to do in this situation is to not swim when it's cold. - mawh, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4I don't think they have "waist" management in the US.
- wassim2k, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Unfortunately, the water won't be hot when you need it the most (morning shower). I guess this would be great for heating a swimming pool by a few degrees.
- halleyscomet, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Solar water heating is VERY efficient and whole house water heaters tend to pay for themselves in a couple years in energy cost savings, while having a life span comparable to that of a home furnace.
- haroldk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1vvhy , Take care to avoid reality when commenting on stuff like this.
Otherwise gleeful diggers will digg you down if you point out their silly fantasies. - haroldk, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Exactly. You have noticed that the $5 claim is an exaggeration.
- bluemeep, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3Already hit the front page yesterday.
- edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0It kind of makes me wonder if they've ever heard of punctuation.
- haroldk, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1You did not RTFM. Your friends don't have something like this on their pool.
- haroldk, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1The source is free.... This makes sense only if you ignore most of the costs involved in designing, buying and installing a solar system.
Whoever is paying for the inefficient solar power installation should give a *****.
Unless the government subsidizes it it is not cost efficient.
Solar will continue to be less viable until the present alternatives are gone.
buried as lame. - jmiller29, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Build a solar water COOLER and I'll be impressed.
- noahhoward, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1I can vouch for that...
- PecanHead, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2The aluminum foil is wasting an awful lot of energy by reflecting it back into space. My suggestion would be to fill up the cavity with some dirty motor oil and have the tubing submersed in it. That ought to get nice and hot.
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