are there any practical things we can do with hot radiator water ?

[modmonster]

its easy to divert the coolant hoses in a car -the veg oil diesel guys have taught us that.

what *practical* things can we do with hot water for energy saving?

[Frank Lee]

Put it in a thermos and release it again on next start-up.

[modmonster]

what about heating up lots of water with a heat exchanger and then using that water for heating your house?

[Frank Lee]

You think there is THAT much heated water?

[modmonster]

how could that be retro fitted to a car? could we re-route the coolant hoses to a big 10-20litre insulated tank in the trunk or passenger foot-well?

[modmonster]

obviously we would need to add more storage for the home heating idea

[Frank Lee]

That could be. I don't think 10-20 l will cut it. Imagine a 5 gal pail of boiling water in your house. I don't think there's an appreciable amount of heat there.

I reckon there's calcs to show how much energy is in, say, a 55 gallon drum of coolant at x temperature. Of course, that drum would have 459 lbs of coolant in it...

[modmonster]

actually i started this post because i was thinking about the steam engine idea but from a practical DIY perspective.

[modmonster]

the thermos flask for hot start up idea would work with a 20litre tank. from my biodiesel days, i know that a 20litre tank should keep its heat over-night if insulated. if its positioned in the passenger footwell the escaping heat would nicely warm the car. but would the weight be an issue?

[modmonster]

would it be practical to make a steam engine to replace the alternator using these components?

heat exchanger from ebay -boiler
drill pump from ebay -turbine
drill -alternator
your existing radiator -condenser
a solenoid valve -to do the reciprocating