Time for New Hot Water Heater

[dremd]

Alright, Been super busy lately, but I picked up the Water heater today :-)
It is a passive type, Reflector box with tank in center, 1 pane of glass is there, 1 missing.

Tested for leaks, None found

Pressure washed

Wire brushed-> Cold Galv. -> Rustoleum BBQ pit black On tank

Cleaned up reflector as best I could and determined that it was hopeless, pealed it up and replaced with the shiniest Peal and Seal that Lowes had (looks good 2 me).

Trying to get a sheet of glass large enough to cover the existing pane tomorrow (essentially double pane with spacer).

Existing layer of glass looks slightly franell.

Box has a spec plate, I'll post up more details soon.

[Daox]

Details and pics.

[dremd]

see attachment

[dremd]

got the heater up on the roof, mounted(adjustable angle), partially plumbedfilled with water from hose last night. decided to drain a bit to see how hot the water temp was; 160 deg fareheight ! note i only have 1 pane of glass at the moment, and today is mostly cloudy/ overcast. that being said, does anybody know where to get a deal on an anti-scald valve?

[Ryland]

last time I bought an anti-scald valve it was around $30 from a plumbing store, when I was installing solar hot water systems every single system we installed would get one of these valves because the solar hot water panels, after going through the heat exchanger, would get the domestic hot water up to 180 degrees, often before noon if it was sunny out, after that the hot water was being sent through a coil in the floor if it was winter, and in the summer it would go through a dump loop that was berried out side, when we finish the solar hot water system on the garage it will dump the heat in the summer in to a 700 gallon tank of water... home built hot tub?

[dremd]

So you found one in the $30 range, cool I'll keep looking, The cheapest I have seen thus far is $60 (ebay) however I haven't been to the local plumbing supply yet, so far I have only checked the big boxes.

Actually one of my next projects will be a heat exchanger on my central AC unit to interface it with my 20,000 gallon Swimming pool / Radiator :-)

Man I've got to get back to work on the BioDiesel processor it's almost time to fill up again :-(

I wouldn't mind having a hot tub also :-)

[dremd]

Had my first Solar hot water shower today.
It is plumbed up without any conventional water heater.
Today was rather cloudy, only 85deg water, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.
Off to hunt for tankless water heater

[Daox]

I was thinking about this the other day. I have a radiator from my 93 Tercel just sitting around downstairs. Its about 24 inches by 36 inches. What about enclosing it in a wooden box and glass cover? Use the normal outlets out the back side of the box (sealed with silicon of course) and you have a descent solar collector for cheap.

[dremd]

It would work, but I have 2 concerns
1) Capacity Would heat up very quickly, but would run out of steam quickly as well.
2) Pressure House hold water is around 50 psi, radiator pressure is around 14 psi Not sure if it would be up to the job.

I've determined that my tank is simply from a 40 gallon gas water heater, they either cut the insulation / burner out, or bought one un-assembled.

I don't yet have the 2nd pane of glass mounted, but I think it will help retin the heat through the night / clouds.

[dremd]

Just added the second pane of glass.
We will see what improvement that will make in the next few days.
I had 125 degree water at the faucet around 4pm today. (without second pane) That was the hottest I've seen in actual use. (still my only hot water heater)