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Victor
Junior Member
United Kingdom
409 Posts |
 Posted - 08/09/2007 : 06:01:29
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I came across this solar shower on the net.It`s like under £10. I was wondering if anyone has tried these out.The idea would be good for a few months during the Summer period and could be stored in a garden hut with the sun pointing at it.
Even possibly sitting it on a small stand and blasting a focussed piece of curved metal that would heat the bag far quicker!
The idea would be good if it was used in a sheltered are of the garden and then the water used to do the daily washing up...
I wonder how hot the water could get and if it would be of use just leaving it out and say grabbing the bag when you get home at 5pm etc..... Really probably best used in the hieght of the day sunlight...
Saves storing one hell of a lot of power!!!
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Victor
Junior Member
United Kingdom
409 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2007 : 06:05:46
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| Even storing a few of them in a coldframe away from the wind and seeing if it heats up in that type of box being blasted by the heat from the sun. |
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BushWhacker
Junior Member
Canada
325 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2007 : 13:22:01
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I still have something like that from my tent camping days. It has about a 15 liter capacity and is shaped like a cube with rounded corners. The material is some kind of heavy, fairly stiff, black plastic. Here is a link to the product...
http://www.preparedness.com/pocosusosh25.html
It also comes in a 5 gallon unit.
Please bear in mind the water I was filling it with came from snow or ice fed mountain streams and was probably no warmer than about 2C(35F?). The sun also has a bit more power with the higher altitude (5000 ft).
On a sunny day it took about 8 hours to get a luke warm shower on a warm sunny day which is still far better than a wash in the creek or river. I think the peak water temperature occurred in the late afternoon.
good luck,
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
Edited by - BushWhacker on 08/09/2007 13:33:18 |
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gotwind
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
931 Posts |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
369 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2007 : 22:42:35
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Hi all,
Can I suggest a slightly different (and cheaper) alternative?
If you get an old household radiator, paint it black and mount it in you garden so it's in the sun and then connect it up to your outide tap (input) and a hosepipe outlet on a trigger sprinkler gun then you have a really good solar shower. Of course the bigger the radiator the more hot water you'll have.
Only trouble with this is that although this set up will absort heat well it will also radiate it so it's never going to get particularly hot but good enough for a al fresco shower on a summers day.
Cheers
Del. |
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BushWhacker
Junior Member
Canada
325 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 05:08:54
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Think about this..
I have black rubber garden hose. On a hot day hanging on a reel, the water stored in that hose gets so hot it actually burns a bit, no blisters or scalding but uncomfortable. Run a 50 ft spiral of hose in a shallow box painted flat black on the inside with a sheet of lexan as a cover. On a hot sunny day I bet that would get so hot you couldn't keep your hands in the stream of water.
The other thing to think about is a "Batch Solar Water Heater". Look here fore ideas. http://tinyurl.com/2gajbk
Cheers!
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
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Victor
Junior Member
United Kingdom
409 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 07:21:18
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Good info on this post...One way I think of getting fast hot water in this type of bag is have a thin one and leave it sitting over the bonnet of a car or caravan where the metal is scorching hot.After an hour I`m sure the water will be piping hot,but for hanging a bag with the sun hitting it I don`t think there will be much of a result.......
If there was a think that had a way of taking the suns heat and keeping it in there like a flask we would be able to heat the water without losing 90% of the heat.....
I still think it could be done in scotland during peak sunshine times.... If it does your dishwater for the day than its worth it. Overall 6 month yearly saving!! |
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Victor
Junior Member
United Kingdom
409 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 09:43:18
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Also I found this newsgroup if anyone is interested in that particular Power magazine.Been readng the older issues of it andI`d probably susbscribe to it if it was availiable here in the uk....Fantastic reading it is.....I`ll got throught the 100 odd issues and see if there is anything related to wind turbines etc or even dynohub articles.
alt.binaries.e-book.technical
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Peter Williams
New Member
United Kingdom
54 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 18:25:28
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| I have a cold only plumbed washing machine, so power is used to heat the water in the washer. Could a black box be plumbed in first that was heated by the sun? Could this preheat my water first? |
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BushWhacker
Junior Member
Canada
325 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 21:57:29
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Peter,
Lookie here! http://tinyurl.com/2gajbk
Scroll down and start reading. I think a Batch heater is just what you are looking for. Cheap, and fairly easy to build as well. Just do your "hot" laundry loads in the afternoon on sunny days.
Cheers!
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
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BushWhacker
Junior Member
Canada
325 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 22:06:04
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Victor wrote "If there was a think that had a way of taking the suns heat and keeping it in there like a flask we would be able to heat the water without losing 90% of the heat....."
Check this video out! http://tinyurl.com/2jyme2
Here is his website http://www.solarbilly.com/
Hope that's what you are looking for.
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
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BushWhacker
Junior Member
Canada
325 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 17:43:03
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Peter, here's another site for Batch water heaters...
http://tinyurl.com/2ef5km
Cheers,
BW
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. - Albert Einstein |
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ghurd
Junior Member
USA
313 Posts |
Posted - 13/09/2007 : 14:22:13
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I use the plastic bag as intended and am happy with it. Surprised with plenty warm enough for a real shower, sometimes too hot. I expected it to be a convenient water holder with handy shower head. Mine has a black back and clear front. Works a lot better in full sun than slight overcast. Wind seems to keep it from getting very hot, placing it on a jacket to insulate the sides and bottom really helps. Guessing it got to 50'C in 2 hours of good sun, windy 25'C ambient?
G-
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SOLAR Heating without panels :-)
