Blast From My Past...Solar Hot Water Heater
Hello Sisters!
I thought you might be interested in seeing what we used for a solar hot water heater in the summer when we were on our little homestead. Another post from my past homestead blog...
Who doesn't like saving money? In a previous post I mentioned how I do all our cooking on the woodstove in the wintertime thereby saving our propane or electricity depending on what appliance I would otherwise use. I also always have a pot or two of water on the woodstove for washing dishes or clothes but when the warmer months come, I long for a simple money saving way to heat water....enter the solar water heater.
We like to use what we already have (if possible) with the next step being that we will check out thrift stores or bargain shops before purchasing new. In making this hot water heater we used 2 (of the many) barrels that we were given (free) as well as some hose we already had and 1 hose we purchased at a thrift store for $10. Add on the cost of the spigot and the on/off valve and we have a hot water heater for under $20.
Jim already had the boards to mount the hoses to, sprayed them with black paint, attached them all together and it's ready to go.
Not the prettiest thing but aesthetics don't affect the heat :-) It's in the garden and fits right in because the front half of our garden is made from cut barrels (the ones we were given).
How it works is the direct sunlight will heat the hoses in about 15-20 minutes and will give a few gallons from each filling. It's amazing because it can get so hot that I can't put my hand in it!
Yup, I have to walk out the back door, through the garden gate, past the first half of the garden to finally get to the water but it sure is good exercise and it makes a person truly thank the Lord for the hot water we get from it. There are countries where people have to walk for miles just to get a bucket of water that isn't even clean.
We like living a simple frugal life because it enables us to save our monetary resources to spread the gospel and to help others.
Have a joyous day.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
I thought you might be interested in seeing what we used for a solar hot water heater in the summer when we were on our little homestead. Another post from my past homestead blog...
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We like to use what we already have (if possible) with the next step being that we will check out thrift stores or bargain shops before purchasing new. In making this hot water heater we used 2 (of the many) barrels that we were given (free) as well as some hose we already had and 1 hose we purchased at a thrift store for $10. Add on the cost of the spigot and the on/off valve and we have a hot water heater for under $20.
Jim already had the boards to mount the hoses to, sprayed them with black paint, attached them all together and it's ready to go.
Not the prettiest thing but aesthetics don't affect the heat :-) It's in the garden and fits right in because the front half of our garden is made from cut barrels (the ones we were given).
How it works is the direct sunlight will heat the hoses in about 15-20 minutes and will give a few gallons from each filling. It's amazing because it can get so hot that I can't put my hand in it!
Yup, I have to walk out the back door, through the garden gate, past the first half of the garden to finally get to the water but it sure is good exercise and it makes a person truly thank the Lord for the hot water we get from it. There are countries where people have to walk for miles just to get a bucket of water that isn't even clean.
We like living a simple frugal life because it enables us to save our monetary resources to spread the gospel and to help others.
Have a joyous day.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...