Hot Water for the Homestead

(Page 5 of 5)

January/February 1974
James B. DeKorne  
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Another design which works just as well, is less leak-prone and has the added bonus of being freezeproof is used in Steve Baer's solar-heated home in New Mexico (see Mother Earth News, No. 22). This sun-powered water warmer makes use of copper pipes: two verticals and as many horizontals as desired, depending on how large a collector you're building (Dwg. 4). A thin copper strip is brazed to the back of each horizontal element to give more heating surface, and the entire unit is painted black for the same reason.

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As the diagram shows, this design is unique in that an antifreeze solution (instead of water) circulates through the collector panel. This chemical (the same kind you use in your automobile's radiator) heats and moves upward by convection to enter an insulated jacket surrounding the water tank proper. Heat is then transferred to the water as the antifreeze continues to circulate. Baer's model makes solar-heated water possible even in frigid weather, that is, as long as the sun is shining!

As simple and relatively inexpensive to build as these solar devices are, it's probably cheaper to purchase a ready-made collector panel. On page 98 of the June 1973 issue of Popular Science is an article entitled "Black 'Mattress' That Puts Btu's in Your Pool." This feature describes a plastic solar collector designed to heat swimming pools, and mentions that the invention can be used to provide a hot water supply for cabins and vacation homes. The unit, called a Solarator, is available for $18.75 from (are you ready for this?) Fun and Frolic, Madison Heights, Michigan 48071. I recently purchased one of these devices, and, although I haven't yet installed it, it seems to be a quality product that should serve me well for several years.

So you see, with all these possibilities for bringing hot water to your homestead, the old Saturday night bath needn't be a vaguely unpleasant ritual conducted next to the kitchen stove, it can be almost a rite of purification. At least that's the way I feel when I'm lying back in a steaming tub of water in my bathhouse on a crisp autumn night, savoring the glow of the kerosene lamps against the log walls and listening to the wind outside tell me winter is on its way. It is good—it is very, very good!

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