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OCEANUS
Nomad
Posts: 139
Registered: 10-11-2008
Location: Dana Point; L.A. Bay
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob53
| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob53
I've been considering a tankless water heating system. Any of you using one? |
We have been using two Bosch
on demand heaters from Costco Mx for 5 years without one issue. |
Those are the ones I've been considering. I
can't seem to find those in the US. |
I purchased the BOSCH on demand heater from the Home Depot in Ensenada two years ago and it is great. I did have to add a booster pump to increase the
pressure (even though I was pulling from a gravity fed pila), but once that issue was resolved it was all systems go.
The heaters sold in Mexico generally run on propane, whereas the ones in the U.S. (which are way more expensive) run on natural gas.
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Doug/Vamonos
Nomad
Posts: 417
Registered: 6-19-2006
Location: Bahia de los Angeles
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Hey Santiago. Your espanish lesson for the day is a pila is buried underground (usually concrete a la Beach Bob's) and a tanque is the plastic one we
mount of our roof. And yes, my espanish lessons are free!
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bledito
Nomad
Posts: 420
Registered: 7-6-2013
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so in all if i add/divide correctly is 26 US a month is that somewhat accurate?
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bledito
Nomad
Posts: 420
Registered: 7-6-2013
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what is the estimate cost for all the copper, insulation, pump, temp probes
and storage tank
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1495
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bledito
what is the estimate cost for all the copper, insulation, pump, temp probes
and storage tank |
I see where you are going with this, and I agree the payoff won't be real fast. So far I have found 2 Solar collectors for free, I found a hot water
circulation pump on ebay for $20 and a differential temperature controller with temp probes for $90. I looked in town today and I can get all the cpvc
pipe and fittings that I need for right at $100 so all in all I will have a little over $200 invested. I am not going to use a holding tank in the
beginning, I will let my water heater act as the holding tank and add a bigger one in the future if necessary. The monetary payoff is one
consideration but here in BoLA there is another problem in that the propane truck only comes once a month at the most and it is not uncommon for him
to miss a month or even 2. So if I can reduce my dependency on propane it makes life here a little less stressful. Then there is the need for me to
stay busy, I am always looking for another project. This one will keep me busy for a month or so and at $200 to $300 dollars that is cheap
entertainment.
Larry
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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bledito
Nomad
Posts: 420
Registered: 7-6-2013
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i agree larry i like to tinker as well. restore stuff, what about just very slow cycling water through a garden hose liad on concrete surface like a
roof top just a minimal trickle rate i have noticed how hot the water comes out of the hose as i first turn it on.
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bledito
Nomad
Posts: 420
Registered: 7-6-2013
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there's a beach by the harbor in san jose that has blackish redish sand i and the wife tried walking across that barefoot what a mistake that was it
burned the bottoms of our feet. perhaps burying your pvc, copper coil or garden hose in 4 or 5 inches of it would increase the heat absorbtion rate as
well.
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Santiago
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3512
Registered: 8-27-2003
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They have cpvc in town now?
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1495
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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Bledito
Since I was given 2 solar hot water collectors I'll use them to heat the water. Seems pretty simple and a lot less expensive than trying to make
electricity with sun light.
Santiago,
Yes, I went to Pepe's Homecheapo and the big 2 story place in town and talked to Clint, both have the tube and most all the fittings in both 1/2" and
3/4". I checked on-line and cpvc is rated up to 200F, so should be good enough for what I am putting together.
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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Edguero
Nomad
Posts: 112
Registered: 6-13-2006
Location: O\'side/Punta Final
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I've got an on demand water heater that runs on propane, 2 D batteries and a shure flow pump, works perfectly, surf the net, they are out there.
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wiltonh
Nomad
Posts: 302
Registered: 2-2-2007
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Last spring I was given two solar panels by someone who wanted them off their roof. They gave me a lot of piping, pumps and controllers. The price
was my help to remove the stuff and load it in a van. I am an electrical engineer so hot water plumbing was a learning experience.
We have a 450 gallon hot tub which I wanted to heat. The panels are on the ground next to my deck and the tub is about 24 inches higher on a deck. I
ended up purchasing some copper pipe and a few fittings but every thing else was from the salvaged system.
Soldering used copper pipe can be an issue. Connecting into the hot tub was also an issue. I had to cut and glue in a tee on one side of the pump
and replace a valve on the other side.
Now for the problems I ran into. I used PVC in several places because I could not find the fitting I needed in brass or copper. PVC is a bad choice
because the hot water system provides water at temperatures that make it soft and it will leak. I ended up removing all PVC from the system.
The controller could be set to start the pump when the water from the panel reached a certain amount above the tub temperature, and shut it off when
it reached a second temperature. This works fine but once the pump is shut off the water still flows because the panels are lower than the hot tub.
There were a number of days I had to add cold water to the tub so that we could use it. The max temperature in Oregon for a commercial tub is 103F.
We saw temperatures in the 115F range and that is way to hot for use. I tried a number of things to solve this issue but finally got very crude and
placed a piece of plywood over one panel during the hottest part of the year.
I placed a hot water temperature gauge at the top of my last panel and was quite surprised to see how it worked. When the sun got on the panel, the
temperature slowly increased to the tub temperature plus a few degrees. At that point the pump came on. The temperature gauge would go immediately
from something like 90F to 140F. If it was a warm day and a cloud went over the pump might shut off. When the sun came back with full force the
temperature would might go as high as 180F. If the tub was up to temperature all ready, the water would boil in the panel and the pipe connecting it
to the tub. At that point steam would come out of the pipe into the hot tub. It has boiled so hard, it sounded like elephants running across my
deck.
CPVC would work better but if there is any way you can get copper do it. Plan on all parts working at or near the boiling point of water. That way
you will not get a bad surprise.
Wilton
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volcano
Nomad
Posts: 348
Registered: 3-5-2007
Location: Cave Junction, Oregon and Boca Del Salado area, Ea
Member Is Offline
Mood: always pining to be there
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2 questions:
1)source of propane on demand that uses d batteries?
2) we have a "batch" style solar hot water heater....we have been building over several vacations...but it has not funtioned yet due to low pressure.
We are debating about dropping the project, or going on demand. We are adding a 12 v pump to the whole system...but the box is large and hard to
carry up the hill each time we vacation. (60's, trying to prepare for 70's)
question: is there a way the box could be located down near the house permanantly, and hot water would rise to another tank on the roof? to what
extent would it circulate on it's own and to what level would it rise?
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Bosch heaters. Sold at Home Depot and Costco in Ensenada
| Quote: | Originally posted by volcano
1)source of propane on demand that uses d batteries? |
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