Water heater progress report…

Got it back together yesterday after the Monday morning water run, this time (so far; it fooled me the first time) leak-free.

Max temperature with good overhead sun, no glass cover:


Capacity at max temperature:


…barely one’o’those. Which is just enough for dish washing or a minimal shower with max sun. So I’m going to be ordering more black hose, which I gather is available on Amazon. Big Brother donated the 100′ currently up there.

About Joel

You shouldn't ask these questions of a paranoid recluse, you know.
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4 Responses to Water heater progress report…

  1. Ben says:

    That seems like a surprisingly low temperature. Adding the glass should help.

  2. Ben says:

    My earlier comment was daft! Anything over 120 degrees is considered to be a scald hazard, so 140 should be an okay temperature for your purposes. (Assuming normal caution) Now you just need more, and you know how to get it.

  3. The Neon Madman says:

    I would expect the glass cover to help a fair amount – the greenhouse effect. Long term, I would worry about how well the hose will hold up to the heat, but we will see.

    I suspect that the ideal setup would involve a smallish insulated storage tank and a small circulating pump, but that is probably for the Mark II or Mark III version.

  4. John in Philly says:

    I wonder if you could flatten the hose a bit, that should cut down the amount of “dead” water space and increase the heat transfer.

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