DIY Solar Water Heater! The CPVC “Drip-Edge” Solar Water Heater! - New Design/Exp.(CPVC+Metal)

DIY Solar Water Heater! This one is made using CPVC pipe (*or copper) and is backed with metal stats for maximum temps. video includes full build plus temp tests (before and after the build). with air temp about 50F (10C) water temps ranged from 110-160F (43-71C). *depending on water flow rate, how long it’s run, outdoor temps, intensity of the sun etc. a few stats: frame is made from 1x3.lumber, back is ¼” plywood and glass support “dowels” are 3/8” square. Glass is 28” by 32”. Metal slats are 1 ½” by 1 ½” Steel Drip-Edge Roof Flashing (sold in 10’ lengths - about $4 each). CPVC pipe is ½”. coupler pieces... 18 tees, 4 elbows and a ½” adapter *w/pvc garden hose adapter at the inlet. remember to use ‘CPVC’ pipe cement. Collector can be made with either cpvc or copper. cpvc is light, strong, and flexible, is rated for hot and cold potable water systems (up to 180F) and has lifespan of 50-75 years. Note: the water won’t get that hot. *even my copper pipe water heaters top out at 175F in the summer temps of 110F. if you like the vid. please rate sub and share.

[@molhuwmartins9723]

I am 75 years old and just have a kiddie pool. But this makes such a big difference. Even oldies need a pleasant experience. We deserved these.

[@bw1357]

Very well done no BS intro music straight to the point and materials list very well presented!!

[@Geetee60]

I like this. It would have been good to know the temperature of the water going in for comparison.

[@Davis5fam]

Great idea and implementation!

[@jamesbrock66]

Love your videos very straight to it and informing

[@desertsun02]

hi there and thanks. 🙂

[@Romans15.32]

Thank you. Very interesting. Good job. 🙂

[@royalspin]

Planning on using an old AC condenser out of my old van and doing this same thing but I'll be using a low voltage water pump and an old water heater tank to store the water like a battery and keep it circulating the heat just like how a car radiator system works. Having the water heater tank in line will also let off pressure when needed . This water would then be routed to an inside radiator with a fan blowing the heat off into the house .

[@fixingstuff8117]

You should take the hot water out at the top, then it can self circulate when connected to a geyser for example.

[@jimmydeen58]

Thats Awesome.. Well done..

[@PhilippinesDarrellCheeks]

Thank you for the video, I am a America missionary living in the Philippines. From South Carolina. This will be a big help to us. I will double the size, should I go with larger PVC ?

[@briangingras5886]

Looks nice to me just like you did with your evaporative coolers wouldn't copper tubing be better for holding the heat than PVC would probably cost a bit of money to purchase all that copper tubing and fittings

[@RvDavy]

I like it think ill make one!

[@richardbedard1245]

If I build one for my next cabin I'll build it bigger, paint just the pipe, leave the drip edge bare, and have the water cycle through an insulated (old water heater?)tank with a small recycling pump. I'm remembering an old solar hot water system I once had.

[@doodlecrayon222]

Would like to see a video of how you installed one of your homemade water heaters to the house water heater tank.

[@citizencain454]

Does the hot water produced, stay at that temperature for as long as you need it? Or does it only stay that high for a few minutes.. ?

[@gravewalker1632]

desertsun02: Great work and I like the ideas with your easy to follow method. I have only seen this and one other vid, and checked your channel page for the install . I wonder if you just build these great projects and put them in storage since I haven't see any follow up on the application regarding this one and the solar air heater project, the two I've seen thus far.

[@Pugwash.]

This is a great design for simplicity. I might try this myself and see how it performs in our English meagre sunshine.

[@marksmith5237]

How did you get on? its almost pool time here in the UK

[@Pugwash.]

@@marksmith5237 I found a gas-fired water heater second hand nice and cheap so fitted that instead :) It was for my camper van and I already had gas fitted.

[@soerenalexnat]

I like the design, but wouldn't it be more effective to have a reflective background like aluminium which reflects the sunlight back to the piping? Sorry, maybe a stupid question, i'm just at the beginning of getting impressions an informations to build a waterheater for my kids pool...

[@TONY_DIY]

wow nice idea.

[@RmitSharma]

Nice video!

[@davidgalvan1084]

My next project, after I am done making your Ice Chest Hot Water Heater/Shower is to make a big one of these and connect it to my hot water heater. Can you make a video on how to hook one of these up to your hot water heater?

[@marutigypsy1]

I will put this to the test at my second home in goa salcette India I'm converting an old Indian style toilet and wash room into some thing a bit more western like a wet room for guests I will certainly let you know how it goes . Thank you for your tip

[@greyhnd001]

How well does this work compared to the copper circular heater?

[@internetapocalypse4885]

Very, very good. Now you need to make an insulated water tank to maintain the hot temperature for showers.

[@mikejoos6495]

Maybe do a circulation pump...that would be awesome!

[@chrismiller12341]

pvc and pvc have insulative properties. would making the "radiator" out of copper have been a better idea as far as absorbing heat. juat curious.

[@iron60bitch62]

I like your design

[@desertsun02]

hi there. i think cpvc pipe is rated for use up to about 200F (93.33C)

[@rogerschrager3589]

How well does the water drain back? Concerns with freezing.

[@Dr-Shlomo-Cohen]

How about creating a vacuuming the box?

[@aravindmax1]

Working great i tried good hot water

[@fousies]

So to continue are you using this to replace your water heater?

[@IDVDalot]

can you hook this into your hot water heater / tank in your house?

[@powerwizard8903]

This looks really great. Would you mind posting a little more data by doing a simple test run for us: Measure the solar collector's entering and leaving water temperatures and flow rate simultaneously after the collector has run for a few minutes and before collecting a water sample? Flow rate can be stated in how many seconds it takes to fill a one gallon bottle at the output while recording entering and leaving temperatures. Also post the final temperature of the hot water bottle to average any flow rate variations. This really would be a GREAT help for us. Thanks :)

[@bobthibodeau5699]

Yes that would definitely help as a thermal sensor could open and close a solenoid valve feeding an insulated tank. Info needed is how long does it take to heat water in PVC pipe from say 70F-120F . The volume of water held in 1 linear foot of pipe and voila! You could calculate the size of heater needed to heat 200 gals etc. Needed

[@larryhaney6608]

I built one a few years ago that was 4'x8' . It worked too good . I wound up replacing the pvc with 1/2" copper pipe after a month because it was getting too hot . I also used 1/2" foam board ins. with metal flashing on the inside of back board for heat reflector. I have to keep it tilted down from the sun so it doesn't boil the water .

[@utamaverick2004]

larry haney - what I would like to see on builds like this is for someone to show the INPUT and OUTPUT temps, then give some ideal of the flow rate that is required to get a shown temperature since we all have varied climates and amounts of sun the general locale. Still looking for that way to build for the location and seasonal differences and then compensate by adjusting the flow rate, size or type of tubing or pipes used in the construction. That way anyone could adapt the basic design to a specific need or usage.

[@larryhaney6608]

@@utamaverick2004 Yes I agree . Mine is disconnected and covered till I get back to it . I have many other projects on going . but getting ready to move . It has a 12v circulating pump run from a 15 watt solar panel . I also bought a differential thermostat but haven't hooked it up yet . www.sbesolartech.com/picdifftherms.html

[@noneya6744]

How many rows does yours have?

[@larryhaney6608]

@@utamaverick2004 Adjust the angel to the sun not the flow rate . mine will make steam with a 12 volt pump and 15 watt solar panel . I in north Texas near Red River

[@bewafasanam9818]

So best sir

[@user-qh5kb7rv7o]

thank you very idea

[@greyhnd001]

How well does this type of thing work in say 20 degree weather? I have a sun room that is has electrical baseboard heat that I would like to replace those with PEX hose with 1 40-150 degree water if possible with a radiator and fan set up.

[@wadebrewer7212]

Lol....exactly what I am looking to do. Looking to heat enough water through the day to not only warm the room during the day, but retain enough energy to keep the room comfortable at night. Water is an amazing thermal battery.

[@jamessizemore558]

How much water is inside the tubes?

[@jaytaggert9883]

This is pretty awesome. I am however curious, wouldn't it have been more efficient to have all elbows rather than T fittings? Then you'd have one long continuous run of pipe rather than a bunch of short runs. I would imagine the water would reach much higher temps or if not higher temps possibly more consistent. I could be mistaken, as I say, just curious.

[@desertsun02]

hi there. i've made several of the all-elbow (or serpentine style) units. wanted to try this type. i've seen them but never made one. the output temps seem similar to those. with this one, the water coming into the collector breaks into 10 individual tubes, so it goes up each tube 10 times slower (or stays in each tube 10 times longer) relative to the input flow. seems to work good... but i'm honestly not sure which one (if either) is better than the other.

[@mikejoos6495]

What is the temperature outside? Wondering how it works with sunny cold weather

[@desertsun02]

temps were 37 to 43F at time of filming.

[@DoItMyselfGarage]

The main reason was so it is a drain back. The system could be used and then drained if it is exposed to freezing temperatures. I plan on using this design to help heat an indoor pool. Pump will be inside and draw water from the pool. Will be on a temperature differential sensor and only run when it is warm enough to add heat to the pool. When it isn't running, the water will drain back into the pool so the system doesn't freeze during winter months. I live in Minnesota, so this is a concern.

[@kiteclem35]

excellent :) . Maybe you could optimize the space, building a second layer behind or front , in the empty space between the first layer so multiply *2 the heating effect for the same space² .

[@jonfairbank7626]

So, I’m not sure I see the advantage of the manifold set up like that. You do that with a heat exchanger when you have , say a large volume of air passing over. In this case, with the same size inlet/outlet as the center tubes, the restriction of the in and out is still there. What if a 3/4 x 1/2 reducing tee was used (next to a 1/2” elbow), and pipe two 1/2” tubes in parallel. Then feed the first pair in to the next pair, then in to the third pair, in series until the end. That way, you never restrict the flow. Then you up the flow rate and at the same time be less concerned about the final high heat output. The greater goal would be to measure both inlet and outlet temp along with flow rate. Try to achieve, say 30 degrees difference at the highest flow rate possible. You might really be able to warm up a large volume of water like for a pool. I have some ideas about the colors as well.

[@amitchoudhary1613]

Great idea and well executed . How about using 3/4 inch metal pipes and how about connection in series with auto filling indicator and also putting a metal sheet in the back to increase the heat capacity of the system

[@cybercapri]

Awesome concept... FYI I stopped using CPVC long ago as I found it to be very brittle after just a few years. Sure it's cheap and easy to work with but once it starts to become brittle there is no stopping the breakage... I just fear using it in this application would cause it to become brittle sooner... Apex is wonderful and costly, but it's able to expand 10X it's diameter. I don't think it's ever becomes brittle or has it broken a single time since I've been using it close to 15 years now. Again the Apex tubing is cheap, 100 ft is like 30 bucks, BUT and this is a huge BUT, the fittings and/or tools are pricey. Expect to drop upwards of a 100 bucks just on the Crimping tool and the Crimp Fittings are reasonable priced. Or you could use Shark Bite or what ever your area sells @6.00 bucks or more per fitting, elbows and tees and what not and ball valves are upwards of 15 bucks or more. Again Pricey but well worth the investment as they will last much longer than most humans will... LOL...

[@joelove2084]

What if you used UV resistive paint or a UV blocking Polycarb?

[@kylieanneking2606]

Apex tubing is good for this application? What about its fittings?

[@cybercapri]

@@kylieanneking2606 The fittings range from cheap to expensive as do the tools required and this is the flaw with Apex overall. You can use cheap fittings but the tool is costly or you can use expensive fittings and use tools you already own or that would be cheap to buy. The Apex crimping tool is just designed in a way that it can't be used anywhere else so that drives up its price. A normal crimping tool is 1/3 the price but it won't work with Apex tubing so therein lies the dilemma about using Apex. If you have a lot of Apex fittings to use then you must buy the tool and use the cheap fittings otherwise just the cost of the expensive fittings will render most projects to cost an arm, leg, and small appendage just to be able to do it right... I hope this helps... The trade off is Apex is far superior to CPVC in every way possible, except the price. I hope this helps...

[@alberbedo9222]

You do lots of diy water heater with tubes, with different shapes some you make the copper pipe circular or some you make it zig zag up and down shape, and now this new shape, in your opinion witch way is the most efficient and what tube material is the best, maybe you can do comparison video on what shape heat the most

[@alberbedo9222]

I will say circular one will heat the most

[@desertsun02]

hi. i can't really say that there is "a best pattern" when it comes to the tubing. in terms of how long it will last, copper will probably last the longest (possibly 50 or more years) but it's the most expensive.

[@pierre-luclapointe7921]

get some O-rings for you water hose lol

[@psargaco]

Would painting the glass black make it hotter or cooler inside?

[@powerwizard8903]

Painting the the glass would actually lower the heat gain inside the box. This heater works on the "Hot-House" principle: Short wavelength sunlight passes through the glass into the box where heat is transferred to the pipes, which are painted black to increase thermal absorption. The hot pipes will also emit infrared wavelengths and radiate the heat back out; however, since the pipes are at a lower temperature than the sun (obviously), the emitted infrared waves are long wavelength radiation which is reflected back onto the box since they are more easily blocked by the glass than the short wavelength sunlight thus raising the internal box temperature. That's why solar panels have clear glass, and are not painted black. :)

[@cri8tor]

Will plexiglass work instead of regular glass? Cheers

[@desertsun02]

hi. yes, you can use either

[@cri8tor]

Awesome! Are you still living in Oregon?

[@shivpremaprojectconsultant7806]

What is the adhesive that is used to joined CPVC and Steel Plate thanks in advance.

[@desertsun02]

liquid nails is a good choice. i use it a lot

[@m.irfanbasharat4480]

👍 Great if connect it auto SUN tracking...😉

[@PetrieRobert]

It resembles a ordinary car radiator, which is a heat exchanger. I've got one lying around, might just give it a shot.

[@springbloom5940]

Lead hazard

[@rogerwreville4716]

@@springbloom5940 use leadfree solder

[@fitwithsurya]

i am thinking to make 150 litre what is thikness in mm pipe you using and temperature difference in rainy or winter days it workes ?

[@fitwithsurya]

and what happened if we use copper pipe its good for thermal heat?

[@valarieherman4464]

How long does the water stay running hot?

[@christophermbithi4424]

As long as there is sunshine.

[@oldporkchops]

Are homemade solar thermal water heaters allowed by code?

[@desertsun02]

every place may be different but i've never heard of them being against any code.

[@rickellithorpe7428]

Copper piping would work to..

[@subdawg1331]

like this but why not copper tubing?

[@desertsun02]

hi and thanks. i've made several with copper tubing but wanted to try different materials with this one 🙂👍

[@ajarivas72]

Copper is 8 times more expensive.

[@anri1255]

Nice job, but inset of pvc pipes I would use copper pipes.

[@desertsun02]

hi there. copper is a good choice too. little more pricey but.... it'l hold up 50 years 🙂

[@timmcgirl5588]

Try a fresnel lens

[@adipurwanto7194]

Di tambah sedikit elektrik bos, termo start dc tambah pumpa DC biar bisa otomatis ngisi tandon airpanasnya, dengan sistem surkulasi 🙏

[@desertsun02]

hi. yes, a DC pump is a great idea ✔

[@adipurwanto7194]

Trimakasi 🙏

[@bewafasanam9818]

Project notes mil sakta hai

[@jimh712]

Another design could be to bring the cold water into the top.. Because cold water rises.. (Ponds freeze from the top down.. (Physics)) then trans verse back and forth with a slight slope down each run.(so in freezing temps, system can be drained, then out thebottom run... Just saying systems in cold climants need to be able to be drained.. Or run on non freezable liquids... (I say such a design on another channel) Plus longer time in yhe heat exchange csn drive temps up quit a bit

[@scottflatland2766]

When water is cooled, the water molecules move slower and get closer together. This makes cold water more dense than room temperature water. Since cold water is more dense, it sinks in the room temperature water.

[@wkgurr]

Water reaches max density at about 4 degrees Celsius. Below that temp. density decreases and ice is less dense than liquid water at any temp.

[@spuds6423]

How about plexiglass instead of real glass???🤔🤔🤔

[@desertsun02]

hi there. you could, but i've found that tends to want to warp when it gets warm. only slightly but glass stays flat. maybe higher end plexiglass would work.

[@claudewalker8215]

Why did you connect the manifold into basically one unit and not zigzag the PVC top to bottom, in on bottom put an ell up to top an put 2 ells back down then up, up on one then down on the other till you get to outlet. There is no pattern of flow.

[@desertsun02]

hi there. since i had already made a few other solar water heater models with zig zag or serpentine patterns in the past, i wanted to try a different flow pattern to see how well it would work.

[@wkgurr]

It would be an interesting experiment to test which array is more efficient. For example 10 tubes each at 1m length in parallel (as shown here) or one 10m tube in a coil configuration. If the box is kept at the same size there will be no difference in the amount of solar irradiation available. So any difference must be due to changes in the efficiency/rate of heat transfer. My guess would be that the difference between the two configurations - paralell vs in series as far as the overall efficiency is concerned will probably be small. Perhaps the optimal flow rate will be different or the temp. increase vs flow rate will be different.

[@trollking202]

Better design but still making mistakes - ideal is to have fast flow rate to a preheater tank then intermittent flow to raise the temperature 🤒

[@ejoep]

potable?

[@desertsun02]

hi yes

[@aaront8396]

7:08

[@naturevideos1311]

Plastic tubes? Plastic is a heat insulator, metal would conduct the heat much better.

[@desertsun02]

hi. metal (especially copper) is pretty much the best thing (if you can afford). i have a few vids of collectors made of copper too)

[@tahirmahmood6316]

How does it work

[@desertsun02]

hi. the collector acts similar to a solar box oven. the sun enters through the glass, hits the black internal surfaces (pipe and box) and heats it up. the water is piped into the collector and heats up as it goes through the hot pipe.