homemade (or just simple) solar heat.......

Anonymous-0 · May 4, 2011

Hey folks,
Thinking about next winter..... 2 stalls outside town (no running water or electric) have 400 gal water tanks for drinking but they freeze uf . If it just freezes overnight, I thaw the drinker with a torch each morning and they are good all day. Been staying well below freezing a few weeks the last couple of years though. Was talking with the wife today and she asked about a solar panel. What if I picked up a used solar water heater panel (usually 2'x4' )and set it up on the tank with a hose looped in the tank? what would I need for a circulation pump or would it circulate itself?

Would you just fill the panel and the hose with antifreeze and have a sealed unit that you just drop the hose loop in the water tank?

Thanks for any ideas.....

Dave

Ludwig · May 4, 2011

Assuming the panel isn't going to be very far over the tank you won't need a very big circulation pump. They make solar powered pumps with a small solar panel for not huge money.

You can make a solar water heater yourself, get a 4x8 sheet of plywood or waferboard, paint it black (coat with fiberglass resin first and it'll last a long time) then put a big coil of black plastic pipe onto it. To secure the pipe drill holes through the board and zip tie it down. Its not the most efficient heater but much less money than the alternatives. If you make it level with the tank and can put the board mostly level you could even have it thermosyphon and not need a pump...

The worry of course is that a small leak of anti-freeze into the water will kill whatever is drinking it.

steve n carol · May 4, 2011

(quoted from post at 12:39:36 05/04/11) Hey folks,
Thinking about next winter..... 2 stalls outside town (no running water or electric) have 400 gal water tanks for drinking but they freeze uf . If it just freezes overnight, I thaw the drinker with a torch each morning and they are good all day. Been staying well below freezing a few weeks the last couple of years though. Was talking with the wife today and she asked about a solar panel. What if I picked up a used solar water heater panel (usually 2'x4' )and set it up on the tank with a hose looped in the tank? what would I need for a circulation pump or would it circulate itself?

Would you just fill the panel and the hose with antifreeze and have a sealed unit that you just drop the hose loop in the water tank?

Thanks for any ideas.....

Dave

Passive solar water heater.... bury half of the tank? paint it black?

The panels I am familiar with use the water in the tank (no antifreeze), and if you do it right you won't need a pump. let the thermal properties of the water move it (the water). kinda like the water in a lake or ocean. when the surface heats up.

Anonymous-0 · May 4, 2011

(reply to post at 12:46:18 05/04/11)

Here is what I have 1st pic with a drinker like in the second pic. Just want to keep the water above freezing. Another idea I had was just make a sheetmetal box (12"x12"x12"??) and fastening it under the back of the tank next to the drinker and just putting a candle or two in it (can get graveyard candles that burn 2 or 3 days). Think that would generate enough heat to keep it from freezing?
Or how much solar would I need? My though for solar was to just weld brackets to the trailer to let the panel set on top of the tank with adjustment room to catch the sun.

Dave

jackinok · May 4, 2011

wouldnt just painting your tank black do the same thing?or does the tank not sit in the sun?I have a black plastic barrel on a small trailer that i use to water trees some.ive forgotten and left it full a few times and its never frozen that i recall.

cb in wisc · May 4, 2011

you can find plans for solar heating stock tanks
@ www.builditsolar.com

steve n carol · May 4, 2011

love it when one thinks "out of the box"!
I didn't know your tank was on a trailer.

how about build a skirt around the bottom... and/or a small flame there? then your cows would have a warm place to sleep. Honestly, the draft below the tank contributes a lot to the freezing of the h2o.

504 · May 4, 2011

Dave, just do not do like someone here posted a year ago, he put a heater in the tank but the outside froze and water could not get to the valve. The center was fine but no water could get out.

Adirondack case guy · May 4, 2011

Hay My friend,
I design and sell residential Solar Thermo,Solar Electric, and Wind Energy Systems. You have a portable tank, so paint it a non glossy black. The problem you will have is the watering bowl. Paint it black and park the trailer so the bowl faces South.Since you have a portable tank you could also install an imersion electric heater that you could plug in when near an electric source, but "Heat Loss" will be your worst enemy. To prevent overheating in the summer, you will have to cover the tank with a reflective canvas. You have my E-mail address from previous converstions.
PS if someone wants to extend their swiming pool window, just Google Sun Grabber.com It's low tech, and it will extend your pool season in nothern areas, for minimal dollars.

jackinok · May 5, 2011

dont they still make a propane powered tank heater?one of those in your tank may do the trick.

Anonymous-0 · May 5, 2011

(quoted from post at 06:35:04 05/05/11) dont they still make a propane powered tank heater?one of those in your tank may do the trick.

If anyone knows of one and could post a link, I'd appreciate it.

Dave

jackinok · May 6, 2011

do a search on the net for "livestock tank heater",should find one that way.

homemade (or just simple) solar heat.......

Anonymous-0

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Ludwig

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steve n carol

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Anonymous-0

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jackinok

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cb in wisc

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steve n carol

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504

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