Solar showers
Last winter I went on a quest to reduce energy usage. One of the most successful things we did was to start taking solar showers outside when the weather was nice. I bought one of those 5 gallon solar showers designed for campers and set it up by the deck. My wife and I used it on average of 5 times a week during the summer. Besides the fact that it sure is fun to shower with your wife, we got the additional benefit of air drying on the deck instead of using towels. Of course, we live in a rural area and don't have to worry about peeping neighbors. We heat with propane and saw a marked difference in how long the tank now lasts.
Last winter I went on a quest to reduce energy usage. One of the most successful things we did was to start taking solar showers outside when the weather was nice. I bought one of those 5 gallon solar showers designed for campers and set it up by the deck. My wife and I used it on average of 5 times a week during the summer. Besides the fact that it sure is fun to shower with your wife, we got the additional benefit of air drying on the deck instead of using towels. Of course, we live in a rural area and don't have to worry about peeping neighbors. We heat with propane and saw a marked difference in how long the tank now lasts.
Well done, Sounds great, and saving money too.
I quickly rigged an outside shower with an old shower head and a hosepipe from the kitchen, and I reckon it really is one of the best things I've ever made. I did it so we could easily cool off while sunbathing, but outside showers under the stars are absolutely great, I use it all year round, to the delight and envy of my neighbour :) Being right next to the splash pool, in the winter, I can jump from a hot shower, strait into the icy water. It sounds mad, but it's like having an icy dip after a sauna, and it makes you feel bloody fantastic. If you've never done it, you really don't know what you are missing.
Don't know if you are a bit useful with your hands, but if you are, there is quite a lot you can do to save money and the environment, once you start to look into it. here's an interesting link to a whole load of DIY solar stuff you can do. I particularly like the idea of a "heat sink" for the green house. You blow (with a solar powered, old computer cooling fan) hot air during the day, from the top of the green house, through a cubic metre of broken glass, that is sunken into the floor, it then heats the green house at night keeping it frost free. I'm trying to get my father to let me build it for him. There's lots of other stuff including a home made solar warm air room heater and even a home made wind turbine, take a look. :)
https://www.reuk.co.uk/Make-a-Simple-Solar-Air-Heater.htm
Keep it green!
Phil.
Phil,
that's a great resource, thanks for the find. Last year I built an earth-bermed greenhouse into the side of a hill and it works amazingly well. My goal this year is to find a way to preheat my 50 degree (F) well water before it gets to the propane tankless hot water heater.
Phil, that's a great resource, thanks for the find. Last year I built an earth-bermed greenhouse into the side of a hill and it works amazingly well. My goal this year is to find a way to preheat my 50 degree (F) well water before it gets to the propane tankless hot water heater.
Great, so glad you liked it. I reckon you should be able to adapt some of their ideas to heat your water ok. You may have to heat it in a tank, before you send it off to the tankless heater, to bring it up to the final desired temp, but it would save you a lot of gas, and you might not need the gas heater in the summer. Did you find your way on to Dick Strawbridges "Not Easy to Be Green" site? He's a really great character, I love him. He does a TV prog about making his place self sufficient (you may be able to download some of his episodes) he and his (very nice) wife and kids, have done everything you can think of, from a waterwheel to organic veg and everything in-between. he's a really nice funny guy and I just love his programs, hope you can find them.
https://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Greenhouse-Heat-Sink.htm
https://www.reuk.co.uk/Its-Not-Easy-Being-Green.htm
https://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/
https://mrratty.wikidot.com/?CFID=2869282&CFTOKEN=77367448
Just had a thought. It would probably depend on where your green house is in relation to home and the well, but what if you had a water tank (insulated) buried in the floor of the green house. Solar heat (plus the heat from the top of the green house) (saves opening the window :) could heat the water, and then send it on to the house, and any heat lost from the tank, might keep the green house warm at night :) hehe, I don't know how I do it sometimes! :)
Keep it green.
Phil.
Let's all colaberate here helping Ken build his new house. Hope you don't mine Ken. Tankless would be great. Ken if you care to share where, size of the house, your energy options, and your project scope this would be fun project for this group to get involved with.
Your Thoughts Ken
I have had my unit (a Bosch) for 16 years now and I think it is definitely better than a hot water tank. I've had to rebuild it twice in all those years (changing "O" rings and seals) and have never had a hot water tank last that long. The big advantage is that you get an unlimited amount of hot water. The disadvantage is that you only get a certain amount of gallons per minute of hot water depending on the model. If we have two people taking a shower at one time I can tell by the reduction in flow and the temperature drops. We just learn to stagger our use of hot water.
We've got a solar shower set up by the garden. We took some black pvc tubing, I think around 3/4 inch, coiled it on a piece of plywood that is painted black. We run a hose to the coil, then another out the other end to a shower head that;s in a "privacy" screened stall. The privacy screen is only reed fencing, so not absolutely private, but who cares. We prop up the coil to face the sun, it can be pivoted from east to west if we want. It gives a great hot shower, but only if you take it before the sun goes down. No heat storage on this one. Nothing feels better than a good outdoor shower after a hot dirty day in the garden.
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