Russ
Also I breifly checked the HomePower Magazine website for article submission procedures and requirements, but could'nt find it. I'll probably E-Mail them sometime soon. T i m[ Parent ]
http://www.homepower.com/magazine/write_for_hp.cfm
Martin.[ Parent ]
I guess they take these as volunter submissions, as they didn't mention anything about payment. . . W o o f -={(Huntsville Alabama U.S.A.[ Parent ]
John [ Parent ]
Also , The less the pump runs in one day, the less Solar heat that I get ... W o o f -={(Huntsville Alabama U.S.A.[ Parent ]
I am interested in Tim's solar system and sent him an email. Also had to sign up here to post a message :-)
I'm interested in hearing from anyone that also has tried a solar system with the large black pipe.
I have 3 solar systems running to heat my pool, - all inexensive, - using the black utility hose that is 1/2" thick, that is used for drainage, and used in supermarkets to move water around in the building. I bought it in the hardware section, and cost me $9.99 for 100 feet..... ( That's Canadian $) so I guess it would be about $7 U.S. funds or less for that kind of tubing.
you can see images of my system here: www.powershotgraphics.com/pool
I get 6.3 U.S. gallons per minute of flow from the 3 solar tubes total, so that's 378 gallons per hour total.
Water on a good day comes out of the tubes at 88-89 degrees, once the thing thing has been running for a good 15 minutes, - once it has cleared out the water and is grabbing fresh water from the pool..... when I first start up the system and if water has been sitting in the solar tubes for even 10 minutes, - and if it is sunny, the water coming out is about 127 degrees F ! - so hot it burns the hands, but that doesn't last long.... about 3 minutes, and then it starts to cool off.
I'm really interested in the big tubes though and would love to know how it compares to the small tubes I'm using.
Professional solar panels use very very small straw like tubes, with fins, and this is much more effecient than my system using 1/2 pipe.... so I have to wonder if the large tubes like this are as effecient .....
If you think about it, the larger the pipe, the longer length one would need to get them hot enough, - I'm assuming the tubes are 100% full, and are pushing out many gallons per minute though. Anyway it looks like a great system and well put together, and I would like to try my hand at it, but to get the heat out of it, would I need to do a good 600 feet of this large tube to really get water hot out of it ... hmm..... I'm just not an expert.
anyway nice chatting.
Mark, Ontario, Canada.[ Parent ]
I noticed your post was from July, it's now the end of August, - I was really intersted in trying your method of using the large 1-1/2" pipe but came across info that the large pipe like yours would need about 3000 feet - in order to equal the same length of a 500 foot 1/2" hose. The reason is surface area, - that huge pipe you are using just cannot collect heat with such a small lenght of it being use. If you took that pipe and put made it the length of a football field, then that's a different story though.
Anyway I wish you had posted some final results.
Great looking project though and it's great to see people trying so many different techniques to get free solar heat.
Mark.[ Parent ]
