Energy alternatives

Has anyone bought or built any energy saving devices for use in their homes? like a solid state generator or I heard about this hygroscopic pump that can be used as a water heater using cavitation in a centrifugal pump.

reply to post by sheep10110


I just finished building and installing my second solar collector for our house. The first one was for our primary extravagence -- a $1500 portable hot tub -- Voyager II. Even though we live in the tropics, to get that water to the sweet spot for our ol' joints (104 degrees F) takes external heating. The in-line heater has been costing us $150/month in power costs. I built it out of 3/8" copper tubing, bent close and painted black within a 8' X 4' wooden frame, insulated. I use a 12V pump to circulate that water, and it's powered by a deep-cycle battery that is charged by a 5W PV cell. I "shop" at the dump every week, so this all cost me about $500.00 plus two days time.

The one I just finished is for our house water heater, and is the same basic design, except i incorporated a salvaged 50 gallon water heater as a holding tank. The water gets well above 160 degrees F. during the day, which is cycled into the insulated holding tank, which goes into the cold side of our water heater. On the output (hot) side of our water heater I installed a tempering valve (from Grainger - $100.00) that mixes cold with hot to deliver hot water at 120 degrees to our faucets.

These two things together cost $850.00 to make, and will save us $250.00/month. Our power bills prior to these two things were $400.00/month. Power is more expensive down here, as our power comes from two massive diesel generators, and fuel is...... pricey for everyone.

So, next thing is to figure out how many PV cells and peripheral devices to take the 'fridge off-line. One step at a time, huh?

Oh, one other thing. Last year, I painted our metal roof with white elastomeric paint. We collect rainwater off the roof for our drinking and house water, so we wanted something inert to collect off of. A nice by-product of that is that it lowered our house temperature by at least 5 degees F. Inside the house, instead of sheetrock on the ceilings, I used 1" foil-lined foam board (bought it at the dump ) That has an R-factor of 7 and has also contributed several lowered degrees to our house temp. We now only use an a/c when we sleep, and only a few months out of the year.

I just recently built a contraption to help lower our air conditioner costs. I got it in a week later than I wanted to and had trouble with it for a week then we had conditions that would not help it do what I wanted it to. I'll get our light bill in a few days and see if it made any difference. I had less than $200 in it and hope that I can cut my air conditioning costs by about 30%. My next project I plan to do is a lot like argentus project. What area do you live? I'm in south Georgia and would like to know if I could get similar results as you.

I just wonder if I could make a hot water system that could be used to heat our house in the winter. I've come up with a couple of ideas, but I haven't run the numbers yet. About how much 3/8" tubing do you have in each 4X8 frame and about how much water can you heat in a day in the summer and winter?

So it's like a coil on your roof that picks up heat from the sun, never thought of that. Sure it's only practical in your area. I'm in the North East so it's probably not an option, atleat not year round.
Where are you anyway?

[edit on 5-8-2008 by sheep10110]

reply to post by MBF


What did you build? Do you have central air or window units?

reply to post by MBF


Have you heard of this guy Griggs?
'During one of the demonstrations we watched,' he says, 'over a 20 minute period, 4.80 Kilowatt Hours of electricity was input, and 19,050 BTUs of heat evolved, which equals 5.58 Kilowatt Hours, or 117 per cent of input. The actual input to output ratio was even better than this, when you take into account the inefficiencies of the electric motor.'

www.rexresearch.com...

reply to post by sheep10110


We have a heat pump. I don't want to say what it is just yet. I know that I had problems with it for this month, so maybe I can have the kinks worked out so that I can tell by next months light bill if it is something worth pursuing.

Thanks for the link. I'll read it over when I get time.

Don't think that the solar panels will not work in your area because they are used far north with good results from what I hear.


[edit on 7-8-2008 by MBF]

reply to post by MBF


Cool. Definately interested in hearing your story as I work in the AC field.

Sorry I took so long to remember to check MY ATS and look back in here. We live in the Cayman Islands. MBF, I'd guess that you can get about 75% of the solar efficiency that we get..

Each 4X8 frame uses about 100 feet of 3/8" tubing.... I bent the tubing gently into about 2" curves. Afterward, I thought that it might've been a little more slick to drill 7/16" holes an equal distance apart on both long sides of the frame, such that the tubing went in and out of it -- it would sure look a lot more tidy, as I had to use little cable clamps to hold the tubing flat in the frame. Around the interior of the frame, I used 1" styrofoam insulation, and shot the whole works with flat black paint.

I"m not certain of the volume of water heated; I could figure it out if this weren't a lazy Sunday afternoon I use a 12V pump to circulate the water, so it'll heat for a bit, circulate, etc.

With the hot tub, I just let the water flow during it's cleaning cycle, at it heats 400 gallons about 10 degrees....... lately with it being so hot, we have to give the tub an hour or so to cool down to 104.

With the house system, I circulate the VERY hot water twice a day into an insulated 55-gallon drum (also black), and the output from that goes into the cold side of our water heater. The hot side of our water heater has a tempering valve on it to mix cold with hot, to deliver 120 degrees F. to our faucets and shower. I take one line directly untempered to our dishwasher, which normally heats the water up to 140 degrees.

The 12V circulating pump is powered by a deep cycle battery, charged by a 5W (I think I said 10, but it's a 5W) PV cell. It will also pressurize our house to 40 psi, which is plenty.

I'm really interested in your heat exchange idea. Only thing I did with our A/c, was run a coil of copper into a 10-gallon bucket (the hot side). The bucket is filled with water and that knocks a few degrees off the hot side of the ductless split system. A counterflow would certainly be more efficient, I'm just not certain I have the knowledge to create a counterflow chiller (sort of like a wort chiller for beermaking).

This morning I was shopping online for a solar-powered attic fan. I think that'd take care of 75% of our a/c needs. As it is, we just run the thing at night while sleeping. Wouldn't you know it.......... I ended up ordering another 1st Gen. NV monocular to replace our ol' one that finally gave up the ghost. Won't my Bride be surprised. haha

reply to post by argentus


I've been tied up too at the hospital with my father and haven't been on very much lately myself.

Is the 3/8" tubing attached to anything such as a metal back or just attached to the 1" styrofoam insulation and do you have a glass or plexiglas cover over it?

A neighbor of mine built a solar shower. Basically, all it was is 1/2" PVC pipe attached to a couple sheets of tin and painted black. They couldn't use it in the summer because it heated the water too hot. They said that it worked great in the winter though.

If you could circulate the hot water through your water heater and have the tempering valve on the output side, it would lower the electricity usage. Something like this is what I plan to work on next. I haven't run the figures yet, but I think I can make enough panels to heat enough water to store the heat to use for winter heating, or at least part of it. I am farther north than you, but the winters are not that harsh and I think it will work.

Sheep10110, when I find out if my modification works or not, I will give a full explanation of what it is and how it works and maybe I can take some pictures and post on here.