DIY Solar Water Heater Full Build

Рет қаралды 695,049

4 жыл бұрын

I made a DIY solar water heater for a friend that needed it for him and his family's jacuzzi! After doing a ton of research and getting a ton of help from RC Insider (who made a great video on this with a full supplies list), I went for it myself!
I made this water heater with:
1/2" exterior plywood
1/16" acrylic sheet
2x4x8 KD doug fir
2x4x8 Treated doug fir (though I wish I did 4x4)
8" zip ties
500' roll of 1/2" irrigation tubing
1/2" tube to hose connectors
Brass tube to hose connector
5/8" water hoses
A water pump
Lag bolts and nuts
Black latex exterior paint
Pocket hole screws
Deck screws
Tite Bond III wood glue
... and I think that's it!
I wasn't able to see it in person, but my friend shot me pictures (that are also in this video) of how a temperature reading of 120 degrees for the water coming out of the water heater and his current weather was 83 degrees!
Couldn't be more happy with that result since I thought I would be lucky to get 90/95 degree water.
Lots of lessons learned on this project since I usually do 100% woodworking furniture projects.
Also, shout out to my friend Ryan Geery! Without your help, I would not have been able to complete this project!
Hope you enjoy the build!
Music from www.bensound.com
RC Insider's Channel: / @rcinsiders

Пікірлер: 426

@jimhlee 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for the detailed work and preparation to create this masterpiece. It's truly a work of art in addition to its functionality. I'll be able to use it well into the fall. Proud owner of a late night woodworker product!

@nwkwok 4 жыл бұрын

So glad that y'all like it and even more glad that it works! hahah :]

@richardb4022 3 жыл бұрын

I want to do this for my pool, but I'm wondering if 120°F going back into my pool?.. I'm thinking it's way too hot. But then again my pool is roughly 25,000 gal.

@jimhlee 3 жыл бұрын

@@richardb4022 it barely gets my small jacuzzi above 75*, nothing to worry about! You can also turn the pump off if needed

@3DPeter 3 жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok Make sure that you empty the entire hose when the season is over, because else legionela bacteria might grow and they can kill you. And what i do before each season is fill a bucket with water and household clorine, and pump that through the hose in a closed loop for an hour to make sure every possible bacteria is dead.

@carlosaragundim4787 2 жыл бұрын

@@jimhlee how long does it take to heat the entire jacuzzi? and what is the liter capacity of the jacuzzi?

@cathypatterson225 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for not playing loud, annoying music drowning out your talk! I got it! Great!👍

@warriordugan7236 3 жыл бұрын

All new users (or any user for that matter) of a solar heater need to be very careful when turning the heater on after it has heated up if not done in the morning. The hot water that was sitting still in the heater tubes WILL scald your hand or anybody in the pool that's near the outlet. It will be scalding hot for about 2 minutes.

@snajamkazmikazmi2909 2 жыл бұрын

I was convinced by seeing how important friends are in your life😁 . Great job done 👌

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Would've failed at this one miserably without their help!! 😅

@AJAJade Жыл бұрын

I love how he included all the mistakes he made so that we can all avoid from And learn from those! A lot of people just want to ‘look cool’ on youtube! Thanks so much for keepin it real!!!!

@nwkwok Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Appreciate you takin' the time to watch and comment!

@AJAJade Жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok Thank YOU! We are going to build one like this onnoir zinc roof!!!! :)

@arharshalpatwardhan1452 Жыл бұрын

I like that you have also videoed the problems that you faced while working it out

@bilalghannam3724 3 жыл бұрын

Amazing work, as if you are building a piece of art, result also is great.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! :]

@citpainting2697 Жыл бұрын

Nice one. I love your honesty of all the mistakes.

@affordabledesertliving3487 Жыл бұрын

Very impressive. The most impressive part was how it got hooked up to pumps in the end and it all worked.

@andrewmedeiros1021 3 жыл бұрын

Love it. I’m building one myself as a preheated to a solar powered electric on demand heater

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Nice!! Good luck with your build!

@pgo301 3 жыл бұрын

NICE JOB, GOOD MAN!!! It shows being determined pays off and was fun to watch too. Good editing and not showing every split second of making this. But overall you accomplished your goal.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed :)

@AM-pi7jy 3 жыл бұрын

Cool project. When building a heater like this to heat a pool, do not focus on maximum output temperature, but instead focus on transporting as much heat energy as you can from the sun to the pool. Using two coils in parallel instead of one super long coil will decrease resistance and thereby increase the flow, you will heat up the pool faster, even if the temperature difference between input and output is only a few degrees. That is because more energy is transferred this way. Also beware that this solar heater can overheat when it is not in use and the tubes might melt, depending on the materials used.

@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG 2 жыл бұрын

Yup! Exactly why I did 2 separate 100 ft coils on 42"x48" pc of black plywood. I'm doing it for fall swimming. Our pool is already 82-88° IN JULY SND august. Trying to extend the kids swim season up here in maskachussetts 😂

@ichmeiner6358 2 жыл бұрын

pretty good and cheap approach, i did the same like 15 years ago using the black Gardena 1/2" plastic hoses from the microdrip system .. i bought 800 meters in 16 coils, i connected 4 flat coils in series and 4 of those strings in parallel to get a higher flow rate) on the roof of my garden hut, without any box around it. Unfortunately the wind fuzzed them up quite a bit when i had them emptied during the winter. I was thinking also of a boxed version, but never found the time to really build it .. i got stuck in thinking about which materials i should use, that i wanted to be waterproof but couldn't decide on the right material. This set of uncovered coils was bringing my water from 20 to 40 degrees in full sun in summer. Hint for creating the spiral: The trick that i found to get the flat spiral perfect and with least effort and without making a mess is: Keep the hose in its natural spiraling when it is delivered in a coil, put it onto the surface and then just pull it ring by ring into the flat spiral you desire.

@PhG1961 3 жыл бұрын

Great video ! I've build something similar years ago but made one mistake. It was way too big so I couldn't handle it anymore. Eventually I had to cut it to pieces. Now, a new project similar to this is planned for the coming summer. This time much smaller individual panels that will be combined. I used garden hose (reinforced) from Gardena. After the summer you can buy these real cheap with lots of discount. It's easier to make sharp bend and it doens't fold as easy as the back tubing. With a simple microcontroller and a valve (recycled from a washing machine) you can slow down or stop the water flow when it gets late afternoon. The amount of water in the circuit will then slower get warmer and after a minute or so you can let it flow in a reservoir or so to accumulate. This worked out fine for me.

@richvarga 3 жыл бұрын

Please do a video if you do this!

@trevorrisley5419 Жыл бұрын

Great work, dude! Thanks for Sharon this with the world.

@willtull Жыл бұрын

Great work man. It's amazing that you can generate that temp delta with such a simple setup! PS - Get yourself a riving knife on that table saw, my man! You body will thank you!

@chrislewis8642 Жыл бұрын

When I built mine, it was 4 x 8 and I used two pieces of corrugated skylight material, and I just replaced it this year because it was dirty, and I thought (from the ground, not the roof where it resides) that it had clouded. Now i think it was just dirty. Anyway, it holds up year round in Kentucky elements. I also filled any empty spaces with aluminum cans and painted everything matte black. Its the only way the pool in my yard is usable. I can't bring myself to cut the trees, and its a forest pool! This is a great video. I would buy one of these since I don't have the time and energy to build a second one.

@sabiaknows 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Nice job with the heater and the video.

@cowboyrolo1 2 жыл бұрын

I've done several of these panels for my pool. Best thing I've found is a lazy suzan that I put right in the middle and just uncoil the tubbing from there. As you get close to the center you can unspool some extra pull the lazy suzan out of the middle.

@markbennett9043 2 жыл бұрын

Video

@Ishouldbeflying 3 жыл бұрын

good job on the water heater. Please put a riving knife on your table saw and never push your hand/fingers past the blade, use a push-stick

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you - didn’t realize how dangerous my technique was till all the comments. Appreciate it!

@schnitzel2k3 3 жыл бұрын

I'm guilty of this with some awkward cuts. Always gets me sweating.

@whereswaldo5740 2 жыл бұрын

And those gloves. 😬 Yikes! They can suck you in.

@MintStiles 2 жыл бұрын

The issue with cutting tall wood like that has more to do with some pieces that would warp due to improper drying or structural reasons. Half height cut works but you can also try what's known as a contractor's flip. Though I am not sure if you would have the clearance for a long piece like that.

@earth_ling Жыл бұрын

@@whereswaldo5740 Yup…gloves are kinda scary using a table saw but to his defense, he did have a push stick not that you mentioned that) and his video was well thought out and the end result is awesome.

@williamohl6152 3 жыл бұрын

I applaud your effort!

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@iFryTube Ай бұрын

Great job and nicely edited video. Also, love your workshop!

@50FTY 3 жыл бұрын

Well Done Pal,,, Thankx for sharing

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! :]

@jackonthefarm5540 2 жыл бұрын

To greatly improve this, you should not use a continuous coil. You really want to use a manifold for the entrance and exit with parallel small diameter tubes connecting the manifolds. This way every tube starts with water at the current pool temp... thus the greatest heat transfer rate.

@bobolufson9861 Жыл бұрын

I think that makes sense? Good explanation. I never thought of that.

@kennyspringer7668 Жыл бұрын

Do you think I will benefit by building 3 three by 4 Solar panels or should I build one 4 by six Asking this question for 2 reasons I may have To move them according to the sun due to trees is not in the same place all day unfortunately also storage?

@kennyspringer7668 Жыл бұрын

Please share this out to the Is builder who did a good job

@kennyspringer7668 10 ай бұрын

Also had another about a 7 ft long in a shallow three-quarter inch is this affecting the heat coming in and out

@4kwotreplays 3 жыл бұрын

For my research it best video I found, must of ppl doing small size, this is excellent size, I need probably 4x of this for my pool, 800cm x 800cm x 1400 cm (deep). Thumbs up, keep doing, GOOD JOB !!!

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much :)

@an10nee 2 жыл бұрын

Wow that came out amazing

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!!

@gaetano222 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent video, thank you!

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@followyourbliss101 2 жыл бұрын

showing all your mistakes will help so many people attempting this - kudos!

@305partyflix 2 жыл бұрын

Great job! Thanks for sharing!

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@RCInsiders 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome work there Nick! Subscribed now my friend 😀

@nwkwok 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for all the encouragement through the whole process and helping to answer all my questions! There were some moments where I had some serious doubts and was grateful for your support in the process :).

@leroyswart3454 2 жыл бұрын

Wow Nick very good job for a first time, I hope you found a new business with this.

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

thanks so much!

@davidgalvan1084 3 жыл бұрын

This is going to be my next DIY project. Wish me luck!!

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Woo!! You got this! Good luck :)

@allenchase3987 2 жыл бұрын

Nick thank you. I am thinking on building a similar water heater for an off grid home. My goal is to have a Solar water pump and cistern that feeds in to a bathroom and kitchen then have a separate cistern that provides hot water during the day.

@Trevwhitesailing 5 ай бұрын

Nice work

@shonsimpkins3915 2 жыл бұрын

Pretty cool. Wonder what would happen if it was lined mylar and used clear tubing.

@TheLanceFrazier 2 ай бұрын

I have two suggestions about the unit itself. First, if you were to feel the back (underside) of the collector on a sunny day, I could all but guarantee that it is hotter than young love. If you insulate that with a piece of foil faced 2" EPS foam, you would retain more heat inside the chamber. Secondly, use either a high temp caulk or gasket around the perimeter of your clear sheeting by doing this--along with a top piece of trim--will seal the heat inside the chamber and keep the warping to a minimum. The recommendation of a thicker sheet by another viewer is definitely a better choice, but the best would be one layer of tempered, not coated glass. Great video. I was frustrated with you in the beginning stage. I wanted to be able to tell you how to uncoil the tubing and that laying it in from the top was really the only way to do it. Thanks again for a good watch!

@sfelmey 3 жыл бұрын

Put the roll of tubing on an office chair. The chair will spin and unroll the tubing as you pull it.

@3DPeter 3 жыл бұрын

nope, you need to ride the chair with the roll around the panel then. What i did was put the roll in the middle and then start to connect the pipe to the panel little by little and then just turn the roll with it.

@hghmhgm 2 жыл бұрын

Very beautiful mate !!

@nwkwok Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@danieljoye2486 3 жыл бұрын

Definitely gained a sub with this video. Great Work!!!!

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!!

@danieljoye2486 3 жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok if I did this for a pool how would I get the return to go through the built in inlet on the sidewall of the pool?

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

@@danieljoye2486 Hm... TBH, all of the videos I've seen of people that have done this have the hose going in through the top surface of the pool. There could be some ways to engineer something to go through the side wall if it were an above ground pool but you would need to ask someone that would know how to do that so that there's an airtight seal for the hose to go through.

@CheekyTime 7 ай бұрын

Well done my guy! Need to warm a pool tho...

@azatecas 2 жыл бұрын

i love this, i wonder if the acrylic would get fuzzy over time from uv light overtime. at least acrylic is cheaper than glass

@tomkeyser8384 3 жыл бұрын

Great video. Only suggestion, spray a UV coat on all the plastics to stop deteriorating of the plastics by the sun.

@tulipprintprint8158 3 жыл бұрын

Very good Intitive

@davidaranda2046 3 жыл бұрын

That’s bad ass dude good job

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

thanks bro!

@michaelreyes3587 2 жыл бұрын

Very nice video I build one and added a piece of zinc sheet beneath the hose in order to created more heat

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks and very clever idea!

@jakelalens2692 3 жыл бұрын

Hi nice work man. Inspiring. What was the original temp of the water in the jacuzzi? You mention the temp that it got to during the day, 82, but not the temp before. Thanks a ton.

@prestonmiller9953 17 күн бұрын

I built three of them about 14 years ago for an inside swimming pool

@amjadhani8929 3 жыл бұрын

Nice. Could you provide a feedback on how the system is holding out after 11 months of operation? I am curious

@taffythegreat1986 2 жыл бұрын

That’s what I like about doing projects, it’s learning from your mistakes. I now know what not to do 😂👍👍

@Mohrenberg 2 жыл бұрын

Was the 80-120 increase from a. Single pass through the tubing or from running it all day? Ive been researching to see if this is feasible for a car wash to cut down on water heating costs

@leeedwards6791 3 жыл бұрын

just got a place in Turkey with a pool so going to do this thanks

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@niv8880 2 жыл бұрын

on my to-do. I just upcycled some double-glazing that had been replaced in a neighbours conservatory as roof and Windows for an old outhouse. This was good glass that was heading for the tip. I mention this because I'm looking to use some glass instead of acrylic on a project like yours.

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Nice!! Have fun when you get around to this. It's a very fun project :)

@niv8880 2 жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok Thanks Nick. I was going to make the boxes from marine ply. I have a load of radiators from central heating systems - was going to spray them with black stove paint and put some in series them inside the marine ply boxes behind the upcycled glazing - don't know how effective that would be. I know from my RV days putting black cans in the front then coming home for a shower meant having stacks of super hot water - this is the UK though - we don't get too many sunny days so all systems would have to be optimally designed. The other thing I am thinking of doing is electrolysis from solar panels electricity - batteries are expensive and storing hydrogen is tricky buy currently working out a safe system at the end of my property.

@macrumpton 2 жыл бұрын

Add a reflective vertical panel on the wall over the heater and get 60% more heat in the water.

@wildcathillsnaturalist9228 3 жыл бұрын

Nice video. Working with this irrigation tubing can be frustrating. I've not used it for this purpose, but for actual irrigation, but you run into the same problem (kinks especially as you try to unfurl from a large roll). A good approach is to unfurl the whole roll across a wide open space (backyard), carefully pulling loops off the coil as you unfurl the whole thing. Then run down the length of the tubing to untwist/unfurl some "memory" from your coil. If I were doing it now, I'd use smaller lengths of tubing in the first place rather a full 500' length. Buy the 500' roll for the price, but then unfurl as described previously and cut it to more manageable sections (maybe 100'), then use common irrigation tubing couplings to attach your sections to create your desired full length. The couplings might slow down your water flow a *little* (if you use the inside-tube/barbed ones) and would make your final coil less "clean" looking, but for me those would be acceptable trade-offs for the reduced frustration of trying to work with/lay down a single 500' tubing length :)

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

This is great advice. After going through that debacle, I would gladly trade the 'clean' look if it saved me the frustration of dealing with that 500' length... without hesitation haha. Thanks for the input!

@lukedudney4462 3 жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok I always leave the tubing out in the sun for about an hour before working with it. This softens it up and lets you shape it to your requirements after which it "sets" in the new shape you have laid it out. At least, this works in the Australian sun. Not sure about other climates.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

@@lukedudney4462 Ah yes - good advice. That might've made the job much easier since we were coiling the tubing in the cold of night... 🤦🏻‍♂️

@graemed3012 3 жыл бұрын

I've built one of these.The easiest way to get the roll unrolled is to put the new roll in the box,THEN cut the ties that hold it together.Then you are working "with" the natural curves of the pipe and not fighting them.With my first roll i tried running it out over a distance and uncurling it as it was fed into the box.This was frustrating and i still kinked it a few times.With the next roll i did as i said before and it was done in five minutes with no kinks and no swearing:-)

@humantiger72 2 жыл бұрын

I've had experience on the farm with that tubing. How is it holding up with those water temps? Wouldn't Pex tubing last longer?

@julyc2603 14 күн бұрын

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 excellent job!!!. Thank you

@duratoke 2 жыл бұрын

Very good will be my almost imm next project I wanted to know how large a 100 foot roll would be spread out and would it be enough for 7 foot Intex, but why I wrote I haven't used poly-pipe either even though I am plumber, but one vid I just saw a guy sat the coil on a swiveling office chair to uncoil it, wouldn't you know my junky outdoor office chair was literally thrown away yesterday (WTF!) anyway still watching but so far so good. I took pics of your vacuum and workbench will have to try those out someday, thanks!

@PAINT_S_CAPES 2 жыл бұрын

Wondering if the acrylic has melted or warped over time?? Since it was so thin and it gets sooo hot?

@titomiss 3 жыл бұрын

Good Job

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@RichardBaileyrichoncode 10 ай бұрын

Mostly followed this. Used 8 lengths of electric fence ribbon in pairs (across, vertical, and diagonals) to weave above and below each pass of pipe. It was easy, fast, cheap, and very secure.

@markkamer1953 4 ай бұрын

Brilliant

@nelftm Жыл бұрын

I've seen versions where they have used reflective material behind the piping and others like yours. Do you know which is the most effective? I would have thought having the whole thing black (which insulation behind) would be the way to go, like yours?

@gerritmaxwell5507 3 жыл бұрын

Hi... great stuff! Any chance you know you approximate square foot surface area of the pipe in enclosure that is exposed to the sun?

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not entirely sure of the 500 foot coil that I bought I'm pretty sure I used around 400 of it? I'm 70% confident about that answer haha

@andyharpist2938 2 жыл бұрын

Silicon tube is flexible. A sheet of aluminium painted black is even better. And a layer of insulation allround is no great problem.

@1Goldigger1 Жыл бұрын

How much difference does it make having a glass or perspex cover? I have made a similar solar heater. 50m of black irrigation hose in a box that's made of 20mm plywood and 4x2 sides. Painted it black with wood paint, then sprayed with Matt black industrial paint. Adjustable flow rate pump and a flow valve on the other end to that goes back into the pool. Currently I've double wrapped it with clear polythene sheet and sealed it with tape. It's 26°c air temp, pool was 27°c at 11:30am. It's 15:25 and the pools up at 31°C. Water going in is 38.8°c

@dominicm2175 2 жыл бұрын

I gotta say you have heart and perseverance 👍 Was a bit painful to see you tackle the learning curve of coiling the tube and using the tie wraps…..I’d bet if you made another one you’d be able to pull it off in a fraction of the time

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much. If I were to do it again, I definitely have some different design ideas with the tubing for sure. Those zip ties were painful ;p

@dominicm2175 2 жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok I’ve made several versions over the years for my own pool and although your package is certainly preferred and a beautiful working art, I have found that just laying the coil of tube on ground is nearly as effective with zero labor

@jazzyboydc Жыл бұрын

I enjoy working at night too.

@nwkwok Жыл бұрын

Nice!

@pointmann3446 2 жыл бұрын

How is the water flowing through the hose? Is there a pump that pumps water from the pool through hose? If so, what kind of pump did you use? Thank you

@sipthewater 2 жыл бұрын

I just kept my 500' roll of tubing under some double pane used glass windows and made sure that the low emission side was facing the hose inside. Done. Puts out lots of heat, went from 78 degrees f. to 92 f. in 2 days in a 20,000 gallon pool. I can't even touch the water at the outlet, Temp outside was 88 f. But the heat output is so hot that I often put a towel over it to minimize the heat. It's like an oven.

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Well done :)

@simmor2 2 жыл бұрын

Are you saying you basically use a box the size of the roll with a glass top? I want to make one myself but I like simplicity

@zendadddy 11 ай бұрын

Is there anyway you could build this and connect it to your pool pump and equipment? So that you don’t have hoses all along your pool deck?

@darthgbc363 2 жыл бұрын

Curious if the wood being painted black & if the acrylic can handle the heat?

@richpalmisano1740 2 жыл бұрын

I built one with landscape style tubing...just be sure to keep water and circulation during sun hours or you will melt it down... I also used steel studs vs. wood. Made it lighter.

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Ah good point. Thanks for the tip!

@SteveV2023 3 жыл бұрын

Very nice...your video editing to your craftsmanship to your attention to detail. Although i dont think this would work on my 24' pool in Wisconsin, its still very nice!!

@richpalmisano1740 2 жыл бұрын

I have a 4x6 with 100lf of pex. It raises my pool temp by 4 degrees in the summer in Florida. Takes my screened pool from 82 to 86...perfect. It's on a tracker as well so constant sun!

@SteveV2023 2 жыл бұрын

@@richpalmisano1740 how does a tracker work? Always points to the sun?

@richpalmisano1740 2 жыл бұрын

@@SteveV2023 yes. Two axis although that's overkill honestly. Only need east west. Pretty simple build for a single panel.

@SteveV2023 2 жыл бұрын

@@richpalmisano1740 what does something like that cost?

@richpalmisano1740 2 жыл бұрын

@@SteveV2023 controller and actuators about $350...I have about 700 in my heater all total

@milliganlaw Жыл бұрын

Mounted right above the exhaust vent of the Pentair gas heater ?

@chrissmith-fc9rf 2 жыл бұрын

if there is a 2" hose going into your pool return. is it wise to use a 2 " hose for the solar panel? would a smaller hose slow down the return amount

@barryswank4894 Жыл бұрын

How to stop it from over heating my hot tub? I made one and it got my sauna (hot tub) up from 53 degrees to over 105 and the weather is still only 75 degrees outside. I can manually watch and turn the pump off when the weather gets really hot, but will the water boil in the solar collector? Should I let the water drain out of the tubes when I turn it off? Do you know an inexpensive sensor that will turn the pump off when the tub gets to a certain temperature? Thanks.

@jazzrat2000 Жыл бұрын

Very cool! is it possible to get a list of the costs for the items that you used? I have a feeling it's quite expensive:) especially the plastic sheet.

@Jass_Agape 3 жыл бұрын

It is really great job. I wonder have you connected it to your existing pool pump. How that part works?

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Ah we didn't exist it to the existing pool pump. There is a pump in the jacuzzi that pumps water out of the jacuzzi, through the water heater and back into the jacuzzi. The water heater is just resting on top of all the pool pump stuff.

@lukedudney4462 3 жыл бұрын

Great build. I'd love to know how this is going 6 months later. Any gotchas or things you'd have done differently? I expect there may be some issues, do you get condensation on the blocking sunlight?

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Oh I built this for a friend so I'm not quite sure actually. His name Is Jim Lee and he was one of the first comments on this post if you want to ask him :)

@ichmeiner6358 2 жыл бұрын

if you still look for an answer about the performance, check the comment i just wrote seconds ago :)

@jameshart678 Жыл бұрын

@@nwkwok I'm now watching your video for the 3rd time, and I'm very impressed. I'm thinking about building something like this. Your opensource idea is cutting edge stuff!

@nwkwok Жыл бұрын

@@jameshart678 Thanks so much! I really cant take credit for it though - lots of people have built these before me and I'm grateful for the content they created I was able to learn from as well :)

@tdhoeffel Жыл бұрын

Is everyone using 1/2”tubing? Thoughts on 1/4”? And any recommendations on a pump?

@steveinoz8188 Жыл бұрын

Is it still working OK? Has the acrylic degraded? Does rain run off?

@jedskillz 2 жыл бұрын

120⁰F might do some damage on the irrigation tube. Yes?

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Yes - we decided to go with a different pump because the water was originally coming out too slow (which is why it got so hot). Now it is ~95 degrees and comes out faster (which in turn, heats up the jacuzzi better as well).

@oz93666 9 ай бұрын

Great job , just some thoughts , putting a few square meters of aluminium foil on the back wall will help a lot 8:57 , and I see two AC units , insteat of pumping heat into the air the heat exchangers could be modified to harvest the heat into water

@robertoleary978 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome job! Did you use the whole 500' of tubing? I'm about to build something similar. Again, nice job.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! No. I used around 400' of it. Definitely lost some feet on my first pass throughs haha.

@ya00007 3 жыл бұрын

Please do another one like this but heating up a pool. Also I want to see the results in winter.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Ohhh! Good suggestion! I'll definitely consider this if I build this project for another different person!

@jsandhu707 3 жыл бұрын

Definitely do one for a pool. Also, appears to have a lot of demand for a diy pool heater on KZfaq

@oldladyme 3 жыл бұрын

The gloss reflects light and heat you really want the top cover to be "translucent" this way it does not reflect, I built 4 by 8 foot panels back in the 1970s and got 180 degree water.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Ah good point!

@daveparker839 3 жыл бұрын

@Brent Simmons Are you suggesting he use glass? The plastic is translucent. What could he have used instead?

@oldladyme 3 жыл бұрын

@@daveparker839 Dave glass will reflect anybody knows in a solar water system you use translucent cover so it does not reflect rather absorb more. Translucent..difusser

@michaeldbhawker3556 26 күн бұрын

I built this almost exact unit as a pool heater with my dad in 1980. We used copper pipes.

@RCdiy 3 жыл бұрын

Place the tube on the panel in the middle. From the bottom of the tube coil separate out the tube and secure it in place.

@rondavison8475 3 жыл бұрын

I built a jacuzzi heater with old windows black paper and dirt to seal air off under old windows laying on black roofing paper. Had a old roll of the same low pressure tubing. It was all kinked up. Eventually the kinks are where the leaks will happen over time. If the water does not flow to remove heat the temp can get close enough to boiling to cause half melted softer plastic to rupture. If pump works always when hot then this problem is reduced.

@hadyanth 2 жыл бұрын

Such a cool idea! one question though, does that tubing have protection from chemicals leeching into the pool water when hot?

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Not sure actually

@valerieroman8290 2 жыл бұрын

Hello Nick Thank you for the viedo. I want to do this but the hardest part for me would be building a box. Could I use an aluminum water heater 30" pan? This set up is fantastic. I bet someone could build them and sell them and make a nice profit. Also I want to put the solar pannel on my flat roof patio cover will any pump work? We live in California and limited on space the pool will go between pato and fence with inches to spare. Thank you in advance...

@nwkwok 2 жыл бұрын

Wow sorry for the delayed response! I don't have the insight to speak to the aluminum water heater 30" pan (though I don't see why not?) but I have seen a couple of videos of people not even using a frame and just mounting it to their roof with good results. The things to consider would be the how powerful the pump is and angles the tubing would be inclined / declined but otherwise, I'd imagine it's doable? What did you end up going with?

@Tauro12b 2 жыл бұрын

I live in Gran Canaria and will be installing this in my Airbnb villa. This means that I myself am not on site and can monitor. I will set a timer so that the pump only circulates water when the sun is up. But as there is a lot of sun on Gran Canaria, the water will quite quickly reach over 30 degrees. Is there any gadget that can automatically turn off the power to the pump when the water is 30 degrees.

@gareng5599 2 жыл бұрын

cubicle (space aboce air conditioner) with solar water heater. how many feet or meters of hoses and the size of collector boxes. thank you.

@atranimecs 2 жыл бұрын

Use mirrors and that thing will coooooook

@adamakaru2683 Жыл бұрын

Nick, thank you big time for your presentation. I was looking for solar water heater for sometime now and got it from you once again thank you with one question would you recommend to drain the PVC if its get to the freeze point?. Its hardly ever happen in Tucson, Arizona but just to be safe! what you think? thank you, so much Adam.

@nwkwok Жыл бұрын

Oof… as a Californian I feel ill-equipped to answer this ;p.

@henry8333 2 жыл бұрын

Great job. I just completed 80 % of 1 i am making. I didnt make it as big as my yard wont allow that. But i am going to make 2 smaller ones each with 200 hundred feet of irrigation tubing. I was surprised at how easily it kinks to. So i put it on the table next to my project and spun it out. I had to pick it up 3 times to spin it around as well. The stuff is a nightmare. But i am going to add a valve on the feed side of mine to slow the water down. This will give the water more time to absorb the suns energy and come out hotter. I am allso going to use a submersible pump. That way Its independent of the pool filter and much more cost affective. Dont put valve on return side it will pressurize the tubing and cause it to pop. Love your work shop. Are you thinking about selling these ?

@nwkwok Жыл бұрын

How did it turn out!?

@tdhoeffel Жыл бұрын

Henry. Can you tell me more about your pump. Are you going to put it directly into the pool.

@judeg.8101 3 жыл бұрын

Could you have used a heat gun to soften up the piping for the bends to get a few more turns in...

@MrofficialC Ай бұрын

Make a double greenhouse effect. So put it into another glass enclosure and it might get even hotter.

@francesca7765 Жыл бұрын

Hi Sir. Can you suggest which pump to use for a solar collector? I want to have a 1 liter per minute flow. Thanks

@oldladyme 3 жыл бұрын

It is very easy to just roll out the roll flat, just like romex wire it is very easy and simple.

@nwkwok 3 жыл бұрын

Interesting - even having a friend with me it didn't seem very easy and simple but good to hear some people are having easy experiences unrolling this stuff!