An A-frame solar water heater concept

[George Ghio]

The simple solution Nick. Build it. Collect the real data from use. Compare data to your theory.

[John P Bengi]

Yeah, he is full of ideas and also a troll. This means when you object to one of his fanatical theories he tries to get everybody against you because he cannot support his theories and doesn't value discussion on it, just the lime light.

[News]

Nick posted a theory. What is wrong with that? A theory that others may take up in full or partially, or spark somthing in their mind. Nick is a thinker and thinks out loud. Nothing wrong with that at all. I like thinkers.

The problem is he writes like a "who done it". You have to read it all to find out what it does at the end, just like Agatha Christie.

[~^Johnny^~]

-- -john wide-open at throttle dot info

~~~~~~~~ The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining - JFK ~~~~~~~~

[News]

Say a 20 foot length of this 4" plastic pipe running under the roof apex in the attic. Say, 20C in the attic and water inside, coming in from the water mains at 5C, who long to raise the mass of water to 20C?

How much are you going to gain from solar heat? It may take a while to payback the cost of the pipe and fitting.

Just out of interest.

[George Ghio]

Nick is a talker. That's all. He talks and talks and talks. Then expects someone to build one of his pipe dreams.

If someone does build something Nick proposed and it does not work as per Nick's projections he can always say "Well I only said "Might" "Could" "If" "Maybe" "Somehow" so its not my fault it doesn't work. It was just an idea.

Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk

Just don't let him near any tools or some one could get hurt.

[News]

A vented attic, in which the only function of the rood is to keep off the house, nothing else.

Only in Canada type of climates.

[Harry Chickpea]

Well... since I live in south Florida, where we haven't had a freeze in years, and a really low air temp during the winter is 50 degrees F, I have to respectfully disagree. :-)

You'd have to refer to the original thread for the complete proposal. I lived in Vermont for many many years, and I'm aware of the issues there. I would consider that an extreme climate, since as a kid I delivered papers in -30 degree F windy weather, and moved out of state after one winter where the sun never broke through clouds for two months. Nick's stomping grounds of PA don't qualify as an extreme climate in my book.

The full idea included a reflective barrier above the 4" pipe to reduce heat loss, and the capability of drain down for those times when the system wouldn't act as a preheater. IIRC, Nick was proposing a solar pond or other involved project to preheat water with limited results, and I tossed back a simple preheater idea that used minimal materials, took minimal time to build, and had a faster payback.

Nick objects to a lot of things. You would have to ask him why.

[Derek Broughton]

You're wrong there. The majority of people reading usenet are in North America. The majority of North America is subject to extreme freezing - ie, all of Canada except the lower BC area, all of the American northeast & midwest, the plains states down to north Texas and all the mountain states.

I know, a 4" pipe under _your_ roof ridge should be fine, but you're practically in the tropics :-)

[Derek Broughton]

What's to disagree with???? You live in the warmest part of the US! Even most of your compatriots suffer real cold. My statement was still correct.

I don't know which part of PA Nick's in, but the northern part can easily hit -10F for lengthy periods (more than two weeks). That's _not_ what I would call extreme, either, but it's too cold for piping above the insulation in the attic.

[Derek Broughton]

Note the smiley... You are, in fact, almost 7 degrees north of me. I was born in London, I know the temperature difference.

[News]

England in the tropics? Well if it stays below freezing all day, it is a very cold day. In Winter, dropping below freezing during the night is common.

Well the UKs most northerly part, is further north than the most southerly point of Greenland. The most southerly, the Scillies, never gets frost. We will be quite mild, yet on that same latitude where polar bears roam in other parts.

[george1234]

That's not true.. i remember a couple of years back Nick was doing some alterations to a cabin in the woods. IIRC, He had a problem with the board who operated the cabin for his extensive renovations