Solar Thermal Storage Tank
by admin on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 | 15 Comments
Shows method for storing heat in a easily built solar thermal storage tank. Heat can be used for domestic hot water heating and space heating.
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@CheapEnergyIdeas Hi, I have about 200 gallons of thermal storage. During the winter months, I run the radiant constantly (as long as storage temp os over 80F). We also take showers, wash clothes, etc., so there is a lot of constant daily demand. Even so, during the winter months, the tank can still recharge to about 120F durng the day and is about down to 90F the next morning, so I have about 24 hours worth of storage with those 200 gallons.
@ScalerWave Yes, radiant floor heat is delightful! When your feet are warm, yo feel warmer. It is completely silent and very comfortable. Best of all it is free, courtesy of the sun!
thanks for showing your setup..one question..after a sunny day how long can you heat the the radiant flooring lines before the tank gets too cool? or should i ask, how long does your 150? gallons of hot water last starting at 140f?
Another interesting design. I imagine the radiant floor heat is much nicer than forced air.
@thestonemaster81 Hi, That’s a quesion for the folks on Simply Solar. I have zero masonry experience. It sure seems reasonable though!
do you think you can make thermal stoage tank out of Concrete. Make a box run your pex inside the box. then pour the concrete in. 6 x6 thermal mass, maybe put underground?
@thestonemaster81 Hi, I would consider space heating without a thermal stoage tank – just run the fluid from the collector through pex against the underside of your floor – but for domestic hot water, with sporadic demand, you’ll need a thermal storage tank. Otherwise, the water will freeze in the collector on winter nights and boil when you aren’t circulating it.
Why do you need the take.Cant you skip the tamk, Take your city water go out to the solar heater and return it to you hot water heater
can you please go over how to make the tank… and what is needed.. and as far as under the house…you are using copper pipe right under the floor boards with a cover under the pipe.. is that right??? can you tell us more??
@GScottVideos Ok, yea it is expensive
@MrTpengineer Thanks for your thoughts on the copper pipe. You are right, copper conducts heat more efficiently, but it is much more expensive. Gary on BuildItSolar has done extensive testing and discovered that by using a longer coil of pex, we have a much larger reservoir in the thermal storage tank that is preheated to 100% of tank temperature. With the sporadic demands that we place on hot water for intermittent showers, etc., this approach may be even more efficient than copper!
Copper pipe will conduct better than the red tubing your using in the tank, if you ever need more heat just use that, heat will be nearly instant and more eficient
Hi Icabad. I built my tank based on these plans and just modified it for the area I had to work with:
Unfortunately, youtube won’t let me post a link. Check out my website that I mentioned in the video. I’ve got a link from there to the detailed plans I followed.
I also use solar heat for space heating as well as domestic hot water heating and I have plenty of collector area, so the 200 gallon tank is extra storage as well.
Scott- I think that everyone would benefit from a more thorough explanation of how you built the tank… we see wood and rubber and some insulation… but what would it take to make one of these- what equipment/materials?
Also, don’t you waste a lot having the tank as an interim – why not just use a heat exchanger to go right from the incoming hot water to the water going into your hot water heater? If you don’t get a lot of sun, doesn’t the water get colder and colder until you precooling?
have you thought about using a 250 gallon tote for storing the liquid?