Knick's DIY Solar Water Heating System

Knick's solar water heating system is based on the $1K Solar Water heater, but incorporates a number of unique variations that might well suit your needs.

Some of the unique features:

A very aesthetically pleasing collector -- the nicest I have seen.
Large area, double glazed collectors oriented vertically should provide good performance through the winter without summer overheating.
Some unique wrinkles in the collector internal design include: variable length risers to establish drain back slope, 3/4 inch manifolds soldered to 1/2 inch risers, heater hoses for manifold to manifold connections, ...

Beautiful!

Like all the $1K style systems, this is a simple drain back system that keeps the component count down and provides freeze protection without the need for anti-freeze. it uses an easily made, non-pressurized heat storage tank with a high capacity. Cold water from the street passes through a large coil of PEX pipe that is immersed in the heat storage tank. The now heated water then goes on to your existing water heater, which serves as a backup heater if the solar is not heating the water up to the required temperature. There are only 5 components that make up the full system: 1) a collector, 2) a simple heat storage tank, 3) a pump to circulate water through the collector, 4) a controller, and 5) some connecting plumbing -- a very simple system. Nearly all of the materials will be available from your local stores.

Thanks very much to Knick for sending this material in!

See these pages for the construction details on Knick's System:

Collector Construction ...

Collector Installation ...

Tank, Pump, and Plumbing ...

Performance ... (an early reading)

Some final thoughts...

More DIY Solar Water Heating material on Build-It-Solar:

The Solar Water Heating main page...
The $1K Solar Water Heater...
Other examples of the $1K Solar Water Heater ...

Gary May 29, 2010