This is a very simple water heater that can be made in 5 minutes and can heat 140 degree water. Great for camping. Making tea, coffee or a small bath. It works very quickly for solar heating a small batch of hot water. I just painted a Starbucks Frappachino Bottle black, poked a hole in the cap and put it in a container that had red vines in it. Cover 1/2 of the back with aluminum foil and point towards the sun. Do not tighten the cap. It could explode if it got too hot. Take a small nail or an awl and poke a small hole in it for a vent.
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First test 140 with a meat thermometer. I put cold water in it and went to town, when I returned (about 2 hrs) it was up to 140. Not to bad for a free heater.
I like it, it's even better than the Kelly Kettle which I will be ordering shortly, for boiling water and cooking.... which uses tender and small combustables (sticks, twigs, pinecones or what ever) to do it's heating..
ReplyDeleteyou solar heater will be a nice ADDITIONAL piece of equipment to have on hand.
and while a few dollar more expensive, you might be able to add a small 12volt pump to it, (don't poke the whole for a vent) use the heater to heat a slightly larger water supply, like maybe a 5 gal buckets worth (also black, if it can be left in the sun for additional heating)
ReplyDeleteI was looking at using a 15 gallon jug, (two actually for long term camping) white/with reflective cover for cold water, black for hot.
I didn't get so far as to figure out how to plumb the water supply (one pump or two?) but will be working on that later this year or beginning of next.... but I like your plan for simple small water heater, for camping or backpacking... maybe even swapping out plastic container for plastic bag, for weight and space reduction.