Best improvised water heating system for off-grid shelter?
- Thread starter VikingGirl
- Start date
My Nans old Aga used to have a water heater built into it. Not 100% sure how it was operated, never saw it used, but I know it worked, (and it worked well.) That thing was at least 90 years old, so made by hand. Food for thought.
Gent is a fine historic city and inland seaport in Northern Belgium. It is about 40 miles WSW of Antwerp and a similar distance NW of Brussels.
A domestic immersion heater used as I suggested does not need the electrical element so would be removed, voila, vented to the atmosphere. I ain't so dumb as to build a closed in system to heat water in. One would hope that most people asking questions like the OP had some common sense or are we to assume that what VikingGirl was really asking for was for someone to design and build a system for her?
Some radiators hold a lot of water but a smaller one connected to a larger reservoir could be more efficient, my example was chosen as they are readily available, can be plumbed in with easy to source materials and with minimal tooling or expense.
But, hey! I was just throwing an idea into the collective pot.
Rob.
There's a type of water heater they make in bits of Australia that fits to the metal tube chimney from a pot belled stove or similar that's shown in one of the Bushcraft books by the late great Ron Edwards. I'll dig it out and take a digi pic (scanners not connected yet) and put it up.
atb
Tom
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Tom
Ok I got it wrong it has its own heat source not off a chimney. Still if I could weld I'd love to make one!
ATB
Tom
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And everyone put there heads on one side...
And back up.
All from various volumes of his 10 book series.
One of these built into the side of a fire place? How much of the time do you need hot water compared to heat/ cooking? If the boiler isn't separate it will be "on" all the time the fires going and in the summer when you may not want a fire you'll still have to have one if you need hot water. I remember as a kid the only hot water came from a back boiler in the living room which also fed the radiators and how hot that room got on a bath night in summer. It was bliss when the council fitted immersion heaters as a alternative .
Also unless you want to shower in front of the fireplace ( and have to deal with the run off ) you'll have to pipe the water somewhere which will require more materials and cause a greater heat loss the further you have to pipe it.
Just my rambling thoughts.
ATB
Tom
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Yeah, I assume that most people have a clue but would far rather state the obvious and possibly offend a person who knew than find out that it wasn't obvious to another and find out they blew themselves up.
Regarding your other question, I was thinking about a kind of donkey stove in which I only need to bring a barrel with me to the site, and build a new fireplace around it, leaving one side of the barrel on the inside of the fireplace collecting heat from one of its walls.
Because I've built my cabin on a slope, I'm planning on building the shower room just underneath the fireplace, to make the connection as shorter as possible. So I wouldn't be losing to much heat. And of course I would never shower in front of the fireplace, I don't let any kind of humidity get into the house.
Thank you again for your pics!
Cool, that makes makes perfect sense now you've described the set up. Best of luck with it!
ATB
Tom
ATB
Tom
Here's a video on building a rocket stove mass water heater.
[video=youtube;1oDpmmsqHwQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDpmmsqHwQ[/video]
Seems pretty ingenious, with the indirect water heating to prevent boiling water or steam into the shower supply, as the water is indirectly heated by a tank of water.
[video=youtube;1oDpmmsqHwQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDpmmsqHwQ[/video]
Seems pretty ingenious, with the indirect water heating to prevent boiling water or steam into the shower supply, as the water is indirectly heated by a tank of water.
Aye, got one I pulled out of the fireplace here in the scrap dustbin waiting to get weighed in.
Will take a photo later bit its nothing clever, just a copper box with a couple of fittings for 22mm pipe.
Really Cool! Thank you! I just don't get why the indirect way of heating instead of just pulling out water from the tank directly.. Do you?
