Anyone use a solar thermal setup to help heat their monster tank? I'm looking at maybe DIYing myself a Solar Thermal collector, but there are a ton of different ways to do it, just wondering if anyone had already done it, and how they had made it work.
Solar Thermal Aquarium Heating?
- Thread starter cvermeulen
- Start date
Pft, really, nobody? I'd think someone would be doing this on a big tank.. common way to heat pools.
Us Eskimos in temperate areas have this thing called "winter" that kills our fish if we don't use electricity to heat our tropical tanks.cvermeulen;3115955; said:
jschall;3117980; said:
Really it's funny, me being in Canada and you being in California, you'd think I'd know what winter is a bit better than you. Solar thermal heating can be used even north of the equator believe it or not, maybe you should research it before being a jackass.
I've been thinking about doing this for a while. Am thinking of just building a wooden box, glassing the top using greenhouse glass, prob 2 panes as a primative double glazing, the winding some black hydroponics piping through it, insulate and mount in front of the house. Fixed mounting not tracking.
Then either use a small hydroponics pump to push the water through, or mount the box below the window sill and let nature do the mixing. I know someone who built one to give them warm water in their shed. It works well, which is why I've been waiting, cause i need to think of a fail safe, just incase it works too well and starts to cook my fish! Thats the bit I'm stuck on!
Another similar idea I've been mulling over is using a heat pump. if you have a stream near the house it could be ace. Its far more controllable and will provide heat constantly....
Then either use a small hydroponics pump to push the water through, or mount the box below the window sill and let nature do the mixing. I know someone who built one to give them warm water in their shed. It works well, which is why I've been waiting, cause i need to think of a fail safe, just incase it works too well and starts to cook my fish! Thats the bit I'm stuck on!
Another similar idea I've been mulling over is using a heat pump. if you have a stream near the house it could be ace. Its far more controllable and will provide heat constantly....
King Edward;3118329; said:
Yeah there seems to be a million and one DIY collector articles online. Using the thermal siphon idea would be great, but I'm hoping to mount the collector on the roof of my garage to heat my outdoor tank. Part of the bit I'm stuck on is control logic - I'd need a thermostat to turn the solar circulation pump on when the water got too cool, but it would also need to NOT turn on and rely on in-tank heaters if the water in the collector was even cooler than the tank water. Aquacontrollers have programmable functions, it just seems a little thin to use as a failsafe.
The other bit I'm stuck on is whether or not to run tank water directly into the collector and back to the tank, or whether to use a closed circuit with a heat exchanger in the tank. The closed circuit would be nice from a contamination point of view, but I'd always worry about the integrity of the heat exchanger in the tank. on the flip side, running tank water into the collector would mean I'd need 100% fish safe materials in the whole circuit, I'd need to run a prefilter, and I'd wonder about the consequences of the water sitting for long periods of time in the collector if the pump did not run (anaerobic activity and SO2).
Control with electronics is easy enough. Just seriously adds to the DIY cost...But then the proper vacumm tubes are not very expensive now so you could get a proper set up done. Ha Ha I jjust noticed this isnt the DIY section lol! You prob wanted to do it properly from the begining!
The heat exchanger idea is cool... I like it. On a diy jobby you could use an old car radiator...What are they made of, magnesium/alluminium alloy?
You can buy readymade heat exchangers like this one, though it may be a little large for you, lol!
lhttp://www.graham-hart.com/
The heat exchanger idea is cool... I like it. On a diy jobby you could use an old car radiator...What are they made of, magnesium/alluminium alloy?
You can buy readymade heat exchangers like this one, though it may be a little large for you, lol!
lhttp://www.graham-hart.com/
Making a heat exchanger in the tank could be as easy as running a bunch of Pex tubing around the bottom of the tank. An old radiator might be a bad idea, as they are made from either copper or aluminum, both of which corrode.
I think maybe if there was a drain back function to the system... like the collector was empty of water when not in use, it would eliminate any stagnation effects. It might make it tough to tell though if the collector is warmer or cooler than the tank. Something like siphon break check valve at the highest point in the system would be enough to accomplish this... but then if the check valve failed it would slowly drain tank water onto your roof... hmm
I think maybe if there was a drain back function to the system... like the collector was empty of water when not in use, it would eliminate any stagnation effects. It might make it tough to tell though if the collector is warmer or cooler than the tank. Something like siphon break check valve at the highest point in the system would be enough to accomplish this... but then if the check valve failed it would slowly drain tank water onto your roof... hmm
Not being a jackass, I just don't see how it can work, even in california. The temperatures get down to the 30s-40s in the winter and I doubt the energy of the sun can prevent the tank temp from dropping when it's overcast.cvermeulen;3118212; said:
Besides, my electricity comes from the 10kw solar panel system on my roof.
jschall;3122379; said:
Guy I am king jackass when the moment takes me. I know how to spot it. Never **** a ****ter.
jschall;3122379; said:
Hence the control scheme. Solar thermal water heaters are insulated gathering systems that collect solar energy while insulating against convective losses to the outside environment. You use a control scheme so that when it's dark or cold or overcast and the collector temperature is cooler than the desired tank temperature, the water doesn't get circulated through the collector. I would still need a backup electrical system to maintain tank temperature on rainy days and at night, but the solar collector system absorbs a large portion of the energy burden.
jschall;3122379; said:
So.. Hang on. You're saying, you have a 10,000w photovoltaic system running your house, but you're poopooing the idea of solar thermal water heating (which, generally speaking is quite a bit more efficient than photovoltaic energy capture). I'm totally confused.