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Forum Index : Windmills : Hot Water heater
| Author | Message | ||||
| brucedownunder2 Guru  Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Hi out there. I'm wondering if a Hot Water heater (electric) is available with provision for the customer (hot water Guy) to install a second element that I can power off ,say,24 volts . yesterday and today ,I've worked out I could have approx 17.4 Kw from my windmill. most of this is dumped after my battery bank is full. be interested if anyone knows. Bruce Bushboy |
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| RossW Guru Joined: 25/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 495 |
Bruce, is it a sealed (mains-pressure) unit? Or a header-tank type? If the latter, just drop a heater coil in :) If the former, depending on the size - I've seen some that have TWO elements - one near the top for "quick recovery", usually a smaller element, the other a larger element towards the bottom of the tank. Depending on your arrangements, use etc, it could be practical to remove (say) the bottom element and replace with a lower voltage one that could slowly heat the system, while using the mains to keep the "top" of the tank hot the rest of the time. Another possible plan is to add a tank *BEFORE* the hot water system and pre-heat the otherwise "cold" water. This is VERY effective, if you have the space to do it. Last option, probably not very suitable, but you never know - would be to use a step *UP* transformer, run your mill into the transformer at low voltage and boost that to the 240V to run the element. A change-over contactor or swich could isolate the element from the mains side when there is wind. |
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| nando Newbie  Joined: 16/07/2006 Location: United StatesPosts: 3 |
Maybe you may use a DC/AC converter MSW to connect directly to the regular heater elements, this way you may end up spendng about the same $. Nando |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1344 |
Hiya Bruce, Awhile ago I looked into 24 volt Dc elements for heating hot water. The price here in Oz was about 8 times what it was in US dollars  . If you want maybe a few of us could band together and get a few of them from the US and save on the postage. I would want 2 of them for sure  . anyway I'll have to do a search to find the supplier again but off memory they were about $35 US each where I was quoted about $300 Oz for the same item. Let me know what ya reckon and when I can find some 24 volt elements I'll edit my post and put the link here.
Cheers Bryan  |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Thanks Brian, I was thinking that when my existing hot water system dies then I could get another composite type----- maybe pull the existing one apart and silver solder in another flange for a 24v element- wishfull thinking ,I guess. Bruce Bushboy |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
As a source for 12/24 volt heater elements, what about those cheap 12v jugs used for camping. The one's you can plug into your car's cigarette lighter. Just an idea. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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Old F Newbie Joined: 16/07/2006 Location: Posts: 2 |
Burce How about this find a old hot water heater with bad heaters and good tank and plum it in on the cold water inlet to the one your using. Then you will have ports for two DC heaters . This would be your preheat tank add a heat exchanger and you can dump any other waste heat you have or you could add some solar. Old F Haveing so much fun it should be illegal OOOOPs need to read the other posts more closely some one beat me to it 
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Pt w/field Matt Senior Member  Joined: 24/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 105 |
hi bruce you can make a small tank out of 2/3 inch copper pipe long enougth to house the element of your choice and plumb it between your tanks cold inlet/drain valve and the hot outlet or tee the safety valve on high pressure systems,it works on thermosyspon princebles and can be adapted to all tanks,those camp jugs gizmo talks of take 16 amps @12v so 2 would cope well and cheap to buy matt down south |
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| Feral Newbie Joined: 03/12/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 39 |
Bruce, Dont you think it would be a better propisition to either pump water to a storage tank or send the wasted enegy of to the fridge. I would imagine the sun shines there enough to heat up all of you hot water needs. Just a thought. |
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| domwild Guru Joined: 16/12/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 873 |
Bruce, From what I have seen in my solid fuel heater, they have provision of a BSP female thread for the sacrificial anode, an aluminium rod, that slowly get eaten up. This thread can be used at the top to screw in a heater. If it is only waste energy, why not drive cheaper 240VAC heaters via the inverter/UPS? Taxation as a means of achieving prosperity is like a man standing inside a bucket trying to lift himself up. Winston Churchill |
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Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 640 |
Bruce, If you have plenty of energy, then get yourself a decent inverter. What generator do you have up??? Trev @ drivebynature.com |
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| Feral Newbie Joined: 03/12/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 39 |
Domwild, The sacricial anode is not aluminium, it is a magnesium alloy rod with a this steel core to support it and is welded to the 3/4 bsp plug. If ever required for this type of protection it should be available from from any plumbing supplier that sells mains pressure hot water systems which are mostely constructed of rolled sheet steel lined with a very thin layer of glave on the inside of the tank. The sacricial anode sets up a small voltage, about 1 v, between the anode and any unprotected areas of the inside of the steel tank. I will normally last for about ten years if the water is of good quality. |
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