I had acquired 2 old dehumidifiers to use for this experiment. I took the larger (40 pint) one apart and have been using it's parts up to now. The photo shows where I am currently at. I am now using the smaller 25 pint dehumidifier. I connected the two coils together as was suggested to make a large evaporator.
I have covered the coils on the tank with black silicone caulk to force the heat into the tank. In this test I filled the tank with 2.5 gal of water and charged the system with 3.0 oz of propane.
After 30 min the tank was up from 65F to over 100F. So it seems good to me. Next I will reassemble the water heater with its insulation and outer shell, do some wiring and install it. And I will be adding two flare connectors so I can move it one half at a time.
