I've seen the hot air panels and the hot water panels. What do you guys think of a dual panel constructed with a coil of pex behind the black absorber for heating water.
I've constructed a couple of panels out of black metal used for hot air collectors. They have achieved air temps in excess of 150F.
I am thinking the pex could stand up to the temp because the water would be coming out at temps of 120 max, the systems wouldn't be high pressure and finally the pex wouldn't be exposed to sunlight.
Copper would be more ideal, but the price for copper tubing is very high right now. The panels would be used to heat my garage in the winter. Air could be blown threw them like a traditional hot air panel to heat the garage and the pex would be collecting hot water to store for cloudy days, nights(radiant floor heat) and/or domestic hot water preheating.
I have 34 feet of south facing wall on my garage and am intending to use that to the fullest extent possible. There are a few trees on the neighbors property, but they loose the leaves in the winter. Summer sunlight will still be good but would provide some relief to the panels to prevent overheating in the summer.
Things to work out would be how much 1/2" pex per 4'X8' panel...I think you could use a steel mesh grid to tie the pex to and provide air turbulence to help scub heat off the back of the absorber plate.
Any ideas, thoughts?
Below is a short video of the metal that I have. I have a roll of this stuff. Still has the protective plastic on the black.It's not the painted stuff...this is the real deal. Its black coated aluminum one side and uncoated the other, was told they don't make it anymore.
The video isn't showing full temps as it was sitting in the sun for only a bit.